Pokémon GO captivates millions and annoys them at the same time, as the augmented reality game still does not run stably. A server disruption has become the norm. Is Niantic jeopardizing the success of the title?

Fans of Pokémon GO hardly experience a day where they can truly hunt Pokémon without interruptions. There is always something wrong with the servers, and there are always issues, for example:

These errors are frustrating in Pokémon GO

• The GPS signal is not recognized, even though it should be there.
• You catch a Pokémon and Pokémon GO freezes. After restarting, the creature is gone and the Poké Balls have been wasted.
• The entire app just crashes.
• All Pokémon nearby are generally shown as “very far away”, targeted searching is impossible.
• Sent Pokémon disappear without a trace, and you receive nothing in return.
• And the biggest annoyance of all: You can’t even get into the game and instead have to stare at the now-hated loading screen with the ominous message “Player information could not be fetched from the server.”

Success in Danger

All these errors have plagued Pokémon GO since its launch last week, and it does not seem like these issues will be fixed anytime soon. We hear very little from the developers themselves; only regarding the major server disruption last Saturday was there a brief Twitter announcement that they had identified the issue and could now resolve it. Still, on Sunday the servers were again inaccessible for hours. And the recently released app update only brings “minor text improvements,” according to the patch log.

The issues causing the server problems have been identified. Trainers should once again be able to search for Pokémon in the real world.

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) July 17, 2016

The ongoing issues are causing great frustration among players, and even on the stock market, Nintendo’s share price fell below that of competitor Sony today. Whether this is solely due to the poor performance of Pokémon GO, however, is unclear. If you want to have fun in Pokémon GO despite all the issues, our Pokémon GO guide collection is certainly a good resource.

Mein-MMO says: I am actually a calm and peaceful person who doesn’t like to get upset or complain, but right now it’s just annoying me. I am totally enthusiastic about Pokémon GO and since I live in the countryside, I drive to the city to hunt Pokémon. But when I arrive in the evening, the servers regularly crash, and I have to stare at the loading screen for hours, while in the end nothing happens and I’ve wasted a good part of my free time.

This is annoying! And since I am sure it is not just me feeling this way, the success of Pokémon GO is at risk if things do not change soon. At the very least, a bit more feedback from the developers would be great, and please no more patches that only fix a few typos!

So much for my opinion. What do you think? Are you also fed up, or did you drop out last weekend when nothing worked for hours? Do you feel like my colleague Cortyn, who complains about Pokémon GO? Or do you have sympathy for the developers who certainly have a tough job? Let us know and write it in the comments!

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In Pokémon GO, not everyone aims to complete the Pokédex. Some want to make big money from it.

Niantic and Nintendo fulfilled the childhood dreams of many people around the world with the “Pokémon GO” app for Android and iOS: Finally, you can put on a cap, shoulder a backpack, and catch all the Pokémon that were once just black-and-white pixel creatures on the good old Gameboy, with a smartphone in hand.

The goal remains the same: to complete the Pokédex – and in the process, become the very best trainer. However, just a few days after launch, it became clear that not everyone has this noble goal in mind. Instead, they have dollar signs in their eyes and want to profit from the current Pokémon hype.

Account Sales – Is that allowed?

As of now, a trading function has not yet been integrated into Pokémon GO. Nonetheless, there are ways to get the monsters of other people: by buying them.

On eBay and other online trading platforms, countless offers can be found where users want to sell their “Pokémon GO” accounts. And not for a few measly dollars, but often for several hundred.

The price usually depends on the extent of the Pokémon collection and the CP values of the creatures. In the game, you can level up your trainer, gradually build an impressive collection of Pokémon, and improve these monsters. The rule is: the higher your level, the more powerful pocket monsters you can catch. Therefore, a lot of time must be invested in the game to get strong Pokémon.

If you have little time or no opportunities to go Pokémon hunting yourself – but have always dreamed of having your own Pokémon on your phone – you will quickly find what you are looking for on the appropriate sites. However, we strongly advise against it. Niantic explicitly states in the game’s guidelines that trading, selling, and sharing accounts is prohibited, as is cheating.

