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Ashlynd Howell's parents, who hail from Arkansas, thought their account was hacked when they received a total of 13 order confirmations for Pokemon goodies. [Representational Image].Reuters

"Pokemon Go," the insanely popular AR mobile game from Niantic requires players to physically walk to hunt, catch and train virtual Pokemon.

But fans are devising newer ways to track and catch specific Pokemon. One such third-party tracker tool is PokeVision, which lets players see the spawned Pokemon in real time.

All that players have to do is scan an area where they want to find the Pokemon location, and the map (on the web) shows the nearby locations where Pokemon have spawned.

The description of the PokeVision website reads, "It uses the Niantic API to grab the location of all Pokemon near your (or your selected location) and display them on the map in real-time; this means if it is displayed on the map, you can go out and catch them!"

The website also warns that Rare Pokemon appears for a lesser duration, so players need to be really quick to spot and catch them.

How to track using Pokevision?

The official website has detailed methods players need to follow to track Pokemon:

  • Click anywhere on the map to drop a location marker. After placing a marker, press scan to reveal Pokemon nearby.
  • Use the Search Bar to enter your location (or a location you wish to scan) and hit enter. You can then click Scan. If there are Pokemon nearby, they will display on the map along with their appearance time.

Currently, the website noted that Pokemon Go servers and their servers were unstable due to increased load. It said that it is working to resolve these problems.

The Silph Road has a detailed Reddit thread that discusses this tool, noting that PokeVision lets players find Pokemon even with the three step bug. It also noted that the tool kills the fun players can have by tracking down rare Pokemon without the help of such apps.

Another Redditor revealed that he found "major discrepancies" in PokeVision.

He wrote in the post that:

I've found that Pokevision only shows some of the Pokemon that are available in a given area. As expected, lured / incensed Pokemon don't show up on Pokevision. The in-game tracker appears to be totally trash; it doesn't display a correct list of Pokemon that spawn nearby, and the Pokemon it does show may or may not actually exist locally.

He also added:

It sounds like some people have 100% accuracy, while others while others (including myself) have significantly less.

But some Redditors have said that it does not show everything.

NOTE: Niantic considers using third party search tool as cheating. Players are advised to proceed with caution.