'Pokemon GO' Begins Rolling Out in the App Store

Nintendo, The Pokemon Company and Niantic's augmented reality game Pokemon GO is rolling out in the App Store now. The game is available in New Zealand, Australia and is propagating through the App Store around the world and in the U.S.


The game uses augmented reality and real-world maps to allow users to venture into the real world to look for Pokemon to capture. Once collected, Pokemon can be leveled up, traded and used for battle. They can also be assigned to defend Gyms from other players. Gyms, like Pokemon, can be found by wandering out into the real world.

When a player is wandering through their neighborhood and a Pokemon is nearby, the game will send the player a notification. Certain Pokemon and items are only available in select locations. For instance, water Pokemon are available near bodies of water while certain PokeBalls are located near museums and other points of interest.

Players can also purchase an optional accessory called Pokemon GO Plus, a wrist-worn device that syncs with the game and alerts users to events happening in the game within their physical vicinity, like the appearance of a new Pokemon.

Pokemon GO iOS screenshots
Our sister site TouchArcade shared some thoughts on the app compared to its beefier, handheld cousins on Nintendo DS.

While the feedback from the beta hasn't been entirely positive, and it's questionable whether the game will live up to the hidden complexity of the Nintendo handheld titles, Pokemon GO will certainly fill a void for anyone looking for critter catching action on their smartphone.

Pokemon GO is Nintendo's second game for iOS after Miitomo. Later this year, the company will launch two more games based on its Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing franchises.

Pokemon GO is available in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Colors

iPhone 18 Rumored to Feature 50% More RAM

Saturday October 25, 2025 2:57 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 could feature 50% more memory than its predecessor, according to Korea's The Bell. With its latest iPhone lineup, the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max feature 12GB of memory. This is a significant increase of 4GB more their predecessors, largely driven by the demands of on-device artificial intelligence processing. The iPhone 17 is the only new...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Says U.S. Passport Feature on iPhone is Coming Soon

Monday October 27, 2025 7:41 am PDT by
You will "soon" be able to add a digital version of your U.S. passport to your iPhone, according to Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Bailey reiterated that the feature is coming soon during her keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas on Sunday. On its iOS 26 page, Apple says the delayed feature will be "coming later this year." Apple's...

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams Avatar
122 months ago
gotta purchase 'em all!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bubba Satori Avatar
122 months ago
Yeah this is front page news :rolleyes:
Well, it's more important than Apple's prehistorically outdated, absurdly over priced computers.
Watch bands, streaming *rap, emojis and Pokemons are where it's at mon.
Please try to keep up. /s
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacFan782040 Avatar
122 months ago
Yeah this is front page news :rolleyes:
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mildocjr Avatar
122 months ago
Wait, you mean I have to get off my couch to play this game?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Eradik Avatar
122 months ago
Won't hold a candle to the real games on 3DS.
It's not supposed to.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Reason077 Avatar
122 months ago
Pokemon should not be trapped and forced to fight for our amusement.

This is not only unethical, but many Pokemon species have been over-collected to satisfy demand in Asian markets. With the combined pressures of habitat loss, many are now on the verge of extinction.

Please, if you do see Pokemon in the wild, just leave them be.

- A message from PETA
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)