Pokémon GO: The Data Behind America’s Latest Obsession
 The amazing thing to me is that, at least on iOS, the game is pretty objectively bad.<p>Of course that hasn&#x27;t stopped me from sinking a lot of time into it this weekend.  I&#x27;ve spent $10 on it, which is easily a record for free to play game for me.<p>The server issues are one thing, but the game doesn&#x27;t even get lots of basic things right.  If the server goes away, or sometimes if I&#x27;m just out of the app too long, I have to log back in.  It seems to forget my settings for weather I want sound and music on, or to use the AR functions.  I&#x27;ve run into numerous crashes and graphical glitches. Input getting confused requiring app restarts. Poor handling of the (common) network&#x2F;server issues.<p>One of the mechanics requires walking around, which it won&#x27;t track outside the app despite the fact that iPhones have had motion coprocessor for years. So they offer a special mode (very poorly documented) that basically turns the screen black and tries to reduce power usage a bit. But you have to keep the Pokémon app open to track steps.<p>I am having fun. I REALLY hope they can fix these issues.  I sought earlier today that they do plan to add Pokémon trading and expand the functionality of the various waypoints in the world. I&#x27;d also love to be able to battle my friends.<p>The social aspect on this just amazes me. In the last couple of days they&#x27;re been numerous times when I saw a random people clearly playing this game. Guys walking around parking lots at work, cars parked at empty banks that were closed because there happened to be a gym there.  Numerous posts on social media about random gatherings and flash mobs because of something going on in the game.<p>It&#x27;s clear that Ingress had a pretty good idea.  Tying it to a major brand (not unlike the way Mario kart was created)  that really encourages the collecting aspect and getting it out on iOS at basically the same time have clearly made a huge difference.<p>I&#x27;ll also say, is a Pokémon fan I&#x27;m glad that it&#x27;s only the 150 original in the game. At this point there are way too many Pokémon that seem the same to me, so I&#x27;m glad to see my old friends instead. I imagine that&#x27;ll change someday but this is a good start.