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Pokémon Go will soon record your steps in the background

Pokémon Go will soon record your steps in the background

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Pokemon Go
James Bareham / The Verge

Soon you’ll be able to get a lot more out of Pokémon Go without taking your phone out. Developer Niantic is adding a new feature called “adventure sync,” which records your steps in the background. It’s rolling out to all users “soon.” Previously, one of the biggest annoyances with Pokémon Go was that your walking data — which is especially important for hatching eggs — was only tracked when your phone was awake. Today’s update should alleviate that for players who have stuck with the game. The feature will also sync in the background with HealthKit on iOS and Android’s Google Fit.

Late last year, Niantic revealed that it was moving all of its location-based AR games — which include Pokémon Go, Ingress, and an upcoming Harry Potter game — to the same platform so that they can all utilize the same features. Adventure sync appears to be one of the first major features to take advantage of this. Niantic says that the feature is “first being implemented in Pokémon Go,” but it adds that “we’re looking forward to finding new and exciting ways to implement it in our other games in the future.”

Despite launching over two years ago, Pokémon Go is still steadily receiving major updates. Most recently, Niantic started rolling out fourth-generation monsters into the game, and next month, it will be heavily integrated into Pokémon: Let’s Go on the Nintendo Switch.