The new Pokemon Go tracker is way cooler and more helpful than you might realize

REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

The INSIDER Summary:

• Pokémon Go updated their tracking system in November 2016.
• You can not only see which Pokéstop the "Nearby" Pokémon are closest, but you can also activate a visible tracker in the app that helps guide you straight to the Pokémon.

Pokémon Go players desperately wanted Niantic to restore tracking to the app for months, and their prayers were answered in November 2016. But Niantic didn't just restore the small footsteps showing whether an individual Pokémon was closer to you or farther away - it incorporated a whole new mapping system that makes it super easy to find specific Pokémon nearby.

If you've been feeling lukewarm on the game recently - or briefly quit altogether - this could be the perfect feature to draw you back in.

First, open up the app and then click on the lower left hand bar that shows "nearby" Pokémon.

Kim Renfro/Pokemon Go

Each circle will have a small picture of the Pokéstop nearest to the corresponding Pokémon. In order to track a single Pokémon even more closely, click on that Pokémon's circle.

The photo of the Pokéstop will pop up, and then you'll see a bar of footsteps. Press on those footsteps again.

Kim Renfro/Pokemon Go

The app will automatically zoom out to show an overview of the map again, but this time the Pokéstop nearest to that Pokémon will be marked with a pink circle and footsteps.

Now you can see exactly where the Pokéstop is in relation to you currently, and you can easily make your way towards it.

Kim Renfro/Pokemon Go

Another handy feature of the new tracking is the automatic notification for Pokémon that flee. If you're heading towards a specific Pokémon but it disappears before you get there, the app will tell you. This could save you the headache of finally arriving to a Pokéstop and then being confused about where on Earth that lil' guy disappeared to.