Google Maps for Android and iOS show Traffic Lights

Google Maps is now showing traffic light locations to users on Android and iOS. This is a server-side update, meaning that it should appear in your Google Maps app automatically.

The feature is visible on both iPhones and Android smartphones for driving and walking directions, but the icon is static and not a live view, meaning they’re not showing the actual colour of the lights as they change in real time.

The traffic light symbols appear in the middle of an intersection whether you’re browsing the map or navigating to a location. The icons automatically adjust to match the size of the map, which makes them easy to spot if you’re just glancing at your device for directions.

The icon is very small, and only appears when someone zooms in very tight along a route. An first glance of a route that appears when you first call up directions doesn’t bring the feature into view. You need to move tightly into the map for it to work.

Unfortunately, it appears that this new feature has only rolled out to users in the United States. Google Maps users in Europe are reporting that they don’t see any change to Google Maps on their devices.

Of course, Google may roll the feature out to more countries and devices as time goes on, but for now, this looks to be exclusive to the US.