Pokémon Go breaks high refresh rate displays with recent update

What you need to know

  • Pokémon Go version 0.153.0 has broken high refresh rates.
  • One of the most popular phones affected is the OnePlus 7 Pro that has a 90Hz display.
  • There is still no word from Niantic on whether is this a new bug or an intentional change.

One of the recent trends we're seeing in the smartphone market is high refresh displays. It started out with gaming phones, but it has now made its way to the OnePlus 7 Pro, and if the rumors hold true, it will also be on the new Pixel 4.

One of the main draws to high refresh rate displays is how buttery smooth they can make games look. However, it's up to the developers to implement that high refresh rate in their games. Pokémon Go was one title that did this, until recently that is.

Many users have gone online to complain that the most recent update has broken the high refresh rate support and is capping performance at 30FPS. Most of the complaints are from users of the OnePlus 7 Pro with a 90Hz display, seeing how that's currently the most popular phone with a high refresh rate. However, there have also been a few complaints from Razer Phone users who have an even higher refresh rate at 120Hz.

The frame rate issue was introduced with version 0.153.0 of Pokémon Go app, but the high refresh rates are still working with the older 0.151.0 version. You can grab the older version from APK Mirror, but that is only a temporary solution and it will eventually stop working.

There is still no word from Niantic, the developer of Pokémon Go, on whether or not this is a bug or an intentional change. Hopefully, it's just a bug which can be squashed quickly and we can all get back to our silky smooth Pokémon hunting.

Jason England