Google Maps Traffic Lights Update Released To Android

If you're using an Android device that was released in the last few years and you use Google Maps, you're in luck. Today, Google started releasing an update that adds traffic lights to maps. This isn't going to be live in all places around the world right out the gate – this is just the start – but it's a major step toward the hyper-accurate future of a fully mapped globe.

Take a peek at the video below and remember your first experience with Google Earth. Remember the feelings it summoned, when you realized that Google had satellite images of the entire planet, accurate enough to see the color of the car you had parked in your driveway earlier that year.

Now, Google's going further... from a certain point a view. With this latest update to Google Maps, Google's including information about the roads on which you drive. The traffic lights you see at intersections are part of Google's efforts to take into account every part of the daily life of every human on this planet, so they can better... serve them.

Per Droid Life as of July 7, 2020, Google Maps showed signs that traffic lights will soon play a significant role in your GPS mapping future.

If you've not been using Apple Maps on an iPhone for the past year, you might not have noticed that Apple Maps has a very similar feature, too. Apple's Maps app is able to show route speed limits, points out road names, and shows the general location of traffic lights. Apple Maps can also tell you you're about to approach a traffic light as it lists turn-by-turn directions, too.

Now, if only all of these mapping apps could agree on the best way to handle me making a pit stop at a fast food restaurant without suggesting that I've made a huge mistake.