"Pokemon Go" Is Coming To Apple Watch Soon

Heads up, all you Pokemon trainers out there — Apple just announced that "Pokemon Go" is coming to the Apple Watch, and it might be the best thing to happen to the game yet. So when is the release date for "Pokemon Go" for Apple Watch? The good news is, it'll be here before you know it, according to Wednesday's Apple keynote presentation.

"Pokemon Go" has not only been one of the most explosively popular games of all time, it's also been a different kind of video game or entertainment app. Instead of encouraging you to hang out in your living room in front of the television or sit around staring at your phone or computer, "Pokemon Go" encourages you to head out into the real world, to interact with people in your community, and to have fun with friends and family. In fact, in announcing the new Apple Watch partnership, "Pokemon Go" developer Niantec Inc. boasted that people have walked over 4.6 billion kilometers (about 2.75 billion miles) while playing.

But, of course, all of this is somewhat hampered by the fact that the app also requires you to stare at your phone screen while you do it. Which make the experience less social — and more likely to result in you tripping over something.

But once the Apple Watch gets here, which will be happening before the end of the year, all that will change.

Niantec is already preparing to begin selling "Pokemon Go" Plus by the end of this month — but to take it even further, "Pokemon Go" will be available on the new Apple Watch, meaning you will no longer have to stare at your phone screen while playing.

Instead you can simply run the app on your Apple Watch while walking or running and having fun out in the real world — not locked into the colorful but far less interesting virtual "Pokemon Go" world on your screen. The watch will alert you when you're near a Pokestop and when there's a Pokemon nearby, as well as keep track of how far you've walked and how many calories you've burned since opening the app.

This update doesn't just have the potential to fix some of the biggest user complaints about "Pokemon Go", allowing users to integrate the outside world into the otherwise repetitive gameplay, but also will doubtlessly affect the way that other augmented reality games will be played, as well. Instead of being a fluke, augmented reality games could conceivably just keep getting better.

So when is it getting here? There isn't a firm release date yet, but "Pokemon Go" for Apple Watch will be available by the end of the year, according to the keynote. Keep your eyes peeled!

Images: Giphy (2)