'Pokémon Go' Has Been Struggling to Track Players' Steps For Years

One of the best things about playing Pokémon Go is how it encourages players to get up and active. Walking all over our neighborhood to fill up a Pokédex had us feeling like we were becoming Pokémon Masters. When the lockdowns happened because of COVID-19, the game switched up to accommodate for playing indoors — but now, we're still dealing with another issue.

For years, Pokémon Go players have noticed that the game isn't tracking their steps. But why does it stop in the first place? It turns out that there could actually be a few reasons for this. Here are all the ways we know of and how to fix it.

According to a 2018 post by Pokémon Blog, Pokémon Go uses a technology called Adventure Sync to track your progress in the game. Sometimes, different settings on your phone can negatively interact with it and cause the game to stop tracking your steps. Make sure your phone isn't using any kind of Power Saving mode, since this option can turn off certain functions that Adventure Sync needs to work properly.

However, Adventure Sync isn't the only thing on your phone tracking your steps. If your phone has something like Apple Health or Google Fit that regularly tracks your steps and other things in the background, make sure it is still working normally.

Also, for whatever reason, Adventure Sync may not even be on. To activate it, go to Pokémon Go's settings and tap on Adventure Sync. There, you have to grant permissions for it to use data from Apple Health or Google Fit.

In a GameSpot forum thread, players have also said that things like losing your WiFi connection, a weak GPS, and "poor accuracy" can also cause Adventure Sync not to work. However, others have posited that the software is just glitchy, so even if you do everything to prevent issues, they can still pop up.

As of now, there have been no confirmed plans to release another Pokémon Go game, but that does make sense considering that regular updates have been made to the current one consistently. New Pokémon, holiday-themed events, various items, and more have been added over the years, so there's no need to make a brand new one.

But if a Pokémon Go 2 were to come out, some fans would like it to fix issues like what's mentioned above. The Adventure Sync just doesn't sync the way its name would insinuate, and for many gamers, that puts a damper on the gameplay. The Gamer also points out that some of the events that have been released so far have been a struggle to enjoy.