If you’re the sort of person who likes to plan ahead and prepare various contingencies for traffic and whatnot, the latest update to Google Maps on iOS might be of interest to you. This is because in the update, Google is introducing a new widget in the form of “Nearby Traffic” which shows the current traffic around your location.
What this means is that if you’re trying to decide when to leave the house, you can take a quick peek at the traffic situation to decide if maybe you should leave a bit earlier to take into account the traffic jam, or you can leave later as traffic will not be an issue. The widget will also give a very brief description about the traffic, like “Light traffic in your area” and “Faster than usual”.
As 9to5Mac points out, the update also seems to have removed the Travel Times and Transit widgets that were introduced to Google Maps last month. We’re not sure why Google removed those features, whether it was by design or by accident, and whether or not there are plans to eventually bring it back.
In any case if you have yet to update your app or download Google Maps for iOS, then head on over to the iTunes App Store for the latest update.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, Google, Google Maps and iOS.