'Pokémon Go' update 0.45.0 and 1.15.0 adds bonus rewards, new gym rules and more

Are you tired of it taking so freaking long to capture gyms in Pokémon Go? Do other people sneak Pokémon onto the top of a gym after you did all the work to capture it for your team? Developer Niantic is giving you some relief.

Pokémon Go update 0.45.0 for Android and 1.15.0 for iOS is currently rolling out. It makes some major changes to the way gym battling works and adds bonuses for daily activity. It also appears to block players for using PokéStops while in a moving car even if they aren't driving, which is infuriating some fans.

Pokémon Go update 0.45.0 and 1.15.0: Here's the bad news.

Before the latest update hit, Pokémon Go would send an update if you were moving too quickly to be traveling by foot. At that point, the game would be unplayable until you tapped a button to confirm you were a passenger in the car. 

Now it doesn't seem to matter whether you're the passenger or the driver. Pokémon Go players are reporting on Reddit that update 0.45.0/1.15.0 has limited how fast you can move while playing. Travel any faster and the PokéStops won't work at all.

Redditor Toyosan laid out the issues at stake with this change in the following post:

Until now, gathering Pokéballs have been very easy for many of us. Just by driving a short time through a city you could fill your bag. This made us very unlikely to purchase Pokeballs from the shop, and Niantic's decision will probably change this.

That last point is going to be a major one for anyone facing sinking temperatures and impending hostile winter weather. Florida residents may still be able to walk around outside come January and find a PokéStop to spin, but if you live farther north you may be out of luck.

Pokémon Go update 0.45.0 and 1.15.0: Conquering gyms just got way easier

To conquer an enemy gym in Pokémon Go, you need to lower its "prestige" before you can kick out the occupying Pokémon and take it for yourself. Update 0.45.0/1.15.0 makes this easier by increasing the amount of prestige a gym loses after each battle. So you can take over a gym after fewer battles than before.

The new update also makes it easier to claim your reward after conquering a gym. Moving forward, there will be a short period after you defeat a gym where no one else can put their Pokémon inside. That should cut down on snipers taking advantage of your hard work.

Pokémon Go update 0.45.0 and 1.15.0 might make gyms totally pointless

To defend a gym well in Pokémon Go, you want to raise its prestige up to level 10, which allows the maximum number of Pokémon to be stationed at that gym. You can increase the prestige of a friendly gym by training there and fighting against Pokémon from your own team.

Training up a gym to level 10 already took a while, but the new update actually lowers the amount of prestige you generate by training at a friendly gym. This will probably discourage players from taking over gyms at all because it makes it a lot easier to defend them.

Pokémon Go update 0.45.0 and 1.15.0 brings daily and weekly bonuses

Finally, update 0.45.0/1.15.0 adds a bonus for your first Pokémon catch and first PokéStop visit every day. We have confirmed for ourselves that you receive 500 bonus XP and 600 bonus Stardust for your first Pokémon catch of the day. Niantic says you'll also get an extra bonus for completing these tasks successfully seven days in a row.

According to Pokémon Go fan community the Silph Road, you receive a bonus 500 XP and get more items than you normally would from the first PokéStop you spin that day. The Silph Road is also breaking down the rest of the numbers related to the new patch.