Therefore, we strongly recommend that you catch your own Pokémon and do not engage in such transactions. In our “Pokémon GO” guide collection, everything is explained to ensure that nothing stands in the way of your trainer journey.

Taxi, taxi, follow that Pokémon!

However, some people have more sophisticated ideas than account sales to make good money from the current hype. In social media, there is often talk of Poké Taxis that take passionate Pokémon trainers to places where large monster populations are suspected. For instance, Poké Taxi driver Emilio Cacho from Mexico claims that he doesn’t quite understand the game or why people are so obsessed with it. But since his taxi has been operating as a Poké Taxi, he has been fully booked for days, so he can’t complain.

Some players also offer the service of catching Pokémon for others or leveling up an account to specific levels. There have also been reports of nimble trainers who hatch eggs by jogging around the block with them. Or one might do as this young lady does and take advantage of a nearby PokéStop:

According to a recent report, Pokémon merchandise sales skyrocketed at the launch of Pokémon GO. Since the launch of the app, a Pokémon-specific item is sold worldwide every 12 seconds, whether it’s t-shirts, caps, or other items.

By the way: McDonald’s is doing big business with Pokémon GO.

What do you think of this business – both big and small?

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Pokémon GO  freezes while catching? Here’s how to bypass the annoying error.

For several days now, aspiring Pokémon trainers have been roaming the streets and forests to catch wild Pokémon. The main problems during these adventures are not caused by Team Rocket, but rather server issues with Pokémon GO or the game crashing when trying to catch a Pokémon. Most of you have probably experienced this error many times. We will now show you how to work around this error with a high chance of success.

Pokémon GO crashes while catching

Generally, there are several possibilities for what can cause this bug. In many situations, you can use a trick to prevent the crash and catch the wild Pokémon. This is especially important when a rare Pokémon  appears that you absolutely want to catch.

In the upper image, you see a classic situation that often occurs before freezing happens. If you look closely, you’ll notice that certain symbols are missing from the image. This includes the escape symbol in the upper left corner or the backpack symbol in the lower right corner. If you have this scenario before throwing a PokéBall, the next ball throw will most likely cause the game to crash.

In this case, you simply need to wait about 30 seconds to 1 minute and throw the ball next to the Pokémon without hitting it. In 7 out of 10 cases, the symbols returned to the screen for me and my friends afterwards, and we could throw the next PokéBall directly at the Pokémon without the game crashing.

With this method, you will consume more PokéBalls than usual, but you might secure a few more Pokémon.

Wait for the loading symbol

You may have noticed the small loading symbol in the upper left while playing. A white PokéBall that sometimes spins like crazy – Often you see it while walking around. If this ball is spinning when you want to catch a wild Pokémon, then wait until the ball stops spinning.

It often happens that the game crashes if you throw the ball while the loading symbol is spinning.

Pokémon GO crashes (iOS)

As an iOS user, you can help yourself with the swipe menu (where you have access to the flashlight, airplane mode, and so on) to possibly avoid crashes. The instructions are quite simple:

1. Throw a PokéBall at a wild Pokémon.
2. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the menu before the PokéBall touches the ground. Opening the menu pauses your game.
3. Wait about 5-10 seconds.
4. Swipe the menu back down and check if the loading symbol has disappeared. If not, repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. See (hopefully) how the PokéBall catches the Pokémon.

Pokémon GO crashes (Android)

On Android, there is a method that may bypass the bug, which is similar to iOS.

1. Throw a PokéBall at a wild Pokémon.
2. Also before the ball touches the ground, open the active apps display – Normally, you need to hold the home button for this (this may vary depending on the phone and settings).
3. Here too, wait 5-10 seconds.
4. Then, you should go back into the game.
5. See (hopefully) how the PokéBall catches the Pokémon without crashing.

More tips and tricks in our Pokémon GO guide collection.

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