'Pokemon Go' Buddy System Update: What's Taking So Long? [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Android users across the country have started to see the update appear on the Google Play Store.

On Saturday , Niantic announced the long awaited Buddy System was finally coming to Pokemon Go. Players were ecstatic; they would finally be able to take their Pikachus out for walks and have something new to try. It’s been a few days and most of the playerbase hasn’t received the update. It’s still unavailable for most users on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Here are just some reactions from disgruntled players on Twitter:

In order to get the 0.37 update now, you have to download the game’s API from a website, which can be risky and may cause Niantic to ban your account for “cheating.” When the update will actually drop is anyone’s guess, though Destructoid says it’s rolling out today.

Why does a game, like Pokemon Go , take days after a patch announcement for it to actually go live? A patch first has to get approved by Apple or Google before it can be released on all devices. According to Heavy.com , on Saturday “the update was already propagating through the Android store, but it had just been submitted to Apple. Apple’s time to review an update before releasing it can be as long as two days.”

Hopefully the patch comes out soon, because you do not want to see the internet when it’s angry.