Niantic Support has released a statement on Twitter that warns Scanner [REDACTED] players who are testing the Android Q beta may trigger a ban. It would also appear that Scanner [REDACTED] has not been updated since its release last November, and there is currently no word from Niantic whether or not this issue will be fixed in the future.

If you are unfamiliar with Scanner [REDACTED] and Ingress Prime, they are basically the same game in two different forms. Originally these titles were only known as Ingress, Niantic's first augmented reality game. Eventually, Niantic replaced Ingress with an updated version called Ingress Prime, but at the time of launch, Prime was not feature complete with the original version of Ingress. This is why Scanner [REDACTED] exists. It serves as a temporary release that contains all of the features hardcore players are accustomed to, which should tide them over until Niantic has finished bringing those missing features over to Prime. The thing is, Scanner [REDACTED] is set to be deprecated sometime in 2019, so it's hardly a surprise to learn that the game hasn't been updated since its release last November and is now facing issues with the Android Q beta.

The trouble with this contrived setup is that Niantic could not account for any OS changes in Android Q before its beta was released, which has sadly resulted in Scanner [REDACTED] possibly banning players on Android Q thanks to its aging engine. What I don't understand is why Niantic didn't update the app to fix this issue or at least hint in the Twitter announcement that the company plans on working on it. Instead, all we get is a statement that Scanner [REDACTED] should be avoided on Android Q and that Ingress Prime doesn't suffer from such an affliction.

Now, I can see why Niantic would not want to waste the manpower updating an app that is scheduled to leave the Play Store sometime this year, but this ban issue is clearly not a good look for ths studio, especially when the release of Ingress Prime and its holdover Scanner [REDACTED] was met with so much contention last year. You'd think the company would be eager to please its fans after that rough patch, but so far it looks like the best anyone is going to get is a warning on Twitter.

Source: Twitter

Thanks: Armando