Pokémon Go iOS update will deliver better augmented reality

Thanks to Apple’s ARKit, Pokémon Go is about to receive an update from the game’s makers — Niantic Labs — that will create better augmented reality.

This new update will give players the ability to sneak up on certain Pokémons and collect special bonuses for capturing them, according to a report by Variety. This also means that the Pokémon will be aware of the approaching player, meaning you can scare them away if you’re not careful.

Originally previewed at the Worldwide Developer Conference last June, ARKit means that the Pokémon in Pokémon Go are about to look a whole lot more realistic. They won’t just appear floating above the ground in the general area — they’ll be standing on real-world surfaces and landscape, close enough so that you can walk right up to it.

“In terms of AR, we launched with a pre-ARKit version of AR that was interesting and fun and created a lot of social media sharable moments for people,” Niantic CEO John Hanke said via The Verge. “But a lot of people did turn it off, in part because it was so limited.”

Hanke now says the new ARKit mode will create a unique and fun way to now play the game. Niantic also says that Apple’s ARKit won’t drain as much battery as Pokémon Go’s original AR mode did.

Support for the new AR features are being added to the iPhone 6s and any other Apple devices that should come after that — provided they can run the latest edition of iOS. Currently, there’s no statement on whether Android phones will be able to run this technology. Google, however, has recently been prepping a launch for their own AR tech, so Android users likely won’t have to wait all that long.

“This is step one,” Hanke said via The Verge. “Maybe some company will make some amazing AR glasses in the future. Can’t imagine who that might be.”