"The Silph Road's APK Teardown of v0.119.1 is complete! EX Pass sharing, PokeStop submissions (hype!), Android photo save fixes, new Kecleon cry, EX-eligible Gym tags?, and effects added for TWO new moves: Crabhammer and Power-Up Punch!"

#PokemonGO: It's another exciting APK day on the Road, travelers!A few hours ago, v0.119.1 began a staged rollout, bringing several excellent quality-of-life updates and a few new features. Namely (paraphrased):PokeStop nomination are now available to Level 40 trainers in Brazil and S. Korea (woot!)You can now remove Pokemon from your favorites while in the trade interfaceYou can now share an EX Raid pass with one friend (not live yet)Swipe to dismiss notifications (huzzah!)"Various bug fixes and performance updates"The day of PokeStop submissions is finally upon us! We're beyond excited to see Brazil and S. Korea (areas with notoriously scant POI data) pilot PokeStop submissions in-game!But we've taken a look under the surface to see what else may be heading our way. Let's dive in!Back-End Changes, Platform Updates, & Bug FixesFirst lets' take a look at the nuts and bolts!1. Android Camera SavingLarge changes have been introduced to the way the Pokemon GO client interfaces with the Android camera. A new AndroidCameraAppService has been introduced to (apparently) help manage permissions and storage. We've already seen reports of many Android devices which previously were unable to save AR photos having success with this new version. Try re-installing or rebooting your phone if you're having trouble, travelers!2. Authentication StreamliningA large restructuring has taken place in Niantic's authentication library. Little will appear different in the client app, but it appears Niantic has continued its work in integrating SuperAwesome child accounts and the ability to deprecate OAuth vendors. Interestingly, this library was placed in the Niantic.Auth namespace directly - above the Niantic.Platform.Auth namespace we've seen it land in previously.3. Localization (Translation) ChangesAnother major change under the hood this round is a re-work of the way translations are handled. A new table of translated strings called I18nStringTable has been added, along with a new way of caching and updating translation text from the server.Along with these metadata changes, many static text assets were removed from the APK's asset files. Previously, translation strings would be included in the APK file itself, requiring a client-side update to fix translation errors or add new translated strings. Now, these have all been removed and are presumably being pulled from the server depending on the device's language settings.In all, this appears to be an evolution in how translations can be handled moving forward - a more flexible system capable of being hot-fixed over the air!4. Pokedex Model Animations RestoredMany travelers will be happy to see the 3D Pokedex models once again play animations and audio cries when tapped.Quality of Life UpdatesNiantic has really been pouring it on in the QoL department! The last few weeks have seen major QoL improvements, and this APK is no different!5. Shiny Pokemon Icon During EncounterNow, next to the berry icon and weather icon, and new ShinyIcon will appear above a shiny Pokemon's name during a catch encounter! This has become increasingly needed thanks to the oft night imperceptible differences between some species' shiny variants and their standard coloring.6. Swipe Away NotificationsThe new notification system brought many helpful features - including the ability to link straight to a relevant screen - but one major downside was the inability to dismiss them! Now, notifications can be swiped away!7. Un-Favorite Pokemon in the Trading ScreenOne of the most cumbersome parts of trading was realizing your target Pokemon was still favorited - after scrolling to find a friend, initiating a trade session, and scrolling to find that Pokemon. Now, the ability to un-favorite right from the Trading screen has been added!New FeaturesTwo new major features were added in this update!8. PokeStop Submissions (Live in S. Korea and Brazil!)We can hardly believe we're saying this, travelers - but PokeStop submissions are now enabled and live in two countries with historically sparse POI data. It's been a long time coming, but this is a fantastic development for Pokemon GO.A new multi-step tutorial has been added to the UI to help train folks how to submit POI data.Many challenges lie ahead of Niantic before a global rollout of this system would seem likely - they must maintain quality, staff the reviewers with adequate manpower, and ensure the game's map is not manipulated by bad actors.But this is a historic day in Pokemon GO!9. EX Raid Pass Sharing (Not Live Yet!)Everything is now in place for EX Raid passes to be shared with a Friend, travelers!Notably, this system will require a minimum Friendship level that has not yet been discovered: MinimumExRaidShareLevel. Among several new error codes surrounding this feature, some basic restrictions are revealed for this feature:You can only share an EX Raid pass with one person (ERROR_EX_RAID_PASS_ALREADY_SHARED)Friends cannot have been invited to the same Raid already (ERROR_FRIEND_ALREADY_INVITED_TO_SAME_RAID)A minimum Friendship level is required (ERROR_TOO_LOW_FRIENDSHIP_LEVEL)The Raid cannot have already started! (ERROR_EX_RAID_ALREADY_STARTED)We may see a forced update required before this feature is enabled, travelers, as you will not be able to 'receive' a shared EX Raid pass if your app client cannot handle that interaction. Keep an eye on it!Hints, Leaks, & Upcoming FeaturesNow for the hype train fuel!10. "EX-Eligible" Tags on Gyms?Currently, Sponsored Gyms are shown with a small sponsored call-out in the top right. The following metadata has appeared after Gyms' IsSponsored attribute in the new APK:IsExRaidEligibleexRaidTagClickExRaidTagexRaidModalSpriteThis metadata appears related to the UI's Sponsored callout. Might we hope to see Ex Raid eligibility called out explicitly in an impending update? We'll certainly be watching closely!11. Kecleon Audio Cry ChangedThe sound for the unreleased Gen III Pokemon Kecleon) has been updated in this APK. No other species' sound files have been altered - hinting that this species may be getting a little extra attention...12. Audio Files Spotted for a New Move: Crabhammer!In an interesting twist of events, the audio files for a new move have been spotted! Crabhammer is, curiously, another "signature move" - this time for the Krabby/Kingler family.For those who've forgotten: less than a month ago, the Silph Road team discovered the move Meteor Mash in the APK's assets - notably, the signature move of the Metagross family.It's curious to see multiple signature moves beginning to appear in the audio and effects files, while still notably absent from the APKs move dictionary...13. Visual Effects Assets Added for Meteor MashSpeaking of Meteor Mash... a new 'comet' graphic asset has been added, presumably for use in the move!14. A Brand New Move Appears: Power-Up Punch!Get hyped, travelers!An entirely new move has just had its effects files show up in this latest APK: Power-Up Punch!This move is learned by a very few species via leveling up (though it can be TM'd by many more). In fact, only two families can learn it in Gen 7 (Crabrawler and Buzzwole) and only one Pokemon can learn it in Gen IV .... Lucario!Are we seeing the first hints of the upcoming Gen IV Pokemon's new moveset? That's where we'd put our chips. :)Whew. We made it through, travelers!Once again, Niantic's put some awesome updates in to help improve quality of life - but this time, it's also included some excellent new features. EX Raid pass sharing will help make EX Raids more fun for everyone. Especially couples and travelers who play with siblings or other loved ones.We're also still amped to see PokeStop submissions already live and humming in 2 countries! This will almost undoubtedly improve the game more than any other update for players in POI-sparse areas. Let's hope things continue rolling out smoothly from here!And finally, we can't wait to see these awesome signature moves and this brand new fighting-type move finally land! The introduction of Crabhammer and Power-Up Punch are strong hints of what's to come.No other asset files have appeared for Gen IV species - so another client app update will be required before we see any traction on that front, travelers. But this update is a very welcome one and we're amped for what's coming next!Now, time to succumb again to this cold, grab some chicken soup, and head back to bed without proof-reading. :)Travel safe,- Executive Dronpes - via /r/TheSilphRoad https://ift.tt/2Ocyygp