‘Pokemon GO’ Ditto Sightings, Nearby Features Updates: Sightings Not Working Properly?

There’s been a lot of big news in terms of the mobile game Pokemon GO lately, with a Thanksgiving event as well as some new features updates, issues, and the recent Ditto sightings. In particular, the fact that Ditto has been found in the wild and transforms from select Pokemon characters has players excited.

Unfortunately, the Sightings and Nearby features updates may not be working properly everywhere just yet. With the holiday event, will these issues be enough to deter use of the game, or will gamers still take on the challenges in order to reap the latest rewards for Thanksgiving?

As Heavy reported, there have been some initial reports of Pokemon species transforming into Ditto. The site noted that the most common transformations reported are 2km species. So far, there are reports for Pidgey, Rattata, Zubat, Magikarp, and Sparrow all transforming into Ditto. There have been some less common reports of other transformations. These include Metapod and Maneky, with proof being provided on Reddit. Other species with no proof shown yet include Venonant, Paras, Ekans, Snorlax, Dodo, and Nidoran.

You can now catch Ditto in 'Pokémon GO.' That's if you're even still playing. https://t.co/kVl7VksLaU pic.twitter.com/DQpsiEPthr

— HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) November 23, 2016

While the Ditto discoveries have been exciting for players, there have been some recent updates leading to some frustration. The new Nearby tracker feature is becoming more readily available to gamers worldwide and has seen some changes based on player feedback, Gamespot reported.

The Pokemon GO Facebook fan page posted yesterday about which regions should now have the feature. These included parts of the United States, Canada, and Australia, as seen below.

“United States of America: All states west of the Mississippi River (except Hawaii and Alaska)

– Canada: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the western half of Ontario.

– Australia: All states and territories”

The Nearby feature first rolled out in select areas of the United States, including San Francisco, California, and parts of Washington and Arizona. The good news for Pokemon GO fans is that it’s starting to become more available in some parts of the country.

However, the Nearby tracker rollout is also causing quite a stir as it reduced the capabilities of Sightings. The newest features update brought with it some issues in terms of finding wild Pokemon. Some individuals are only able to see Pokemon close enough that they appear on the screen, while others no longer can see the Sightings panel.

The Sightings panel is said to only allow trainers to see Pokemon characters that are also on your mobile device screen and within 40 meters distance away. The Sightings feature also seemed to remove the ability to use other methods for tracking Pokemon such as triangulation, which has gamers using these strategies upset with the update.

There have also been reports that gamers in rural areas are having issues seeing Pokemon in the wild around them via Sightings. Also, it appears many rural area gamers can only see Pokemon at the Poke stops that are miles away from them with the Nearby Feature.

As these issues continue, fans of the hit game will try to enjoy their upcoming holiday, and that includes a special Pokemon GO Thanksgiving XP event. According to Forbes, the event, which started on Wednesday, will extend through November 30 and features flat double bonuses for XP and Stardust. As the report notes, that makes it a “double XP weekend” or week but should help to boost use of Pokemon GO, much like the Halloween event did last month. Gamers should realize there won’t be any sweet candy bonuses with this particular event, though.

With most mobile games updates, including these Pokemon GO features updates, there’s always initial bugs and glitches. As they have for weeks and months, gamers will once again need to exercise patience while waiting for Niantic to process the various issues and roll out new updates to resolve the glitches. As of now, the best news seems to be the Ditto sightings and that the Thanksgiving Pokemon GO event is finally happening.

Pokemon GO players, have you been experiencing any other issues with the Nearby tracker and Sightings features? Also, have you been able to transform any Pokemon into Ditto yet?

[Featured Image by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]