The update adds three news things, the biggest of which are the Daily Bonuses, which gives players a reward for logging in and visiting PokeStops everyday, with the rewards getting bigger with every seven day streak. Also included in the update are patches where, when taking a Gym, there’s a short cooldown period where only you can place a Pokemon in the open top spot, and one where the amount of Prestige a rival Gym loses when a regular Gym member is beaten has gone up, while the amount you receive by training at a friendly Gym has gone down.
Recently, Niantic has been struggling to keep players engaged with Pokemon Go, and this update seems like a reaction to that, as it adds literal incentives to continued play of the game. Time will tell if it’s enough to hold players over in lieu of adding new Pokemon.
Here is Niantic’s official message:
You’ll earn bonuses for the first Pokémon catch and PokéStop visit each day. You’ll receive a larger bonus when you do this seven days in a row. When you defeat the Gym Leader at a rival Gym, there will be a brief period of time where only you will be able to place a Pokémon in the open Gym. The amount of Prestige a rival Gym loses when you defeat a regular Gym member has increased. The amount of Prestige gained by training at a friendly Gym has been lowered. Minor text fixes
