Google Maps iOS App Update: Popular Times Feature Will Show Users When Locations Are Busiest

Google on Wednesday updated its Google Maps iOS app with the Popular Times feature which lets users see how crowded a location is in real time. Users will be able to see live data results of busy times for their destination.

The Google Maps update 4.27 is a 103MB download, available from the iOS App Store.

Popular Times will show when a location is at its busiest, based on information derived from users who have opted to turn on the Google location history feature on their devices. Popular Times uses the anonymous mobile positioning data collected from such users to create a bar chart representing the average foot traffic in a particular store, restaurant or another such establishment at any given point of time.

The feature has been available to Android and web users since 2015. The real-time data accounts for events, holiday traffic and other unforeseen situations which might cause a dip or rise in foot traffic. It could be extremely useful on days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when a lot of consumers try to grab deals on merchandise at local stores.

It is aimed at helping users schedule their activities better by wasting less time standing in queues. In addition to this, it also displays the average amount of time people spend at the destination so that you can plan your return trip as well.

However, it should be kept in mind that it is far from exact. Since a building can house more than one commercial establishment on the same floor or across different floors, the data from everyone in the building will show up even when you search for a specific store or restaurant in the building.

The update also allows users to copy an address from the iOS clipboard to the search bar in Google Maps. You can download the update using this link.