pokemon-go
Incense: "Incense with a mysterious fragrance that lures wild Pokémon
to your location for 30 minutes."
I have observed that if a Pokémon appears for me at a given time and location it will also appear for others nearby. Does this mean that if one person in a group uses incense that it will help others in the group as well?
This is a part from game code that defines how incense works.
Simply, it spawns 1 Pokémon when you walk 200 meters (1 minute minimum between 200m movement spawns) or wait every 5 minute while not moving.
You can stay still and get 6 Pokémon, or get up to 30 Pokémon by moving.
jdero's comment is correct, while it may seem like Pokemon are drawn to the lure, they are definitely spawned on the lure. Areas have a list of Pokemon that are more likely to spawn there so you will see that nearby Pokemon are also the Pokemon that spawn at lures. A few factors make this very apparent. Firstly, in an area with multiple lures activated in close proximity a Pokemon will show up ever 5 minutes or so. The natural spawn rate of any are couldn't support this. Second, I have, while being in one such area, seen naturally spawning Pokemon appear every 20 or so minutes(about average) in addition to the ones spawned by the module. lastly, I have NEVER seen a rarer Pokemon move after using an incense or module near it (within 2 paws), and was able to go out and find said Pokemon after the lure was activated nearby in its original spot. Also incense works the same way as lures except instead of a proximity to spawn in, they spawn directly on top of you.
Best Answer
Regular incense does not affect other players. You can use a Lure Module and attach it to a PokéStop. It does affect other players.