Pokemon GO now lets Android users play music while hunting

Android users now no longer run the risk of burning the Pokemon GO music theme in theirs ears and subconscious or bear the eerie silence when hunting for Pokemon or battling it out in gyms. Niantic Labs just pushed out an update to both iOS and Android versions but seems to have not mentioned an especially important change for Android users. Users are reporting that the game no longer pauses their current music or podcast when they startup Pokemon GO, allowing them to listen to their choice of tunes.

This is something that iOS users have already enjoyed for quite a while, around since version 1.23.x. Now Android users are also getting in on the fun. Previously, Pokemon GO would pause any and all currently playing music when it starts up, forcing players to listen to the game's looping music or none at all. As you can imagine, it did not sit well with players.

To be fair to Niantic, the problem wasn't exactly theirs but was caused by a bug in the Unity 3D game engine. Being a game engine, Unity most likely works on the presumption that it is the only thing you'll want to listen to. Obviously not the case. Unity apparently put out the fix a few weeks back, but, as is normal in game development cycles, those didn't trickle down to Pokemon GO players until recently.

There is a catch, however. There is always a catch. While Pokemon GO now lets you listen to music or podcasts while playing, it lowers the volume down to a considerable degree. Some players report it to be well below an acceptable level, leading them to increase the phone's volume. But once Pokemon GO is closed and its volume-decreasing effect is undone, boom goes your eardrums. It hasn't been established yet whether this is another Unity bug or if Niantic Labs intentionally designed it that way.

Officially, the update, version 0.55.0 for Android and 1.25.0 for iOS, brings the following changes:

• Reduced the starting load time on Android devices.

• Resolved Android connectivity issues for the Pokémon GO Plus accessory.

• Integrated iOS wheelchair support for use with Apple Watch.

• Minor text fixes.

SOURCE: Pokemon GO, Reddit