I have no idea of how to use this thing...Every time I try to get a shot of my Pokemon it just stares blankly at me. Anyone know how to use it properly (and get Smeargle)?
To get the more dynamic shots, you need to use AR+. Not every phone can handle it though, but fortunately it's not required to get Smeargle. Best you can do in normal AR mode is tapping on the pokemon to get it to attack.
For Smeargle, just keep taking photos while keeping an eye on the thumbnail in the bottom right-hand corner. Eventually, he'll appear with the thumbnail pulsing three times. Look at the image properly, then exit to the map and he'll spawn in the wild.
Can't tell you what to do exactly because no one knows the full mechanics but I can list some tips and info of what we do know so far:
1. Smeargle only appears on the first photo of a series. So there's no point in spamming photos. Select a Pokemon, take a picture and check. No Smeargle, repeat.
2. You can tell if Smeargle has photobombed by looking at the small thumbnail on the right lower corner. It will also appear for a few frames after the photo was taken. And finally, the thumbnail circle will pulsate 3 times if it appeared.
3. You can deny storage access for the app on Android and Smeargle will still appear. No need to delete a thousand photos after each attempt every day.
Hope this saves you some time. May RNGesus be with you.
This really sucks. I've taken over 2,000 photos, and I've tried every combination of suggestions here and elsewhere as to how to get Smeargle to appear. I've switched in & out of AR+ mode, I've taken pictures rapidly, slowly, etc., and have had no Smeargle appearance. This is not in any way fun, and has been a huge waste of about an hour.
Yesterday I got on my first try. This morning I tried a lot of pictures and no success. Then I went to reddit and some people were saying that taking a lot of pictures rarely works, and that the secret is taking one picture; if it doesn’t show up, move to another mon and try again. I did this and worked on my sixth try.
