Official Pokemon Go app WILL keep your progress- get catching!

Pokemon Go is now out in the UK, which joins German, the US, Australia and New Zealand on the list of places with the official app.

In Ireland, and many other countries around the world, we're still waiting for iTunes and the Google Play Store to release a proper version but that hasn't stopped plenty of people from getting involved. This involves downloading a copy from another region on Android or tricking your phone into using a different app store on Apple devices.

Now one of the big fears for those who are playing unofficial versions is what will happen when they upgrade? Will all of their progress, and precious Pokemon, be lost? Well it seems we can put those fears to rest, as reports are coming in that the two apps will be compatible.

The word is you can just download the new app and sign in and all of your progress will be there, Pokemon, items, captured points and everything else you've been gobbling up over the last few days. That's very good news indeed, as the developers could certainly have looked into punishing early adopters - though the fallout would have been severe.

It also means that there's no reason to stop playing no matter what version you have, so get out and get catching! Hopefully we'll have news soon of an official Irish release, which will allow for updates to the software and proper access to in app purchases.