Poké Radar For Android And iPhone Will Totally Change Your ‘Pokémon GO’ Experience For The Better, What It Is And How To Get It

Poké Radar may be the closest thing this world has to superpowers. It won’t let you see through walls or fly, but Poké Radar does improve your Pokémon GO experience a great deal. The handy little app for iPhone and Android devices helps you scout out nearby pokémon in your neighborhood, thus taking the guesswork out of trying to “catch ’em all.” If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated with trying to get that perfect addition to your team, or catch three Eevees so you can evolve them into Vaporeon, Flareon, and Jolteon, Poké Radar has you covered.

How Does It Work?

So, how does Poké Radar work, you ask? Lifehacker explored this question and found that other players can add rare pokémon to the in-application map, though trolls sometimes drop fake pokémon for fun. You can then see which creatures are appearing where, and go get ’em assuming you’re in the mood to leave home. The map is laid out similar to a Google Map, with the critters appearing at random roads and intersections.

Where Do I Get It?

The application can be downloaded (free!) from the Apple Store for iOS devices. At this moment, there is no incarnation for Android, but there are a slew of unofficial copycats that may serve the same purpose. Screenshots on the store show players adding locations where they’ve found pokémon and using an easy drop-down menu to select which types of the little guys they’ve found. Tech Insider also found that you can see which trainer found said pokémon and how recently by tapping the pokémon’s icon.

Poke Radar: Discover the location of any Pokemon via @ProductHunt https://t.co/s90Ay5iYCP pic.twitter.com/j11Zz5HiJW

— Sarah Evans 7??7??7?? (@prsarahevans) July 18, 2016

Why Do I Want It?

Poké Radar has a variety of potentially useful applications. For one thing, you won’t walk into a wall trying to find a pokémon (hopefully). There’s also the fact that you won’t have to waste time in areas that either don’t have any pokémon or don’t have the type(s) you’re looking for. When you can better plan your team and capture the critters you want, that gym badge is yours for the taking. The new invention also has cool social implications; you can find the types of pokémon your friends are nabbing, and all plan to meet up somewhere and bag a few new Pikachus.

Anything Else I Should Know?

The types of pokémon you can find using Poké Radar are related to your level, as Paste Magazine learned. The original games had the same sort of feel to them since it was unlikely you’d capture a pokémon many levels above you. The understanding is also that gym leaders use pokémon who are give or take the same level as yours, so the system balances itself out. As it stands right now, the app doesn’t seem to detect things like PokéStops or Gyms, so you’ll have to fend for yourself on those locations.

TL,DR:

If you’ve been going crazy trying to find a Charmelon, absolutely sleepless over the whereabouts of Slugma, this is the app for you. The app can also be accessed through a website, though the servers are a bit slow right now due to epic amounts of traffic. The app appears to be just fine, though. If you’re an Android user and feeling left in the dark, never worry.

This little ethical hack is blowing up big time on iOS (No. 2 on the App Store), so it’s likely the developers might explore an Android version sometime soon. The app could be the thing you need to solve your Pokémon GO FOMO, and it looks pretty fun to boot. Have you tried Poké Radar? Let us know what you think or if you’re planning on trying it out in the comments.

[Image via Darren Mark Domirez/Flickr.com/Public Domain]