Want tips and tricks for Pokemon Go? Find out the very first things you should do to succeed in the newest catch-em-all adventure! Read on to find the absolute best tips for Pokemon Go .

Look around on your map for the blue icons that denote Pokestops.

These blue icons are often landmarks, sculptures, noteworthy buildings and more, and getting close to and swiping the image that appears in the circle will score you free items like Poke Balls to catch Pokemon, Eggs to hatch Pokemon, and upon reaching level 5 - Potions and Revives to heal your Pokemon from Gym Battles.

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To use the Pokestop, you must move your character near enough to activate it (there's a ring around your character that shows how close you are). Once you have it activated, you must tap on the blue icon, then swipe to spin the blue disc that shows a picture of the spot on your screen. This will release items. You can either tap to collect them, or simply exit the Pokestop and they will be collected anyways.

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Note that you must remain near the Pokestop to obtain the items, which can be difficult in moving vehicles!



Popular Places Equal More PokeStops

If you're in a pretty lonely area, consider taking a trip to a local park, mall, or other hotspot where you are likely to find more points of interest that will in turn give you more free items.

Turn on Battery Saver

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This may seem like an obvious one, but Pokemon Go is, at launch, quite the drain on your phone's battery.

Some light searching in the tall grass of your surroundings should be fine on a half-charged phone, but for long expeditions along local routes, be sure to go out with a fully charged phone — and maybe even bring an external charger along in case things go bad while catching a Pokemon.

The app also includes a "Battery Saver" option in its Settings menu, which darkens and minimizes the game when the phone is upside down (preferably in one's pocket) but still tracks and alerts when Pokemon or PokeStops are encountered.

UPDATE: As of the

As of the July 31st update , most devices no longer have the Battery Saver option in the settings, and it is unknown if this feature will return in a later update.

Personalize Your Pokemon

GO retains one of the main Pokemon games' most important options — renaming your Pokemon.

Even after you capture a creature out in the wild, simply open up the "Pokemon" option in your menu, click on a particular one, and give it whichever name you'd like. (And yes, at launch, you can include curses in your Pokemon's name.)

Track Pokemon (and know your Pokemon Shapes)



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UPDATE: As of the

As of the August 8th Update , the footprint indicators have been replaced in the game.

Pokemon Go will give players an idea of the Pokemon in the nearby area with icons appearing the bottom right-hand corner of the app. They remain shrouded in shadow when you haven't yet caught that type. The mystery keeps things fun — and resembles the unknown of wandering around in the original Pokemon games — but having an idea of which Pokemon are available to you could make all the difference as as you collect and train to be the very best like no one ever was.

Now, instead of footprints, you'll probably see "Sightings" unless you're part of the small subset of users who are testing out the brand-new "Nearby" feature.



Under Sightings, you'll see images of Pokemon with tufts of grass behind them, indicating that they are somewhere in the wild but not directly next to a PokeStop.

The Nearby feature shows Pokemon with images behind them, indicating the PokeStop they are nearby. Tap the Pokemon you want to track, and you will see the precise location you need to travel to in order to find it!



This feature is only being tested right now, but hopefully will be rolled out to everyone in the near future.

Transfer Your Doubles



When you catch Pokemon, you have the option to transfer them to Professor Willow. Doing so will get you Pokemon Candy for the Pokemon you transfered, which you can then collect to eventually evolve that Pokemon, or power up their Combat Points. Click on the Pokemon button, then click on a Pokemon and scroll all the way down, past the small map that shows you where your Pokemon was caught. Here you can touch the Transfer button and confirm you want to actually get rid of the selected Pokemon.

However, before you transfer a double (or triple) to the professor, analyze the Pokemon's stats and compare it to the other Pokemon of the same kind that you already have. Which has a higher CP? What attacks does each have? Which weighs more? Figure out those, then transfer the weaker of the two.