Pokemon Go Summer Solstice Night Spawns aren't broken, they're just a little confusing

Niantic has recently added two new timed collection challenges to Pokemon Go as part of the Solstice Horizons event; one related to catching eight Pokemon that spawn during daylight hours, and another for eight that spawn during nighttime hours. With only a week to complete this challenge, there's been a lot of confusion surrounding when these nighttime and daytime spawns actually begin and end. 

After the first day of the collection challenge, many players started contacting Niantic to complain through various social media platforms about the lack of nighttime spawns. This confusion actually comes from a lack of knowledge on how nighttime spawns work within Pokemon Go.

Did Pokemon Go forget to turn on Nighttime Spawns?

No. They didn't. Nighttime spawns within the game actually start 2 hours after sunset in the part of the world you are in. You can easily find out the recognised sunset time in your locale by searching for it on a search engine (or asking a smart device), then you need to add 2 hours to that time to get the time nighttime spawns should start. This has always been the case with night spawns, although as the Northern Hemisphere moves into its longest days, it might not seem quite right. These spawns then stay in the game until 2 hours after sunrise. For example, players in the United Kingdom should see spawns from around 11:30 PM until around 6:30 AM.

You might be reading this and thinking, how can I evolve my night-required Pokemon before 11:30 PM? Why is this the case if the weather icon in Pokemon Go clearly states it's nighttime? Well, this is because the Night feature in Pokemon Go is separate from the spawn times of Pokemon - as has always been the case.

Nighttime isn't bedtime.

This might seem a little contradictory to English speakers, where nighttime is sometimes classified as the hours between Evening and Morning (9-6PM) however Niantic's system is based around daylight hours within the locale, not colloquialisms. This means that in areas where, at this time of year, the Sun barely sets, they don't stand a chance at completing this one without an alarm clock and a lot of perseverance.

It is worth noting, you can get some of the nighttime Pokemon spawns during the daytime if you use your free, 15-minute-long daily incense (if you are lucky).

Niantic hasn't forgotten to turn on any spawns - players are just not very informed about the processes when it comes to Pokemon spawning into the game and out of the game. Of course, this could be addressed with an in-game pop-up, which would really help when it comes to completing these sorts of quests, however, that's likely low on Niantic's list of priorities at the moment.

Niantic could consider adding in a Spawn Time within the game, possibly under the Weather icon, below the boosted type, saying if the game is currently spawning Daytime or Nighttime spawns. This would really clear up this confusion and help players understand more of what is going on in-game, without jumping to conclusions and getting frustrated!