For Pokémon GO fans, there is now a way to catch them all. Just download GO Radar.
This app allows players to track certain Pokémon in populated areas. GO Radar was created by Will Cobb, a Rhodes College junior studying computer science and business, two weeks after playing Pokémon Go, according to a College USA Today article.
As he struggled to find certain Pokémon, he realized that the once popular tracking feature that allowed players to pinpoint Pokémon was removed.
The app removed the tracker due to a glitch that was causing every single Pokémon to appear to be three footprints away, regardless of where it actually was, according to an article by the news website Heavy.com.
Sophomore adolescent education major Delores Relyea said she enjoys using the popular app. However, she said she was disappointed when the tracking feature was taken away from the app initially.
“As a player, I’m a little upset by that but as a person I think it helps players explore more and not get on a set path just to get that particular Pokémon,” Relyea said. “You have to wander around a bit for it.”
When Relyea learned about GO Radar, she said more diehard fans would probably enjoy using GO Radar with Pokémon Go.
“I think if people want to use the tracking, if they’re in the game to go outside and get exercise, then there is an incentive for that to get the Pokémon and level up as soon as possible,” she said. “There’s multiple ways to have fun with this app.”
Students should know this isn’t the only feature with GO Radar. Players can also filter Pokémon, which can help them catch rarer Pokémon rather than catching the same ones over and over. The filtering feature will allow players to highlight rarer Pokémon and remove the Pokémon they already have.
“That’d be amazing. I’m so sick of getting a buzz on my phone and looking excitingly only to find it to be another Weedle or Pidgey,” Relyea said.
Sophomore TV Video Production major Luke Louzan also enjoys using the Pokémon app. He said he first started using the app because it was an interesting concept. He said he thinks it’s really nice to put a spin on the idea that all video games are about is sitting on a couch staring at a TV.
“Whether it was their intention or not, I found myself going out more,” Louzan said. “When I have such free time as summer, it’s nice to have something nagging at you to go outside.”
Marketing and entrepreneurship professor Emad Abou-Elgheit said he is always in favor of innovation, so he thought the Pokémon GO app was a success.
“I believe the future of marketing or ecommerce in general will have thinner barriers between reality and virtual,” he said.
With GO Radar, he said the student brought back a feature that people were disappointed to see go.
“He knew there was a concern with people liking this feature, and he thought of a new way of bringing it back,” said. “He can actually add this feature to the original app. It is doable.”
Abou-Elgheit also said his choice of making the app free was a marketing decision. He said some app developers or businesses start offering the app free of charge because they want to build their audience in the beginning.
“And when they have that audience engaged with the app, they can start generating profit. It doesn’t have to be through purchasing the app for 99 cents,” he said. “It can be from advertisers. It can be through affiliate marketing from other providers. So the main trends is to build the audience.”
Still Abou-Elgheit said as far as the junior’s business idea, it’s simply an imitation of the app. He said at the end of the day, he doesn’t think it’s a stable business model to do another version of an existing app.
“In this modern day viral craze, it’s interesting that it can have such a grasp on people’s day-to-day lives,” Louzan said.
Email Kavita Singh at fuse@cardinalpointsonline.com
