I am sure many of you know Pokémon GO! was released this week on the app store. For those of you looking to get it there are some things you should probably know before you go out to become the very best. So let's get started:
1. The servers are experiencing issues.
The number one thing to know is these servers are still trying to handle the huge amount of people who have downloaded this game. So, it is not uncommon to find yourself kicked out of the app or unable to get on (at least until Niantic works on the servers some more). With the server crashes there is also occasional lag as you are playing the game, though this may also be caused by your WiFi which I have noticed.
2. I would not recommend getting this app if you do not have either reliable WiFi or a large data plan.
Playing Pokémon GO will drain your data pretty fast if you are not on WiFi. So just consider whether or not you will have reliable WiFi, or you may risk going over your data usage.
3. Be aware of is the drain this app has on your battery.
Your battery power will drop surprisingly fast. I am not saying that your phone will be dead in two hours, but it may be pretty close after three or four. There are a few fixes for this in place now, Niantic is aware of the battery drain and might try to fix it later somehow. For now though, the app has a handy "battery saver" mode in settings. This mode will turn the display black if your phone is facing down, the app is still running everything is just dark. This will still drain the battery just nowhere near as fast. The other way to fix this problem that I have heard of is dropping around $20 on an external battery pack. I have not done, this but basically if you buy one you can charge your phone as you catch your Pokémon.
Now those are the three big factors to be aware of if you are going to download this app, or if you just started. Despite these problems though I will vouch for this being an amazing app. My brother and I grew up playing the Pokémon games, and we bought every version that we could. So this app makes me feel pretty nostalgic, but I also just have a great time playing it when I can. The graphics are amazing, and it makes me wonder why Nintendo hasn't tried something like this before. They seemed to have struck gold judging from the number of people who have downloaded this already. Maybe this app will help Nintendo realize they could do a lot more with Pokémon than just handheld games and trading cards. That is just my hope though.
Have fun and catch them all!
