'Pokemon Go' To End Support For Older Android, iOS Phones In October

Android 5.0 “Lollipop” and iOS 10 and 11 will no longer be able to access “Pokemon Go” when the game’s next update happens in October.

The Twitter account for “Pokemon Go” confirmed that as well as mentioning that two popular older phones won’t be allowed to play the game either, namely the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6. This is despite the fact that both phones can be upgraded to run iOS 12.

“iPhone 5S and 6 have just 1 GB of RAM, and we don’t want to hold back development and implementation of features for the vast majority of players who have more robust phones,” Niantic told The Verge.

Truth be told, the performance of “Pokemon Go” on those devices probably wasn’t that great to begin with. The game might not be as demanding as other titles, but it does rely heavily on your phone’s camera, GPS tracking, and overall capacity to keep up with the 3D visuals of “Pokemon Go.”

That could all be draining on an older phone’s battery. Even though Niantic says that this change will only impact “a very small percentage of daily active players,” it is still going to be a loss for those around the globe who don’t want to or can’t upgrade their phones.

“Pokemon Go” players who have a flagship or midrange Android or iPhone handset from recent years won’t need to worry as it is only those with older or more affordable devices who will be cut off from the “Pokemon Go” experience after this coming upgrade.

Despite getting long in the tooth, “Pokemon Go” remains incredibly popular to this day. Niantic Labs said 2019 was its most lucrative year since the augmented reality title was launched in 2016.

According to data from mobile game and app analytics firm Sensor Tower, the game’s popularity didn’t see a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, it grew, seeing more than $254 million in revenue in Q2 2020 — nearly a 38-percent revenue boost compared to the previous quarter.

Despite the game inherently requiring people to go out and walk around, even with these activities being severely limited since the pandemic broke out, this year’s Pokemon GO Fest was the biggest yet, with players catching nearly a billion of the digital creatures

People could not stop catching Pokemon and Niantic smartly made the game easier to play indoors. Thus, if you have an older device and still want to keep catching Pokemon and battling other users, you might want to either upgrade your OS or your device before October arrives.