While we are collectively waiting for Niantic to release any information on the upcoming Season of Adventures Abound, a new update started rolling out on Android, version number 0.281.0. The update is currently in a slow roll out mode, and we decided to take a look at what us and other Trainers discovered to be new.
In no particular order, here are the changes introduced in the new Pokémon GO update.
In-game map updates
0.281. update is rolling out, and it seems that the in-game map was updated with latest Open Street Map data! pic.twitter.com/uEGg8FS6qw
— Pokémon GO Hub (@PokemonGOHubNet) August 29, 2023
The in-game map was updated to include relatively recent changes made on the OpenStreetMap, resulting in updated appearance for a lot of Trainers. Initial reporting suggests that the version of OpenStreetMap data used for this update is from February 2023, meaning that any edits made to OSM after that month will not yet be visible. Although the map was updated, there are no reports of any changes to spawns or Pokémon nests as of now.
Routes improvements and bugs
0.281.0 brings a couple of important changes to the Routes experience, but a handful of game breaking bugs as well. This is unfortunate, and a number of these issues don’t have a workaround as of today. Let’s go through what’s actually new.
Improvements:
- After the latest update you can see the Start and End points of a Route from the info page.
- Rejected Routes now show a rejection reason and the correct date when they were rejected
Bugs:
- Broken Nearby Routes Screen – tapping on “See nearby routes” from the nearby tab will lead you to a page that cannot be closed, and you cannot tap on anything to start or view route. The only solution is to restart your game and not use that screen.
Other changes
Aside from these changes, the new version has a couple of additional improvements and bugs that are noteworthy:
Improvements:
- Raid timers now show a circular indicator of the remaining time in raids
- Today screen sections can be minimised
Bugs:
- Shiny Pokédex bugs out easily when viewing multiple Shiny entries one after another
- Clothing and Route information bugs out more often and disappears from your profile page
- Pokémon in Gyms list is empty on 0.281.0 on the Today screen
- Pokémon names can overlap during a Pokémon catch encounter
- Special Research list cannot be scrolled in some scenarios, not sure when this bug happens
