There's a Pokémon in the kebab store! Can I turn off augmented reality?

Question

I have been trying to catch Pokémon this morning, and have had no luck so far. Eventually I ran into my first Pokémon, but unfortunately, the timing could not be worse.

I'm inside a kebab store, waiting for food, and let's be honest - while catching Pokémon in augmented reality is kind of cool, it certainly does not look cool to unaware onlookers. Raising my phone to locate the Pokémon, people are already looking at me funny. It also occurs to me that it may look like I am recording with my phone¹, which can lead to some unpleasant misunderstandings.

Of course, there are many other situations where I would not want to be spinning around, holding my phone up. It would be convenient to turn this feature off, while still being able to play the game, even if it is a major mechanic. Sometimes catching Pokémon in real life just isn't convenient.

How do I disable the augmented reality mechanic for catching Pokémon, so I don't look like a complete idiot at inappropriate times?

_{¹Given the context, I guess I kind of am.}

Answer 1

When you encounter a pokémon, one of the icons that appears will be labelled AR. AR stands for Augmented Reality. Simply select this toggle to turn it on or off.

This took me a while to notice, but when in its 'off' state, pokémon go plays in a pre-rendered scene, as opposed to using the camera and gyro.

In laymans terms, the pokémon will always be straight in front of you. You do not have to move the phone around sporadically in order to keep the pokémon on screen, and can play pokémon go as if it was a typical phone game.