Update: I have reached out to the creator of Smart Poke. I will let you know when/if his Google account comes back online.
Not only was Smart Poke removed from the Play Store, but the creator’s Google account was terminated. In addition, it seems like all apps of this nature are not scanning correctly. To top it all off, Niantic relased yet another update.
There is no word yet on whether Niantic plan to work with Google to restore user cyrilpp’s Google account. According to him, he is an application developer who lost 3 years worth of users and applications when Google deleted his account yesterday. He mentioned this in a Reddit post yesterday which he has since deleted.
This morning, he confirmed that his Google account is still unavailable to him. Here is his full post:
my Google account has been terminated !<
I’m devastated, Smart Poke has only been a two weeks work and because of this i lost all my apps, more than 3 years of work just gone 🙁 I have resigned from my job 2 years ago to devote myself in android wear apps and i just lost everything. I have done an appeal with little hope of being heard. Damn ! edit: I didn’t even charge for it, i just wanted people to have some fun hunting.
Even with the map app it’s not so easy to catch some of them. Some time you really need to rush ! While with pokemon go you just don’t have any idea where they are, the 3 steps isn’t even working anymore. it’s more a matter of luck. Because if you detect one it’s because you are near it, so you can’t miss it.
With my app, when you see a rare pokemon some blocks away and you have to run to catch it there is so much fun ! With pokemon go you just can’t have this first part, too bad. With my app you are kept in alert at all time too (if you want), even at home. You know you might want to leave home anytime to catch a rare one around the bloc 😉 Edit2: Seems that scan isn’t working for any of the pokemon map helper like mine. So they killed all my apps knowing that anyway Smart Poke wouldn’t work anymore a few hours later. Why bother then
Author’s Note: Cyrilpp, along with many other users, violated Niantic’s terms of service with his decision to data mine the source code. Still, there is a possibility that he will be granted mercy by the powers that be. It’s fair to say the community is watching this closely. Like many, I hope this apparent crackdown is but one step on a path that will lead us to a more enjoyable game. And, like many, I’m hoping that other steps on this path include a working Pokemon mapping feature inside the game itself. We will see. -cat
