Niantic has updated Pokémon GO to version 0.41.2 for Android and version 1.11.2 for iOS. It added a catch bonus, updated Gym training, and improved the egg and incubator screens.
The catch bonus makes those medals you have been earning into something useful. You can get a catch bonus when you earn medals based on catching certain types of Pokémon (such as Kindler, Psychic, Gardener, and others). The new bonuses will give you a better chance of capturing Pokémon with a related type.
The example Niantic gives is about the Kindler Medal. Reach a higher tier for the Kindler Medal, and your bonus to catch Fire-type Pokémon such as Charmander, Vulpix, and Ponyta increases.
Personally, I am looking forward to the catch bonus. I’m starting to get frustrated by how often the Pokémon I catch escape from the PokéBall and make me use more PokéBall to try and capture them. My hope is that the catch bonus will prevent the problem of running out of PokéBalls because I had to spend so many on each Pokémon.
Niantic says Pidgey is both Normal and Flying type. Catching Pidgeys will get you closer to the next tier on both of those Medals.
The change to Gym training is for players of all levels. You can now bring six Pokémon to battle at a friendly Gym (instead of being limited to bringing one Pokémon at a time. The CP of the Pokémon you are training against might be temporarily adjusted lower during your training session to match your Pokémon’s capabilities.
The egg and incubator screens will now periodically update the distance walked without the player having to close and reopen the screen. I noticed that the number of kilometers you need to walk to hatch an egg has stayed the same – but the number of kilometers that you have already walked are now blue (instead of black). That makes it easier for me to differentiate between the two numbers.