Edit: If you’re the owner of a rooted phone with this same problem, you can follow the steps in this reddit thread. The key bit for me:
The Google CSR sent me an email link and suggested that I report Niantic via the Report Inappropriate Apps form.
Their choice to allow rooted users to make purchases and then later
deny them access to the purchased content falls under the Google
category of an “Unlawful Activities” –> “Deceptive Behavior”
violation.
Bye bye, Pikachu.
After two months or so playing the game – and being one of the people who has actually spent money to support the game (and get extra stuff), I uninstalled it yesterday.
I didn’t want to – I enjoyed having something to do while walking my dog. I played just enough to stay competitive, but little enough that I hadn’t gotten burned out.
But that also means that I was a casual enough player that I didn’t follow Niantic’s Facebook posts, so I didn’t realize the new update would completely make the game unplayable.
Like this:
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| Not my phone, but could be. |