In a post today, Niantic, the Pokemon Go developer, announced that they would be able to unban some users who were previously caught using add-on map apps. Previously the developers have made a clear stance on cheaters of the game by banning players and shutting down add-on apps.
On the Pokemon Go website Niantic states that “Some players may not have realized that some add-on map apps do more than just show you nearby Pokémon”. The reason for the strict rules being solidified is that these apps, “can be used as a collection tool by the app creator, invisibly collecting and forwarding data to the app creator with or without the knowledge of the end user”. Niatic compares this to a DDoS attack on their servers, which if that happens, ruins the game for the rest of the users.
To combat this, Niatic added that,
As a result of some changes made to our infrastructure, we are now able to unban this set of accounts. Add-on maps which scrape data from our servers still violate our Terms of Service and use of them may still result in an account ban going forward. Accounts whose sole purpose was to scrape data are not being unbanned. Accounts which used apps or websites to remotely capture Pokémon, battle or deploy on Gyms, or harvest resources from PokéStops are also not being unbanned.
Niantic has set these rules in place for the simple goal of providing the community with a great experience moving forward. Their main goal being to ” provide a fair, fun, and legitimate experience for all players, so, aggressive banning will continue to occur for players who engage in these kinds of activities”.