'Pokémon GO' news and updates: Niantic Labs confirms Ditto; better tracking system goes live, lures back players

Recently, news has been circulating about several players catching Pokémon that turn out to be a Ditto. Niantic Labs confirmed the news and announced that they have tweaked the game's tracking system. These recent developments will possibly lure back trainers.

Just last Wednesday, a Reddit forum was started after one user shared a screenshot of his "Pokémon GO" game in which he captured the very rare Ditto. It is a Poké monster that has the cool ability to take the form of any other Pokémon. When just being itself, it's simply like a light purple jelly shaped like a starfish.

After a day, Niantic Labs issued a statement confirming that Dittos can now be captured. The developer of the hit augmented reality mobile game said, "Professor Willow has finally discovered Ditto! Trainers all over the world have been reporting its appearance. ... Keep an eye out, some Pokémon may actually be Ditto, and when you capture them, there's a chance that Ditto will reveal itself."

Niantic Labs added that it is not just the appearance that Dittos will copy. Once in a Gym for a battle, the Ditto will copy moves of his opponents for the rest of the battle.

On other news, just a day earlier from confirming the existence of Ditto, Niantic Labs also announced an improvement in the game's tracking system. CNET reported that the tracking feature — being one of the most important elements of the game — used to work poorly for players that they sought help from a third-party app, which Niantic Labs kept on restricting from the app.

To resolve it, Niantic Labs improved the game's tracking feature with a more accurate preview of Nearby Pokéstops. The developer explained, "We have changed the feature to only show the Nearby feature if a PokéStop is close to your location. In addition, we have also made changes to the way Sightings now works."

The improved Nearby feature is now live for trainers in the United States (except Hawaii and Alaska), Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the western half of Ontario), and all of Australia.