Pokemon GO Now Lets Trainers Add Friends Directly From Their Contacts

Niantic Labs announced a new feature in Pokemon GO that allows existing trainers to add and invite others from their phone contacts.

While the announcement was made earlier today, Aug. 4, the feature had appeared for some trainers as early as Monday afternoon. Existing trainers can also use this as an opportunity to take advantage of the game's referral program. By using a referral code, one can invite new or returning trainers to adventure with them and earn rewards together.

Who knows? You may discover some surprising names in your new Friends list.

The process of adding friends from a device's contacts list is simple and not unlike giving permissions the app already needs. We've outlined the process below:

1. In the app, navigate to the Friends tab from the trainer profile.
2. Select "Add Friends."
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap the blue "Add Friends from Contacts" bar.

From there, trainers are free to scroll through their contacts and will either be presented with "Invite to Play" for new players or "Send Friend Request" for those already existing. If it's the first time syncing contacts with the app, Pokemon GO will ask the user to set a name that will appear on friend requests and invites.

These permissions can always be changed or revoked in the Settings later. This includes whether or not the user will be discoverable by other friends and contacts through this method in-game.

More information about the new contacts list feature can be found on the official Pokemon GO new blog.