Kind of overdue on our part... but it's here! FevGames has tore down Ingress Prime v2.48.2 and discovered some important hidden new features! Here they are:

Dronenet
- This is known as Drone Mark I, so there will most likely be more iterations of this feature.
- Drones have been found able to move, be recalled, hack and glyph hack. At this point it's confirmed that Ingress will join other Niantic Games in having some remote interactions.
- New drone-related audio clips have been found.

Battle Beacons
- Audio has been implemented for this feature.

Miscellanea
- Niantic has reintroduced Debug Mode for their own testing. Don't even think of trying doing something nasty with it: you won't be able to use it.
This mode renders the player able to: Request Item or Key, Teleport, Performance Logging, Skip Onboarding, Unlock all, Adjust level.
- A sound file for a Kinetic Capsule has also been found in the game, but was not included in this teardown.

As always we would like to thank FevGames and Fevenis in particular for their work behind these articles. Make sure to read the full, detailed Teardown at this link.

@IUENG

Some of you may have noticed a free beacon in the in-app store. There is a reason why.

Last week, Resistance Agent @Segtisalgoe passed away, and he was much loved and appreciated by players of both Factions. Niantic decided to make the Meetup Beacon free in order to deploy them on June 6th at 21:00 UTC to commemorate him. The gesture will be accompanied by a dual linkstar near Antwerp, Belgium by his friends and a "Schol @Segtisalgoe" commbomb.

Read more: https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/10983/rip-segtisalgoe-starburst

@IUENG

Niantic has released two articles on their support website, explaining the new November Lima Drone Network feature and how to deploy a Mark I Drone! Check them out at these links:

What is the DroneNet?
How do I deploy Drone Mark I?

From these articles we finally are able to understand the complete functioning of this new item.

• Drone Mark I allows Agents to Hack or Glyph Hack a Portal once.
• Drone Mark I cannot be used to complete Missions, retrieve Portal Keys, or perform any other actions.
•After Drone Mark I has been successfully deployed, there is a 60-minute cooldown.

More details in the next posts!

@IUENG

In this video, we can observe the basic functioning of Drones. Their "Move" ability and hacking phase.

More details about their mechanics:

• Agents can deploy Drone Mark I to any neutral, friendly, or enemy Portal that is visible on the Scanner’s map screen. 

• If the Portal Alignment changes, the Drone is automatically recalled.

• Agents can cause a Drone recall, but can only see their own Drone.

• A Notification Marker will appear in the center of the menu button whenever a Drone is available or it is ready to move from its current position.

• "Deploying Drones will also contribute to Agents’ stats, incrementing metrics for Hacks, Glyph Hack Points, and Longest Hacking Streak. Drone hacks do
not count towards Unique Portals Visited. However, they will increment new Agent stats for Unique Portals Drone Visited, Furthest Drone Flight (calculated from its initial Target Portal), and Drone Hacks."

@IUENG

Starting now, L10+ Agents have access to review Wayspots on the Wayfarer Platform. Additionally, Wayfarer Agreements will increase the Recon medal count by 2 point each!

Source: https://nianticlabs.com/en/blog/wayfarer-expansion/

@IUENG

Agents, open your scanner! Rainbow XM is now active, amazing!

Thanks @Shooters42 for the image!

@IUENG

As you may know, June 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of annual LGBTQ+ Pride traditions. To raise awareness and show support of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisex, Transgender and Queer community, we are temporarily enabling Rainbow XM through June 30.

Additionally, you can redeem the following passcode: FJQ82PRIDE3V9XQ

Learn more about LGBTQ+ Pride Month

Source: Ingress post

@IUENG

A group of Agents from both Factions contacted us with a message for you: they are planning to publish a free book about Ingress and are looking forward to read your best stories and memories from the game, including how you lived the most important moments in the history of Ingress. What’s that one incredible story you tell when you’re asked “What is Ingress?”

Read the Guidelines and Topic Suggestions and find out how to submit your story by checking out: https://tinyurl.com/ingressstory.
If you have any questions about this project, reach out to them via TG @claudija (ENL), @DisasterMaker89 (ENL), @mimtwin (RES), @VanJeffery (RES).

@IUENG

Niantic has temporarily disabled Portal Edit suggestions to address a problem allowing Portals to be bunched up in a same location.

Additionally, it's been requested that locations affected are reported to Niantic directly using this form.

Source: https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/discussion/4154/temporarily-disabling-location-edits

@IUENG

Niantic shared their Dev blog about the Dronenet Feature! Under this particular forum post you will be able to provide your feedback on the current Drone iteration and suggest the features of Mark II and Mark III Drones.

Source: https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/11057/dev-diary-dronenet

@IUENG

News for all of you Medals lovers!

Niantic has once again opened their Archives to make this 2014 character medal available for purchase on the In-App Store:

Archives: Oliver Lynton-Wolfe (19,000 CMU)
•Oliver Lynton-Wolfe medal
•25 Resonators (at your Level, up to L8)
•25 Hypercubes
•4 Apex

Some agents also reported this Medal to be one of the most valued on online stores, its card selling at prices from 350 to even 1.000 US$! It is now available for around 15 US$ together with some useful inventory items.

