Pokemon Go Maker Hints It May Bring Back '3-Step' Tracking Feature

Pokemon GO maker hints it may bring back '3-step' tracking feature - but Pokevision won't be returning

Pokemon players may be lamenting the loss of Pokevision - but they can take solace in the news that Niantic is working on a fix for its in-app tracking feature

The developer of the wildly popular mobile app Pokemon GO caused uproar over the weekend, after it removed one of the the game's key features.

On July 31, Niantic issued an update that that disabled the in-game tracking system , designed to show how close Pokemon were to your location.

The "Nearby" feature originally displayed a list of Pokemon in the area, with a series of footprints denoting how far away they were from the player, and a compass pointing in their general direction.

However, the feature broke soon after the game was launched, so Niantic decided to disable the feature as part of its July 31 update.

Furthermore, Niantic blocked a number of third-party apps designed to help players track down Pokemon - including the hugely popular Pokevision , which showed exactly where Pokemon were and for how long .

The move angered players and even prompted some to demand refunds for their in-app purchases.

However, the game developer has now hinted that it may bring back the footprint tracking feature, once it has has found a fix.

"We have removed the '3-step' display in order to improve upon the underlying design," the Pokémon GO team said in a statement on its Facebook page .

"The original feature, although enjoyed by many, was also confusing and did not meet our underlying product goals. We will keep you posted as we strive to improve this feature."

However, the statement didn't offer much hope for players lamenting the loss of Pokevision and other Pokemon-tracking apps.

"We have limited access by third-party services which were interfering with our ability to maintain quality of service for our users and to bring Pokémon GO to users around the world," it said.

Pokevision creator Yang Liu has responded with an impassioned open letter to the chief executive of Niantic, John Hanke, imploring him to listen to the fans.

"We made Pokevision not to 'cheat.' We made it so that we can have a temporary relief to the in-game tracker that we were told was broken," he wrote.

We saw Pokevision as a stop gap to this? - ?and we had every intention in closing it down the minute that Pokemon GO’s own tracker restored functionality.

"We didn’t make Pokevision to spite you, Niantic? - ?we made it so that we can keep everyone playing while we wait patiently."

He added that, at its peak, 50 million people were using Pokevision to find and catch Pokemon - around half the number of people who have downloaded Pokemon Go.

Since it has been disabled, the game's ratings on Apple's App Store and Google Play have fallen from 4.0 stars to 1.0–1.5.

However, some third-party apps - such as Smart Poke V2 - appear to have found a way to bypass Niantic's restrictions, and continue to offer information on the whereabouts of specific Pokemon.