Not being able to access your friend list in Pokemon Go? Many users reported running into a glitch while trying to invite friends to public or private raid battles. If you have been a regular in Pokemon Go, you would know the importance of having friends when it comes to raids. You cannot complete raids on your own. A raid is a co-op experience in Pokemon Go where a Boss Pokemon captures a gym, which players will need to defeat. Upon prevailing, players will receive rewards and also a chance to catch the Pokemon. Pokemon Go players need their friend list to work during many other instances like sending gifts to increase friendship, gain shared XP, and even referral rewards.
The thing is, Pokemon Go has been running into issues with the friend list. Many have complained of not being able to access their friend list or accept a raid invite from a fellow trainer or friend. Sometimes, an error message saying “Failed to get Friend List” appears on the user’s screen. Why is this glitch/error happening? Unfortunately, there’s no answer to that.
Pokemon Go Friends list error: Is there a fix?
Unable to see your friends on your PoGo friend list? You are not the only one. This issue was majorly reported when Season of Heritage was deployed in December 2021. But, it was not the first time that Pokemon Go users faced this issue. Users reported that the same issue had shown up during previous Community Days and new updates. From this, we can guess that the glitch is probably related to traffic or server issues.
Somehow, the current season deployment has also been causing the friend list to disappear and issues with sending/receiving invites. Another Reddit user reported not being able to land Pokeballs and Pokemons not staying in the frame. Other reports include not being able to use the OK and X buttons. Yep, most probably a server issue! Fortunately, there are a few workarounds that users can try. However, the workarounds are not guaranteed to fix the issue for all.
Fixes and Workarounds:
Here are some workarounds which you can try:
1) A user suggested appearing offline and then re-appearing online to fix the friend list glitch. This has reportedly helped a lot of users fix the problem.
2) Try force-stopping and restarting the game. On iOS, simply close Pokemon Go from the Recents window and launch it again. On Android, press and hold the Pokemon Go app > tap on the i button > choose Force Stop. Now, launch the game again.
3) Clear the Pokemon Go app cache on your Android device by heading on to Settings > Apps > Pokemon Go > Clear data > Clear cache. Now, restart the game. To clear the app cache on iOS, reinstall the game.
4) Another widely suggested workaround was to reinstall Pokemon Go. Just head over to the respective app store and uninstall the app. Next, install the game again.
Lastly, make sure that you are connected to a working and stable network connection. If not, try switching to mobile data if on WiFi and vice versa. Niantic has previously acknowledged the friend list error on several occasions. If you were unable to fix the problem using the above workarounds, we recommend waiting as there’s nothing more you could do. The friend list error on Pokemon Go is definitely an internal bug. Let Niantic fix the issue before trying to play Pokemon Go again. For more articles, stay tuned to Androidgram.
