Everyone who has played Pokémon GO for more than a day has noticed that the game can be very unresponsive at times.
Most of the game is about hunting for Pokemon in the real world. Although it is less about graphics, the speed of the game has always lagged behind our phones.
Movement, in particular, seems to be hampered by stuttering and slowdowns, making catching Pokémon harder than it should be. While Niantic might not improve this any time soon, there is an easy way to fix this on your own phone.
How to increase Pokémon GO’s refresh rate
First thing first, check that your app is updated to at least version 1.191.0. Go to your play store and check for updates on the app from the Play Store on Android or the app store on iOS.
- After you have completely updated the app, tap the Pokéball along the bottom of the screen.
- Go to the Settings.
- Go down and select the Advanced setting.
- Click on the Native Refresh Rate option.
- Select the circle next to the option to enable it.
Once you have completed all the above steps, come back to the app and play the game. You will notice that it runs much smoother than before. If you are playing on your iPhone, or an Android device you can feel the difference. In these devices, the speed is around 90 Hz or 120 Hz.
Wrapping it up:
Playing the game at higher FPS might not be the most important thing about Pokémon GO, but if you are having trouble finding pokémon around your area, getting more stardust for power-ups or evolution is definitely better than struggling to catch them. Niantic’s new update added some nice changes to the game, but it still feels frustrating when your speed lags behind so much that catching pokemon becomes almost impossible.
With this fix in place however you can let loose and increase your chances of spotting more rare Pokémon with high combat points.