What's New in Version 1.3.0

Pokémon GO has been updated to version 1.3.0. Below are some release notes and comments:

- Added a dialog to remind Trainers that they should not play while traveling above a certain speed. Trainers must confirm they are not driving in order to continue playing
- Made improvements to the accuracy of a curveball throw
- Fixed a bug that prevented ”Nice,” ”Great,” and “Excellent” Poké Ball throws from awarding the appropriate experience bonuses
- Fixed achievements showing incorrect Medal icons
- Enabled the ability for Trainers to change their nickname one time, so please choose your new nickname wisely
- Resolved issues with the battery saver mode and re-enabled this feature
- Added visuals of Team leaders - Candela, Blanche and Spark
- We're currently testing a variation of the "Nearby Pokémon" feature with a subset of users. During this period you may see some variation in the nearby Pokémon UI.
- Minor text fixes

I've highlighted the key point for you there.

The subset appears to be the majority of players in San Francisco.

(Images courtesy of redditor /u/will650 on the Silph Road subreddit)

It would appear that the nearest Pokémon are now shown to be within a certain range of a nearby Pokéstops. On selecting a Pokémon, a step marker will appear over the Pokéstop on your map. The Pokéstop now also appears to have a radius eminating from it similar to that of your Trainer's, suggesting you need to search within this area.

Shortly after the wildly successful launch of Pokémon Go, their main feature for tracking 'mon was taken offline, presumably to relieve server stress as some 80 million users started logging in. The original system would show one, two or three footsteps under each nearby Pokémon to illustrate how near or far away they were. These features were disabled so swiftly that many users never even utilised them or knew they existed. Many users flocked to third party websites that utilised Niantic's API to create maps as a substitute, but these were eventually shut down by Niantic and Nintendo, citing further server strain.

There's no word yet of whether this is Niantic's definitive solution to the "nearby" problem, and the internet-dubbed "3-step bug". However, N-E's budding Pokémon trainers hope this feature makes it over the pond soon!