Pokémon Go update rolling out now with new Buddy system, blocks root users

Ahead of the Pokemon Go Plus launching next week, Niantic (unsurprisingly) is now pushing out a new update to the app that brings support for the accessory, along with a few other goodies. Last week, they announced that a new Buddy system would be added in a future update, a feature you’ll be able to enjoy in this latest release (version 0.37.0). Here’s the full changelog:

• Implemented Buddy Pokémon: Trainers will now be able to choose one of their Pokémon to be their buddy. A Trainer can earn Candy for their Buddy Pokémon by walking a certain distance.
• Made it easier to select smaller Pokémon on the screen.
• Fixed an issue where Eggs would sometimes hatch without displaying the animation.
• Improved performance reliability when a device switches networks to no longer cause the application to hang or stop updating.
• Pokémon GO Plus support
• Minor text fixes.

The exact distance you’ll have to walk Pokemon to gain candies — and the exact amount received — still hasn’t been determined. It also sounds like they’ve finally been patching a few annoying bugs and although it wasn’t mentioned in the changelog, we hope the annoying way sounds gets muted whenever you receive a notification has been fixed as well.

Update: Looks like it’s 1 candy for every X km traveled (distance depends on Pokemon). For instance, Lapras, Scyther, and Dragonair are 5km. Haunter, Weezing, and starters are 3km. While some — like Jiggly Puff — are only 1km.

In an effort to crack down on the amount of bots, scrapers, and cheating their way through the game, Niantic is also making the controversial move to prevent rooted or jailbroken users from playing the game. It’s unfortunate for those with rooted devices playing the game legit, but since this is how GPS spoofers are cheating — and ruining the game for others — it was a logical move.

It could take awhile before you see the update hit the Play Store on your Android device, so don’t freak out if you don’t see it right away. We’re sure it’s just a matter of time before the APK appears and once it does, we’ll post here for you guys.

Sideload the app from APKMirror: Pokémon GO 0.37.0

[Release Notes]