Great when used responsibly, too easy to trip into dark territory. Know what you're doing with it, understand it, and disable/delete the more nasty stuff.
I'd avoid it, or at the very least, don't let anyone on that you're using it.
Some users reported that the app can already detect if you are rooted by detecting rooting apps, so I won't reccomend to install one of the IITC app if it's confirmed that it's against the ToS. Apps like Intello X works fine on mobile.
@Majeye Almost everyone seems to use it, it's not secret or thing to hide. Even Niantic has in the past a couple of times or so posted pictures where they or someone else was using it haha!
While it is technically against ToS, nothing it does by itself or with the basic plug ins is cheating or gives an unfair advantage in0game.. Stock intel is less-worse than it used to be a few years ago but it's still pretty terrible for usability.
As long as people aren't using any plug ins or tools that scrape or use scraped data that otherwise shouldn't be available you're not a problem to the community.
Oh good, scaremongering... IITC is fine, as long as you stick with the standard plugins. Many Niantic employees use it themselves. The rumors of it being "bad" started from one bad plugin a long long time ago which was shut down and removed, literally no one since has received a ban for using IITC since as long as they're only using the standard plugins
As said above, it was an issue with IITC previously where in simple terms when used it caused a similar effect to a DDOS attack on NIA servers, to many access requests happened so they banned some accounts.
The bug was fixed very quickly but still people insist that it is unsafe to use, despite NIA themselves giving tacit approval to it
@GoblinGranate Player tracker shows people from data already publicly available in comms, it's just a visual representation of said info. Though I totally understand why some people don't like it.
@MrCathulhu I can't argue with that, you are right about it. Still feels wrong, though.
I think IITC is not required, but in certain moments INTEL is just of no use. I'm not using IITC because I simply don't need it, but I totally understand people who does use it.
IITC is fine in my opinion, just don’t use stuff like player tracker and such. It’s just intel with tools. If niantic wanted to, they could add some of these to Ingress intel. If they did that and possibly released an app, most people would ditch IITC.
Taken right from Niantic's community forum guidelines:
II. Avoid Discussing or Promoting illicit gameplay or services
Ingress is meant to be played on your mobile device and get you outdoors to explore the world. Avoid discussions on using modified client software or unauthorized third-party software that violate our Terms of Service.
Simply, the game as it exists today, the BAFs, the anomalies, wouldn't be possible with vanilla Intel.
Yes, IITC might be against the letter of the ToC, but given the extremes gone to by the devs (only those on iitc.me, nothing on the Play Store or App Store is 'official') to ensure that IITC queries the servers in exactly the same manner as the stock Intel map even though there are optimisations which could be made, it is tolerated.
Stick to plugins from the website and you'll have no issues, because they simply reformat the data already available.
Oh, and the Cross Links functionality, Niantic nicked that one from IITC 😉
If Niantic didn't want people to use IITC, they'd make stock intel usable. Of course, it would be nice if they made the Ingress Prime app usable as well.
I've made this comment in other places, but I think it's important to bear in mind - the TOS is, by requirement, extremely broad. Basically anything that takes information about Ingress out of the app is a violation of the letter of the TOS, be that writing down a list of portals to farm, sending a friend a facebook message to take an action, or running a global database of player actions - to the TOS, it's all the same. In some ways, that seems ridiculous, but it's also a good thing - you never, ever want to have a false negative on the TOS, where a bad actor can slip through by the letter of the TOS. The downside is that there's a ton of false positives for fairly innocuous stuff that everyone just turns a blind eye to lest the game grind to a halt, and that can seem somewhat arbitrary.
In practice, it seems like Niantic basically used the TOS as a tool to enforce the rather more reasonable Community Guidelines, and if you stay within those you're not considered a bad actor. Does stock IITC fall within that? I think it probably does - it violates the TOS but not the community guidelines. It also provides a framework for people to violate those guidelines, though, so while it seems a little arbitrary in some ways, what seems to matter is what you do as much as what you use to do it.
