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‘Pokemon GO’ New Update for iPhone and Android Includes Data for Quests

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Pokemon GO (Free) version 1.61.1 (0.91.1 on Android) is starting to propagate on iOS and Android, and the data miners over at the Pokemon GO-obsessed The Silph Road uncovered some of the new features in the update.

The biggest new feature available in the update is the new Quest functionality. Previously, the daily spin and catch bonuses were called Quests, but now two new types of Quests are appearing in the game files:

  • STORY_QUEST
  • CHALLENGE_QUEST

There are 10 new objectives available, such as hatching an egg or winning a gym battle, along with multi-part objectives. Attributes include rewards, context, and the goal. Professor Willow makes an appearance in the game files as a Quest character, and you need to complete the quest in order to make them happy. Flags such as QUEST_PRECONDITION_MEDAL will serve as prerequisites for players to start certain quests.

Now, while these features are in the 0.91.1 game files, this does not mean that Quests will come to Pokemon GO right away. With data mining, Niantic regularly manages to place the foundation for new features, such as Legendary Pokemon or the third-generation ones that are now appearing in the game. So players should get excited for new things to do, but they shouldn’t expect anything right away.

The data mine uncovered some other functionality. Players can now see all shiny Pokemon together by using the search tool. The news section has a massive overhaul, prioritizing unread news. This should make getting updates in-game from Niantic a far better experience. Niantic overhauled the energy bar used in combat, at least from a technical perspective. Interestingly, new attributes for currentBar and maxBars, along with a new ‘key’ system might help support multiple energy bars, or just make updating the progress of the energy bar better than it was in before.

Deoxys and Castform have new Pokedex display buttons. These Pokemon have new attributes such as their ‘forms’ to go along with gender and shiny status, and the Pokedex now supports displaying these forms. New checks for device support are in the app. In particular with the news that users of iOS versions before iOS 11 are getting cut off, the app now supports checking the user’s device to make sure they know to upgrade their OS as soon as possible. A new attribute stores the Trainer’s latitude and longitude. The Silph Road’s data mining team doesn’t know what this represents at this time.

These functions all go along with the listed “various bug fixes and performance updates" from the official update announcement for version 1.61.1/0.91.1.

Expect Pokemon GO‘s latest update to start hitting your local App Store or Google Play Store in the coming hours as the stores process the update and make it available to users.

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