FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Please check here before submitting a new Issue. (I am working on updating this with all the Frequently Asked Questions, since the issues are getting difficult to manage.)

The status indicator says "Possible Ban"

Niantic now requires new accounts to accept the Terms of Use and catch a starter Pokemon before the API can be used to scan. Even if you've used your account before, you still need to catch the starter. Login to Pokemon GO with your new account, catch a Pokemon and put in a nickname, and your account should start working.

Google Maps has an error loading

If you are getting an error saying "This page didn't load Google Maps correctly. See the JavaScript console for technical details" you likely need to enable the API:

1. Visit the Google Developer Console.
2. On the left, click Library, then select Google Maps JavaScript API.
3. At the top of the page, click the "ENABLE" link.

Restart the app and you should now see Google Maps data.

Stops Scanning after X time

If you are using a Google Login, the Request token will expire after 30 minutes or so.
This happens since PGO-Map will not keep the request alive at this time.
For longer scans you should use PTC accounts as they are not limited by the Google token and will not require a Keep-Alive request.

Where can I find my saved settings

Settings are not all in a legible text format. Modifying these files may cause PGO-Map to regenerate them if the changes don't follow the Applications format.
Windows Location: %AppData%\pokemon-go-map

Why is there an Outage

Multiple reasons! (Note: the Application will not recover from an Outage, you must restart it)
The most common is that your Application timed out or lost internet connection and therefore is now in an Outage state.
PGO Servers are Unstable or down, This has not occurred much recently.
You have been banned! Yes this is a possible reason. If your account was banned during a scan the Application will soon switch to Outage, if you try to logout and login in your account will not be able to.

My Anti-Virus says this is a Virus

Your Anti-Virus is wrong! Yes thats right, it's wrong! Check the file here: VirusTotal Result for v0.3.2
Anti-Virus Programs scan files for specific 'strings' and if they match one of the potentially bad ones your anti-virus will flag it as a "Potential" threat. For an unexperienced user this will make you panic and uninstall the program and run scans like the paranoid person you are, but fear not. The File is currently being reported as a False-Positive, which occurs occasionally in sensitive scans. If you don't want to take my word for it, here is a reputable Anti-Virus site that has scanned our file for you, most likely using an Anti-Virus program you use as well.

Receiving Error (on Developer Tools): "Search step 1 map parsing failed, retyring request in X seconds"

Starting on the afternoon of August 8, it appears Niantic made a change on their end that returns a non compatible API response if the account you're using has not yet caught it's "starter" Pokemon.

After creating a new PTC account for use with this project (even if this is an account you have been scanning with for a while), make sure to sign into this account via Pokemon GO, agree to the ToS, and then catch your first Pokemon. Scanning via this project will then resume as normal.

What do the spawn point colors mean?

The color of a spawn circle is based on its spawn time relative to the current time:

• The default color is purple / grey.
• At 5 minutes, spawn circles turn light blue and become darker until the spawn time
• At spawn time, spawn circles turn green and change to red over the course of the active spawn