I guess I'm confused as to what you need stock intel to do for you beyond what it already does?
Looking at stock intel map and comms, you can see what links/fields are going out, you can see the agent(s) involved, you can see if agents are fracking, and which portal is being fracked.
What we don't need intel to do:
Player track by any definition of the phrase, be that by seeing where XM is missing on the map, tracking location and direction of the agent.
We don't need it to have the ability to scan the entire map for certain levels of portals (you should be out in the field scouting for these as this is a mobile game that requires you to be out in the world)
And this seems to be the really only difference from stock intel and IITC (with some exception).
To be honest, we don't need the intel map at all, we shouldn't even have it. So, I guess we should be thankful that it's even there in the first place.
Comments
Not only anomalies, every day game as intell stock is not usable on phones
Guess if Niantic still trying to contact to iitc’s creator
Stock intel is fun with it's lag and low functionality, tho. I prefer to have my browser freeze and/or crash when I want to zoom in or out.
Whether or not agents like it, regardless of opinion, IITC is against Niantic's current rules/TOS.
I'd avoid it, or at the very least, don't let anyone on that you're using it.
It's a great website, and mostly because you can have a lot of informations with plugins, maybe too much informations. I'd avoid using it too for now.
Great when used responsibly, too easy to trip into dark territory. Know what you're doing with it, understand it, and disable/delete the more nasty stuff.
I'd avoid it, or at the very least, don't let anyone on that you're using it.Some users reported that the app can already detect if you are rooted by detecting rooting apps, so I won't reccomend to install one of the IITC app if it's confirmed that it's against the ToS. Apps like Intello X works fine on mobile.
@Majeye Almost everyone seems to use it, it's not secret or thing to hide. Even Niantic has in the past a couple of times or so posted pictures where they or someone else was using it haha!
While it is technically against ToS, nothing it does by itself or with the basic plug ins is cheating or gives an unfair advantage in0game.. Stock intel is less-worse than it used to be a few years ago but it's still pretty terrible for usability.
As long as people aren't using any plug ins or tools that scrape or use scraped data that otherwise shouldn't be available you're not a problem to the community.
Oh good, scaremongering... IITC is fine, as long as you stick with the standard plugins. Many Niantic employees use it themselves. The rumors of it being "bad" started from one bad plugin a long long time ago which was shut down and removed, literally no one since has received a ban for using IITC since as long as they're only using the standard plugins
As said above, it was an issue with IITC previously where in simple terms when used it caused a similar effect to a DDOS attack on NIA servers, to many access requests happened so they banned some accounts.
The bug was fixed very quickly but still people insist that it is unsafe to use, despite NIA themselves giving tacit approval to it
It'll be interesting to see if this posts stays. If iitc is against the tos, then discussing its use should be against the community guidelines.
IITC is not required for a normal gameplay. OPs are possible too.
It is true that IITC capacity goes far beyond INTEL.
Opinion: doesn't matter, if it is against ToS is not to be used.
I think it’s great for directions to portals, drawing ops and just easier to use and I don’t believe Niantic has any problem with agents using it
@eddiesboy But what about Player-Tracker pluggin? I don't think Niantic is ok with that 🙄
They are, all it does is give you the EXACT SAME INFO as is shown in comms, just added to a map.
@MrCathulhu Sharing a few pictures between a several pictures of an op is not allow it. Is simply share a post.
@GoblinGranate Player tracker shows people from data already publicly available in comms, it's just a visual representation of said info. Though I totally understand why some people don't like it.
@MasterWikie Your post doesn't make sense.
@MrCathulhu I can't argue with that, you are right about it. Still feels wrong, though.
I think IITC is not required, but in certain moments INTEL is just of no use. I'm not using IITC because I simply don't need it, but I totally understand people who does use it.
