Hi all! I’ve noticed many experts here and I think ambassadors too use some form of plug in for s14 and s17 overlays for ingress intel maps - are these against TOS? Thanks !
I would be interested in this too. Im sure I tried to open the iitc map once, years ago, and it had a message saying it was against ToS so I closed it and never tried again
The statement from Niantic about 3rd party tools has been worded this way
Avoid using third party tools/plugins or depending on others to decide on how you vote on a nomination
and iitc and pogotools do not do that.
I don’t think you will ever get an official statement that they are fine to use, but would be great! And fwiw, before Niantic had a challenge counter, they officially advised using a tool from wayfarer.tools.
3 Likes
IITC itself already sits in a grey area with Ingress being a third party tool that depending on the usage could be against the ToS.
It is unlikely that Niantic will come out and say that IITC and pogotools are okay to use given that ideally they would want people to submit nominations accurately without considering specific gameboard rules, which are unique to each game.
1 Like
idk which version is the best one to use since i just use whatever @NvlblNm points me to but that does not look like the icon on mine
2 Likes
The versions on the Google Play and iOS stores are no longer supported and haven’t been updated since a couple of years ago.
On android devices you would need to use a third party app store or side load it to use the current version. As for iOS you would need to go though the app beta testing route.
1 Like
I really only use any of the third party maps out there after I’ve had a Wayspot approved to add to the map, not to find out where there might be an open cell, as that could be seen as trying to manipulate game play. If my Wayspot does become a stop/gym in PoGo, I’ll add it to one of the third party map sites, but do not use it to determine cells beforehand.
Besides, I’ve had a number of Wayspots that aren’t in PoGo or Ingress, but i’ve still added them since other games use Lightship, and it’s open to developers, too.
1 Like
This is no longer necessary. The iOS version is now able to receive App Store updates again.
Yes, that is the correct app for iOS.
It’d definitely be nice if the iOS and Android apps were a bit more consistent with each other, but they’ve been developed separately, so unfortunately have a number of differences.
3 Likes
This is not an official response.
In general with most things in life, knowledge is not abusive or manipulative. It is what you do with that knowledge that can be abusive or manipulative.
I am fully onboard with people having accurate knowledge. There are systems to handle any abuse of that knowledge.
4 Likes
Thank you and everyone else for chiming in !!
And I think that’s why the OP in this thread was directed to see this thread, as it’s possible that they could use the knowledge they gain to manipulate game play.
Again, I don’t really use them before submitting. Being I just play PoGo, I can see all Wayspots on the map, so if there is one already for the POI I want to submit, I just exit out.
1 Like
I wrote the current versions of many of the wayfarer plugins, I was also a wayfarer ambassador for two years, and i discussed those plugins with one or more members of niantic staff. my understanding is that as long as you are using them for acceptable purposes they are ok to use.
6 Likes
I choose not to believe that a question indicates nefarious intent. I personally would like to reduce the number of questions that pop up here about “where’s my approved pokestop?” If someone knew ahead of time that what they are submitting doesn’t meet inclusion criteria, many would choose not to submit it, or at least they wouldn’t feel like they wasted their time. For those who would manilulate, again, there are methods for dealing with them.
6 Likes
The issue is there is a distinct difference between manipulate game play and manipulate game play nefariously.
If a structure is large, and you manipulate which accurate place to pin based on cells that should be okay. Take a church, the front door, the steeple, the sign all could be a legit place to pin the church. If you consider your game you are playing as you do so, I see no issue with it.
If you manipulate it to an Innaccurate Location for game board purposes thats bad and should face consequences.
I am still salty to this day YEARS later, that one of my first submissions were in a park and were a baseball field and playstructure. Neither is the game by maybe 5-10 feet tops. Both are much larger than 5-10 feet and would be in the game if only I knew then what I know now.
Now granted those POI can be in other games, but I am the one who took my time to submit them and can’t enjoy them and that bums me out.
3 Likes
Sorry all I’m a CA and wanted to place the CA stop at the right location (40m away from any pokestop) but the only way to obtain the other pokestop coordinates is through these plug ins /apps correct? Thanks all for your professional responses!
1 Like
There are ways to get coordinates in game clients and stock intel map too.
Ingress prime: open portal details, there is an icon to copy coords to clipboard.
Pokemon: open pokestop details > view in map > you’ll see the coordinates in the map’s search field.
1 Like
Ah thanks !!
Still it would be nice to have all the coordinates instead of me mapping an area manually to see where to place the stop 
The initial driver that gets people interested in wayfarer is that they can create something and very importantly interact with it.
It is the reward for all the effort of finding, researching, submitting and hopefully reviewing too.
I haven’t stopped to count over the years the number of deeply frustrated people, where I have had to pass on the bad news that they won’t get the reward. I could do nothing before they appeared on the forum, but I am happy to explain fully so that having learnt their lesson the hard way it won’t happen again.
And maybe a visitor to the forum might read and understand before starting their wayfinder journey,
5 Likes