Pokémon Go is shockingly popular. But it's not the most stable app at the moment.
With millions upon millions of players , there are bound to be a few issues — particularly when the game relies on your phone's internet and GPS connections, as well as Niantic's servers.
Rather than have you track down things all over trying to fix issues, we've rounded up common problems, and some solutions to fix them! Read on.
Pokémon Go not available in your country yet
Yes, this is perhaps the biggest issue with Pokémon Go ... it . Right now you're looking at the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and if you're already playing you know that the game servers are still dealing with issues with just these three countries.
Dedicated individuals have started to side-load the app in order to use it in other areas, though we really . There are , and installing one is bad news for your phone.
If you eventually decided to go the route of side-loading the app, it's very important to re-enable so you aren't leaving your phone open to issues in the future.
Pokémon Go not available on your phone or tablet
The demands to run Pokémon Go aren't all that high, but there are a few things you'll need to have in order to properly play. You'll need a phone running at least , and you'll also need a mobile data connection as well as GPS services — this isn't an offline game in any way.
You can use Pokémon Go on a tablet, but if it's a Wi-Fi only device and you're trying to use it with a separate hotspot ... it isn't really worth your time. An LTE-enabled tablet will work just fine though! Devices with Intel processors also aren't supported, which is a bummer — but at least you know that going in.
GPS problems in Pokémon Go
Pokémon Go relies on mobile data and GPS to pinpoint you on a map so you can hit up PokéStops, catch Pokémon and , so things kind of fall apart when your phone can't get an accurate GPS signal. If you keep receiving the "GPS signal not found" error, there are a few things you can do, including making sure that you haven't accidentally turned location services off, and if you have them on make sure they're set to "high accuracy" mode.
For all of the GPS troubleshooting steps, be sure to check out our dedicated guide below. And whatever you do, do not fake your location — if you do.
Pokémon Go draining your battery
No, it's not just you — Pokémon Go is a battery killer. Keeping your screen and processor ramped up playing the game, plus constant GPS and mobile network use, with a little camera thrown in, and your phone's battery is going to drain quickly. Thankfully Pokémon Go has a few things you can do to limit battery drain, including turning on the "battery saver" mode in the settings, and turning down your screen brightness.
Check out all of our battery-saving tips below, and if push comes to shove, consider getting yourself an external battery to keep your phone powered up for long Pokémon Go sessions.
Pokémon Go Gym battles freeze
Pokémon Go will crash, freeze or shut down from time to time, but the worst possible time for that to happen is when you're in the middle of a Gym battle. The big thing here is to not quit too soon — if the screen appears to be frozen, but you see the spinning Poké Ball in the upper-left corner of your screen just wait it out and see if it eventually loads. If not, you're going to have to quit out of the game and re-launch it.
If you end up getting a lot of crashes during Gym battles, head into your Pokémon Go settings and report a high-priority issue so that Niantic can potentially work on a fix!
Pokémon Go data usage
Since Pokémon Go requires you to walk around outside to collect Pokémon and hit up PokéStops, you're going to be out of Wi-Fi range and using your mobile data. Everything is downloaded on the fly, to make sure you can keep current with the other players, and that means you'll definitely be using mobile data. Thing is, it doesn't actually turn out to use that much data when you're playing — maybe 20-30MB per hour you're walking around.
You can do a few things to keep data usage down, like latching onto open Wi-Fi networks in cities, but for the most part you should be cautious about how much mobile data you use in other apps while you're out playing Pokémon Go. Remember to pre-download music or podcasts you may be listening to, and turn off auto-downloading of app updates and disable auto-loading of media in apps like Instagram and Facebook. Every megabyte saved means another megabyte to use on Pokémon go!
Understanding Pokémon Go privacy concerns
There were some initial scares about how Pokémon Go was handling your private information — — but there are more real things to be aware of beyond that.
Pokémon Go collects data on where you move and what you do in the game, and can share that data anonymously and in aggregate with third parties. (Of course this is pretty standard stuff for any game of this kind, but knowing is half the battle.) You can always delete your account at any time, if you wish, but Niantic may hold on the data for a reasonable amount of time after you do so. When in doubt, read the and for the game.
Have some other issues you're trying to work out while playing Pokémon Go? with tons of questions and answers that could hold the information you need!