Pokemon Go Update Brings Back Throw XP, Revamped Nearby Pokemon Feature

Last week, an update to augmented reality hit game Pokemon Go brought about a couple of unwanted changes - it not only removed the broken nearby feature, but also had a bug that didn't award users for landing a better throw. An update to the game, released late Monday night for both Android and iOS, promises to solve that and more.

According to developer Niantic, the update - v1.3.0 on the App Store and v0.33.0 on Google Play - also introduces a warning for people playing the game in a car while travelling above a particular speed. Just like with the navigation app Waze, you will be served with a dialogue box asking you to confirm that you're not the driver.

(Also see: Pokemon Go Crosses 100 Million Downloads in a Month on Google Play)

The Pokemon Go update also fixes the throw bug, so you should see points being awarded for "Nice" (10 XP), "Great" (50 XP) and "Excellent" (100 XP) once again. And if you'd accidentally picked out an embarrassing nickname when starting the game and have been waiting to change it, there's good news. You can now do so, but only once, so do choose wisely this time around.

Niantic have also changed the Nearby Pokemon feature, giving it a dual look with a tracking feature called, well, "Nearby" and another section called "Sightings". The first one is, in fact, clickable and as eager NeoGAF users have already shown, it allows you to actually track said Pokemon by displaying a pink marker on your Pokemon map. The other one tells you what Pokemon have been spotted nearby lately.

(Also see: Pokemon Go Out in 15 Countries Across Asia and Oceania; India Release Date Soon?)

The new "Nearby" feature is currently being tested with a select bunch of users, and there's no word on when it will be rolled out to everyone. Here are the other changes, courtesy Niantic's notes:

• Made improvements to the accuracy of a curveball throw
• Fixed achievements showing incorrect Medal icons
• Resolved issues with the battery saver mode and re-enabled this feature
• Added visuals of Team leaders - Candela, Blanche and Spark

What do you make of the new changes? Let us know in the comments below or tweet to us @Gadgets360 with #PokemonGo.