Google Maps now shows traffic lights on Android in the U.S.

Update 1 (08/31/2020 @ 12:11 PM ET): Google Maps is now showing traffic lights on Android for many people in the U.S. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on July 8, 2020, is preserved below.

Google Maps is undoubtedly one of the most popular apps in Google’s portfolio, and the company often releases updates to make the service even better. Since its 15th birthday earlier this year in February, the app has received a ton of new features like Live View AR navigation, integrated menu scanning, a new real-time location sharing UI, YouTube Music integration, and much more. Now, according to a recent report from Droid-Life, Google has started testing a new feature that will show traffic lights in Google Maps on Android.

The report cites screenshots taken by a reader who lives in West Des Moines, Iowa, which show traffic lights in several intersections around the city. The traffic lights are visible both while using the traditional map view and while navigating, however, they do appear slightly bigger and more noticeable while navigating. The feature is expected to give users a heads up when they’re about to reach a traffic light and even help them plan their route ahead of time to avoid any unnecessary delay.

As of now, the feature is limited to just showing the traffic lights on the map and Google hasn’t included any additional functionality for users. However, that might change by the time the feature is released to more users. The feature currently appears to be in its early stages of development as it’s only available for a small number of users in certain regions on version 10.44.3 of the app. It’s also worth noting that Apple Maps has had a similar feature since last year which offers additional functionality like using Siri to alert users when they’re about to reach a traffic light.

Maps - Navigate & Explore (Free, Google Play) →

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Update 1: Rolling Out Widely

Traffic light icons are now showing up for many people on Google Maps, at least in the United States (via AndroidPolice). You don’t need to turn the feature on manually nor do you need to activate traffic layers. The icons look the same when this feature was first spotted back in July, and they also automatically adapt to the map size. The icons appear when browsing the map or navigating.

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