Niantic had originally announced that they would end support for 32-bit Android devices in August 2020. This was met with a lot of backlash from players. There are a ton of older devices that are still able to ride that line and play Pokemon Go. These players losing supported access to the game would be a big deal. The only recourse would be to side-load the APK, assuming Niantic doesn’t find a way to prevent that in the future.
The reasons given for Pokemon Go losing 32-bit Android devices does make sense though. Niantic plans to streamline development and focus on supporting newer operating systems. The developer would also be able to plan better for future technology by moving fully to 64-bit devices. So while it would make the game better, players were not happy.
So it follows that plans changed. “We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion caused, and will update in advance when we move forward with the deprecation,” wrote the company on its blog.
The change has been pushed back to a later date, with no firm date announced. After the update does roll out, players will need a compatible 64-bit Android device or iOS handset to play.