Source: https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/11313/archives-oliver-lynton-wolfe-medal

@IUENG

As you may have noticed, a new version of Ingress Prime is slowly rolling out to all devices. It it version 2.50.1!

Here is the changelog:

• Dronenet improvements: See Drone Mark I in Drone Footage view, and watch it travel to its Target Portal. Note that only you can view your own Mark I; it isn’t visible to other Agents.
• Moved the Main Menu button down closer to the bottom screen edge to prioritize viewing more of the map screen.

Bug fixes
• Reduced the intensity of Rainbow XM, which should help improve Portal visibility, especially in densely populated areas.
• The MOVE button is automatically re-enabled in Drone Footage view when Mark I cooldown ends.
• Fixed any order missions so Agents can complete mission waypoints in any order. Portal indicators will display on all mission waypoints in view.

Source: https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/11315/ingress-2-50-1-release-notes

@IUENG

Niantic has posted an update regarding Live Events in 2020.

Unfortunately, no Anomalies will be played this year but a few alternative were provided.

The summary is the following:
• The company is planning to introduce Battle Beacons, a new game mode that can be played respecting social distancing, in Q3 2020.
• Connected Cells with Regional Scoring and Global Challenges based around movement may be live Events happening this year
• When public gatherings will return to be safe, you can expect small-scale live events organisation with attention to public health practices.

Read the full post on the Ingress Forum: https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/11347/update-on-anomalies-and-events-for-2020

@IUENG

"Today, we've added the Black Lives Matter Beacon to Ingress, which displays above a Target Portal for 4 hours. It’s an optional, free (0 CMU) item in the Store that Agents can choose to acquire and use; we will never charge CMU for this Beacon. The raised fist logo has been used by other movements in the past; we use it here as a symbol of solidarity and support. At launch, we set the redemption limit up to 15 Black Lives Matter Beacons per Agent, and we can revisit this going forward.

Finally, we want our community to continue to be one that welcomes everyone. Rainbow XM for LGBTQ+ Pride Month is also one way for us to share this message. That Ingress brings people together around our shared interests in exploration and discovery is very special. And it’s why we felt it was important that we add the Black Lives Matter Beacon to reiterate that we recognize the Black Lives Matter movement, and we stand in support."

Source: https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/11390/dev-diary-black-lives-matter-beacon

@IUENG

"We’ve added a new Beacon type to Ingress: Fireworks. Fireworks can be deployed on any Portal, even a Portal with an existing Beacon or Portal Fracker already deployed, and display on the Target Portal for 10 minutes. Like traditional Beacons, they are visual markers that don’t affect hack output; however, Fireworks have both motion and sound:

* Enlightened Fireworks x3 (1,000 CMU)
* Resistance Fireworks x3 (1,000 CMU)

To celebrate this month’s First Saturday on July 4 and to help light up the Portal Network, we’ve also added a free (0 CMU) Fireworks Loadout with 1 Enlightened Firework and 1 Resistance Firework to try the feature. Stay safe, and see you (virtually) this IFS weekend."

Source: https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/11392/enlightened-and-resistance-fireworks

@IUENG

For those curious (like me) of how it would look like, here a clip of 5 fireworks all together:

https://twitter.com/ishiratsubasa/status/1278872662379356160?s=19

Thanks to @Ishira for sharing it with us, and happy birthday!

@IUENG

Niantic has organized a Wayfarer AMA!

You have 24 hours to ask your question on the thread. The 15 questions that will have received the higher number of likes in the next 48 hours will be answered directly by the Wayfarer Dev team!

You can ask about the platform, features and plans for the future, but not about specific nominations or criteria.

Add your question here: https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/DISCUSSION/4864/BRINGING-BACK-AMAS/

@IUENG

Niantic has released a new Ingress Prime version: v2.51.1!

A new medal has been added to the game: the Scout Controller Badge!

This medal will count the number of Portals for which an Agent is the Scout Controller: a Scout Controller is the Agent with the highest amount of Portal Scans for a specific Portal over the last 30 days.

Once an Agent becomes a Scout Controller for a specific Portal, the title isn't removed after 30 days, but can be claimed by another Agent if no Scans were uploaded in that time.

The Medal will be tiered.
Bronze: Scout Controller on 100 unique Portal
Silver: 500 unique Portals
Gold: 1,000 unique Portals
Platinum: 5,000 unique Portals
Onyx: 15,000 unique Portals

Tied to this medal, the Scout Controller and their Scout Points will be visible on the Portal Details screen.

Finally, previously uploaded Scans will not be counted for this new stat.

Source and full changelog: https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/11513/ingress-2-51-1-release-notes

@IUENG

Agent @ikaros02 reports this comment by Brian on the changelog post: the difficulty for the Onyx Scout Controller Badge is intentionally set to be harder than Scout by being in line with the Pioneer Badge requirements. The limit of 200 scans per 14-day is also being kept in mind.

(Although the tier values for Pioneer Badge are not those in the post)

@IUENG

Agents are reporting the previously announced Scout Controller Badge to now be live on your Scanners!

Ph: @mortuus82

@IUENG

And this is the Scout Controller medal design in all its tiers! (I enjoy the platinum color scheme particularly... -@carlobolla)

Thanks @dedo1911!

@IUENG