IITC is fine in my opinion, just don’t use stuff like player tracker and such. It’s just intel with tools. If niantic wanted to, they could add some of these to Ingress intel. If they did that and possibly released an app, most people would ditch IITC.
Just an opinion.
Taken right from Niantic's community forum guidelines:
II. Avoid Discussing or Promoting illicit gameplay or services
Ingress is meant to be played on your mobile device and get you outdoors to explore the world. Avoid discussions on using modified client software or unauthorized third-party software that violate our Terms of Service.
i have never used iitc, stock intel works fine for me on my phone. zero interest in ever using iitc.
If Niantic wants us to not use it, they should build something better. Stock Intel doesn't do what we need.
I Know of someone using it to follow the activity of other agents, which actually creeped me out at first.
until i learned it was'nt tracking you, but only made a graphic show of the information given in the comm About the activity of the followed agent.
in general i don't mind people using it. I simply just don't see any reason too.
Simply, the game as it exists today, the BAFs, the anomalies, wouldn't be possible with vanilla Intel.
Yes, IITC might be against the letter of the ToC, but given the extremes gone to by the devs (only those on iitc.me, nothing on the Play Store or App Store is 'official') to ensure that IITC queries the servers in exactly the same manner as the stock Intel map even though there are optimisations which could be made, it is tolerated.
Stick to plugins from the website and you'll have no issues, because they simply reformat the data already available.
Oh, and the Cross Links functionality, Niantic nicked that one from IITC 😉
If Niantic didn't want people to use IITC, they'd make stock intel usable. Of course, it would be nice if they made the Ingress Prime app usable as well.
I've made this comment in other places, but I think it's important to bear in mind - the TOS is, by requirement, extremely broad. Basically anything that takes information about Ingress out of the app is a violation of the letter of the TOS, be that writing down a list of portals to farm, sending a friend a facebook message to take an action, or running a global database of player actions - to the TOS, it's all the same. In some ways, that seems ridiculous, but it's also a good thing - you never, ever want to have a false negative on the TOS, where a bad actor can slip through by the letter of the TOS. The downside is that there's a ton of false positives for fairly innocuous stuff that everyone just turns a blind eye to lest the game grind to a halt, and that can seem somewhat arbitrary.
In practice, it seems like Niantic basically used the TOS as a tool to enforce the rather more reasonable Community Guidelines, and if you stay within those you're not considered a bad actor. Does stock IITC fall within that? I think it probably does - it violates the TOS but not the community guidelines. It also provides a framework for people to violate those guidelines, though, so while it seems a little arbitrary in some ways, what seems to matter is what you do as much as what you use to do it.
I guess I'm confused as to what you need stock intel to do for you beyond what it already does?
Looking at stock intel map and comms, you can see what links/fields are going out, you can see the agent(s) involved, you can see if agents are fracking, and which portal is being fracked.
What we don't need intel to do:
Player track by any definition of the phrase, be that by seeing where XM is missing on the map, tracking location and direction of the agent.
We don't need it to have the ability to scan the entire map for certain levels of portals (you should be out in the field scouting for these as this is a mobile game that requires you to be out in the world)
And this seems to be the really only difference from stock intel and IITC (with some exception).
To be honest, we don't need the intel map at all, we shouldn't even have it. So, I guess we should be thankful that it's even there in the first place.
Whether or not we agree with the TOS, its there. IITC breaks the TOS, therefore, it shouldn't be used. We don't have to like it, but it is what it is.
In the past Niantic has bent over backwards to avoid giving a yes/no answer as to whether IITC violates the TOS.
Technically it does but Niantic seems to be well aware how much basic functionality agents rely on it for.
Some things IITC does that stock Intel does not:
1. Remain usable on my phone alongside Ingress.
2. Make it easy to scroll in and out.
3. Draw and plan fields.
4. View the map uncluttered by fields and links (for planning.)
5. View different underlying map layers (for example contours or satellite view. "Is there a crosswalk between portal A and Portal B?")
Still grey area ehh?