Who are we kidding? Pokémon Go is failing and it’s failing hard. The server always goes down, people have died playing the game and it isn’t what it was. A game that wanted to bring old players back with a free app or introduce new players has died. There are many reasons that Pokémon Go has dropped, be it weather or the recent release of Pokémon Sun and Moon. However, what really has brought the game down is the developers themselves. Updates include allowing for more incubators, the longevity of the servers and the addition of some of the baby Pokémon. Niantic has constantly not given the players what they want and they continue the trend with its new upgrade. The players want the Johto Pokémon. Despite the Johto Pokémon being the game’s code thanks to data miners, the upgrade aims to fix the distance-tracking aspect in relation to your phone’s GPS.
According to the official Niantic website the new patch aims to [change] distance tracking to better account for GPS drift. For those of you who don’t know what GPS drift is, it is the term for when your character shifts location due to the GPS service on your phone not always working as well as it should. The same Niantic post added that update updated the Apple Watch to display eggs from PokéStops and some “minor text fixes.”
According to Forbes,
When you play Pokémon GO, even if you’re standing still, you will often see your character move around, usually slightly, but sometimes they’ll just jump around pretty significantly. This is called “GPS drift” where the satellites get a little scrambled about your exact position, so you either move a little or jump around a bit.
Given that Pokémon GO tracks egg hatching and buddy distance through GPS, not a pedometer, these small GPS drift shifts can actually add up over time and give players distance even when they’re standing still.