Crossfiyah

In that case how do you reconcile that with allegations that Niantic is abusing permissions to read your internal storage files in order to determine if you have rooting capabilities?

EDIT: He didn't answer, of course.

That's exactly it.

And Pokemon Go is only successful because of the license. It's a weird symbiotic relationship between Niantic and The Pokemon Company because neither could have done this on their own.

Still wish it would have gone to an actual game company though. Imagine how much fun it would be.

Yeah you're getting unfairly downvoted.

Although "Just a bit of bad code" is the most Niantic thing ever so you might be right.

Or an angry Jamaican bird.

It's certainly massive but fun is questionable. The amount of content, even now, two years from release, is still pretty minimal. Quests are largely rehashed, and Legendary raids get old after the first week or so.

Events and shiny farming are about all this game has left that draws in casual fans and that won't last forever.

This game is in dire need of some end-game content that isn't self-imposed challenges. A revamped battle system where game knowledge and mastery actually matters, for instance.