Campfire is a social app that helps Niantic Explorers discover new people, places and experiences around them! Discover in-game activities, plan your next meetup, send a DM, and manage your Friends List, all within a single app. Some features of Campfire are available within Niantic’s games, but for the full experience, users should download the standalone app.
Campfire makes it easy to find local and remote Raid Battles. Simply tap the green map icon near the right corner of Pokémon GO’s in-game map to access Campfire and view all the Raid Battles and Flare activity around you.
Trainers can either host a Raid, or join a Raid through the newly available feature called Team Up. Team Up is blind for raid-seekers, at least in this version of Campfire, but it is a verified system for finding local players to play with.
In Pokémon GO, Trainers can share Raid locations with friends in a direct message – or group chat – making it easy to get a team together quickly and efficiently.
Or if you’re playing on your own, you can tap a specific place on the map and you’ll see the option to add a “Flare” to that location. Think of Flares like a call-to-action for everyone who sees it, encouraging other Trainers to head there and join in on the fun.
Lighting Flares
Light a Flare in Flare Chat to indicate to mark Raids or Gyms as active and encourage nearby players to participate in in-game activities!
To light a Flare, tap on “Light a Flare” at the bottom of the screen from the Flare Chat. You must be in a Flare Chat to light a Flare. The PokéStop or Gym marker on the map will change from grey to orange, indicating that the Flare has been lit. Flares stay lit for 15 minutes. You can only light one Flare at a time and you cannot light a Flare without first entering a Flare Chat.
Flare Notifications
You can customise the types of push notifications you receive about Flares your friends light and Flares you light. Go to Notification Tab > Notification Settings (top right) > Flares:
- “Someone lights a Flare near me”: You can toggle on/off the default notification to receive a push notification when a friend or non-friend lights a Flare near you.
- “Someone lights a Flare I have lit”: You can also toggle on/off and specify whether or not you want to receive a notification when a friend or a non-friend user lights a Flare at a raid or gym where you have your Flare lit.
- “Who receives notifications for my Flares?”: You can select who should be able to receive a notification when you light a Flare (Nobody, My friends only, Anyone). Note: your username will appear on the push notification.
What information can others see about me in Flare Chat?
Participants in a Flare chat will be able to see the following information about you should you enter a Flare Chat, from the members list:
- Niantic ID
- Display Name
- Profile Photo
When you send a chat publicly in the chat room, other users will be able to see your profile information directly in the chat room.
Lastly, if you share your location (opt-in), your real-time location will be shared with everyone in the Flare Chat.
Please note: Anyone in the Flare Chat room will be able to see your avatar, username, and click on your Campfire profile once you join the chat room. If another user that you have blocked is in the same chat room, they will not be able to see what you type.
To make finding and joining Raids even easier, Campfire is introducing Team Up, which connects trainers with other nearby trainers, to form a team and tackle Raid Battles together. Additionally, Trainers can also use Campfire to find local communities for events.
Once you’ve opened the Team Up menu, Trainers will be able to choose to host or join a raid via the menu or the map view. After selecting an option, Trainers will see what raids are close enough to host or join.
As a host of a Raid Battle, you can use Team Up to form a group with up to five other nearby Trainers. You’ll then be prompted to add those Trainers as friends without having to leave the group. After you’ve added them as friends, you can return to the game to invite your new friends to join the raid!
If you would like to join a raid but don’t want to host it, you can do that through Team Up too! Just choose the option to join a raid—you’ll be matched automatically with a host and other Trainers, and you’ll all be able to hop into the raid. Team Up even lets you communicate via preset messages with all the Trainers in your group to help with coordination!
You will be able to RSVP and check-in to official event Meetups or Meetups hosted by Pokémon GO Community Ambassadors and other select partners to earn in-game rewards for Pokémon GO.
To participate, first RSVP for an event by tapping on the “Join Meetup” icon in the invite. Invites with the “Rewards” icon are events that will offer in-game rewards for participating.
Meetups that you have RSVP’d to will show up at the top of your Activity Center under “My Meetups”.
At least 15 minutes before the Meetup starts, head to the Meetup location and tap “Check In” on the Meetup and then “View Promo Code”.
You will then receive a promo code that can be copied and redeemed in the Web Store.
The Routes button is top left in the map layer for Pokémon GO in Campfire.
- Toggle it blue to see the Routes overlay.
- Toggle it white to remove the overlay.
- Tap on a Route marker to see the Route.
How to Share Catch Cards
There are two ways that you can share your Catch Cards with other players in Campfire using Catch & Share:
- Sharing a recently caught Pokémon in the wild
- Sharing a recently caught Pokémon from a raid
All public posts can be seen by other players and can be “liked” by tapping the heart icon. You can also share your posts privately with a select audience of your choosing. When someone likes your photo, you will get a notification. At this time, comments are not available for Catch & Share posts.
Please note that the Catch & Share feature is not available for Trainers with child accounts.
Wild Pokémon
To share a recently caught Pokémon from the wild to Campfire:
- Tap on the menu button on the bottom right hand side of the screen once the Pokémon has been caught and tap on “Catch Card”.
- From this screen you can share the default Catch Card for your Pokémon by selecting the “Share To Campfire” option. You will then be taken to Campfire to create your post.
- At this moment, users cannot share an AR Catch Card to Campfire.
- You will have the option to write a description, show the general location that the Pokémon was caught, and have the option to make the post private, visible to only friends, or public. Please note that when you make the post visible to your friends or the public, the location of where you caught the Pokémon will also be visible on the Campfire map to the selected audience.
Raid Pokémon
Similarly to sharing recently caught wild Pokémon, Pokémon caught at a raid can be shared to Campfire as a post.
To share a recently caught Pokémon from a raid to Campfire:
- Tap on the menu button on the bottom right-hand side of the screen once the Pokémon has been caught and tap on “Catch Card”.
- To share the default Catch Card, tap on “Share to Campfire.” You will then be taken to Campfire to create your post, the same way a wild Pokémon post works.
Privacy Settings
When you post a Catch Card to Campfire, you are able to select who can see the post. You can either make the post private (only visible to you), make it visible to only your friends, or you can make it public. This can be edited at any time by tapping on your post and selecting a different option.
The location where you catch the Pokémon is always displayed on the Catch Card. Please note that when you post to Campfire and make the post visible to your friends or the public, the location of where the Pokémon was caught will also be visible on the Campfire map to the selected audience. Set your post to “only me” if you do not wish for the location of where the Pokémon was caught to be visible to others on the Campfire map.
To delete a post, tap on your shared photo, select the three dots on the bottom right hand side of your photo, and tap delete.
Viewing and sharing posts in Campfire
Catch & Share posts are available on the Campfire map to view when you log in to Campfire. Players can see their own recent posts for 24 hours, friend’s posts for up to 24 hours or more, and all recent public posts in their area.
Reporting a post
If you find an inappropriate post or violations of the Niantic Player Guidelines, the best thing to do is report it.
To report a post, tap the photo for the post on the map, tap the photo again, select the three dots at the bottom of the photo, and select “Report.” From there you can select the reason for your report, and add a brief description.
Niantic ID
On Campfire, you can manage your Niantic ID and connect your game profiles across all Niantic games to keep in touch with other players! This includes Ingress, Pikmin Bloom and Peridot.