Google Maps just got a big upgrade — and it will make your life easier

Google Maps only got a big upgrade — and it will make your life easier

(Image credit: Oliver Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

A long-awaited update to Google Maps finally appears to be reaching users now. Kickoff spotted by some users earlier this summertime, Google Maps now identifies intersections with traffic lights in sure cities, offering a useful bit of extra information when in transit.

This change was actually noticed equally far back as July by Droid Life, but as usual with Google's app updates, this one rolled out server side, and so users take been receiving it at different times. Google posted an update to its Keyword blog in mid-August that talked upwardly various additions to the Maps feel, but mysteriously left this 1 out.

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Traffic signal icons are live in Google Maps in New York, Seattle and Atlanta, among other cities. — Traffic signal icons are alive in Google Maps in New York, Seattle and Atlanta, among other cities. (Prototype credit: Tom'due south Guide)

The icons themselves are fairly straightforward and blank bones. They don't animate, for instance, so it'southward non similar yous can tell what a signal is going to be earlier you get to information technology. Additionally, you take to zoom into the map quite close to fifty-fifty come across them in the first place.

As it turns out, there's null you really need to practice to see the traffic signals, except compression to zoom in. Equally Android Police notes, the icons aren't housed in the traffic layer, then they should be visible at all times alongside street names and identify data, whether you're using navigation or just browsing.

It's worth noting that Apple tree Maps has been doing this for quite a while, and upwardly until now, it stood as one of Apple's few advantages over Google's more information- and characteristic-rich platform that has manifestly been around much longer. Polling our own Android devices, we tin can see that many of them are showing traffic signals, so this characteristic would seem to be widely bachelor now.

In terms of other updates, in August, Google shared that Maps now delineates sidewalks, pedestrian islands and crosswalks. London, New York and San Francisco were identified as the kickoff cities of focus for these features, and they'll roll out to others in due fourth dimension.

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Adam Ismail is a staff writer at Jalopnik and previously worked on Tom's Guide roofing smartphones, car tech and gaming. His love for all things mobile began with the original Motorola Droid; since then he's owned a variety of Android and iOS-powered handsets, refusing to stay loyal to one platform. His piece of work has also appeared on Digital Trends and GTPlanet. When he's not fiddling with the latest devices, he'due south at an indie pop testify, recording a podcast or playing Sega Dreamcast.