The Silph Road on Reddit is once again plagued with complaints from “Pokémon GO” players around the world. Apparently, players have been getting random screen block messages while playing Niantic Lab’s popular mobile app. It appears that the problem mostly happens to users with smartphones made by Chinese manufacturers.

China phones: no longer compatible with ‘PoGo?’

Addressing their complaints on the discussion website, Pokémon Trainers are reportedly getting a strange screen block message that says, “This device, OS, or software is not compatible with ‘Pokémon GO."

This has caused lots of distress among players, with the message apparently popping at random while playing the game.

In a surprising turn of events, players found out, upon revealing what phones they’re using, that the screen block mostly appears on devices made by Chinese companies. On keen Redditor observed: “It’s looking like a Chinese model phone thing. Read users of Xiaomi, Oppo and OnePlus all getting it.”

Despite the observation, other players did not exactly agree with the idea, with some quipping that it might be just a coincidence. Most complaints suggested that the pop-up appears while checking out a gym, and after a Pokémon has been captured. Some trainers reported that they got the block prompt while spinning a PokeStop.

Scouring the Reddit, baffled Redditors/trainers have come up with their own theories to explain why some players are getting screen blocks.

One fan said that this is probably due to some china phones sans support for Android 6.0 and higher. Another stated that Niantic Labs have probably resorted to blocking devices running operating systems lower than Android 6.0.

What actually happened?

The theories provided by trainers over at The Silph Road are all plausible. However, a deeper look into the matter reveals that the issue doesn’t entirely happen on China phones alone. According to the website Pokémon Go Hub, affected devices are as follows:

  • Alcatel One Touch
  • LG G3
  • OnePlus One and OPO 2
  • Redmi Note 3
  • Redmi 4
  • Multiple ZTE devices

The latest commotion in the popular game is actually caused by Google’s Safety Net update. Safety Net is a service that identifies and prevents threats on mobile devices, and its recent update started the screen blocks to pop out, much to the display of players.

It’s quite vague if the screen blocks are a mishap or if they were intended, but some players said that restarting the device will do the trick. Interestingly, those who did so reported that they are now back in the game.

Looking at the Reddit thread now, the issue has been marked “resolved.” Apparently, Google’s Safety Net check has had a slight malfunction. “There are current problems with the Saftey Net check from Google that is used to see if your device is rooted. It seems it's currently producing a lot of false positives,” Dave Wuji wrote, the thread’s most upvoted commenter.

“Pokémon GO” players who are still having problems with their phones are advised to reach @NianticHelp on Twitter.