One of the original draws to Pokémon GO when it first came out last year was the ability to use smart phones’ cameras to see Pokémon appearing in the real world through Augmented Reality. Recently, it was announced that Pokémon GO‘s AR capabilities are being upgraded to what they are calling AR+.
According to the official statement, AR+ will set wild Pokémon to a specific point in the real world, which will allow players to get closer and farther away from them at will. This way, if a Pokémon spawns kind of far from you and you wish you were closer so your throws had more accuracy, you can just walk closer to the Pokémon, whereas before there was nothing you could do.
You’ll need to be careful, however, because wild Pokémon will also have an awareness meter that rises as you get closer to them. If it fills up, they will flee. You can attempt to encounter that Pokémon again by tapping on patches of tall grass that will appear, but there isn’t a guarantee you’ll find it again. If you manage to catch a Pokémon while in close proximity to it, you’ll be rewarded with the Expert Handler Bonus, which will give you more Stardust and XP.
Pokémon GO‘s AR+ mode will be available soon for iPhone 6S and newer iPhones running iOS 11.
