PokeVision alternative FastPokeMap returns for Pokemon GO

One of the few developer crews still working on Pokemon GO mapping of monsters is FastPokeMap, and today they're back in business. Every few days the service has gone down for the count, but for the time being, it would seem that FPM is ready to roll. This is the latest in a long line of replacements for the first big name in Pokemon GO mapping, PokeVision – a service that was taken down by a request from Niantic, The Pokemon Company, and/or Nintendo.

With FastPokeMap, users will be able to do several things, all having to do with Pokemon GO. The first of these is basic identification of Pokemon appearing around your physical location. Each Pokemon appears with a standard icon, easy to recognize, with a countdown meter below. When a countdown meter expires, the Pokemon is almost certainly gone from the real game.

This map system is able to zoom in and out to get a better idea of where each individual Pokemon rests. In addition to locating Pokemon in the real physical location of the user, a location pin can be moved and dropped where the user wishes. This will be helpful only in a very limited fashion, as each Pokemon's longest resting time is under 15 minutes.

Users are able to filter the types of Pokemon they want to see – or no longer want to see – and the app is based primarily in a web browser. With this map system, users have been able to capture some of the most rare Pokemon in the game without burning out the bottoms of their shoes. This version of FastPokeMap has – at the time of this article's publishing – been up for around 22 hours straight.