Mobile navigation apps have been with us for so long that they are becoming so normalized nowadays, it may seem to us that they evolve very little. And perhaps so in terms of radical or disruptive changes, but that doesn’t mean they (the original author) didn’t get the improvements we tend to despise. Fortunately, we appreciate them later when we realize their benefits.

One of them is one for Google Maps, which was announced in the first third of the year and is already up and running on Android (and partly on iOS). We talked about the arrival of traffic lights and stop signs on the map. In time that map ceased to be a cream-colored canvas filled with icons to position ourselves. Some, as we’ve told you, are extremely helpful.

Turn right but WHERE

Our cities are designed as they were designed, with newer areas and older areas that fit different criteria for each era. Now, newer structures tend to be more spaced, longer blocks implying that the streets are further separated from each other. It takes more time to turn in the opposite direction, but we have a greater sense of order.

Streets are usually quite close together when we talk about older areas. Some don’t stray even tens of meters from others, and that’s where it is. GPS has a certain delay when giving us indications, especially when we talk about voice alerts. How many times has Google Maps told you to leave the roundabout at a certain exit when you’re already doing it? Or worse, only when you do.

This is because GPS does not always position our car at the speed of light, there is a certain delay. For example, enough to ask us to turn right on a street we don’t know exactly what it is. That’s why it’s important to have visual markings on the map, and that’s why it’s key. Google Maps now shows not only traffic lights, but also stop signs.

What it’s told here is orienting yourself and so there are never too many visual indications. Since we don’t have photos while navigating (unless we’re walking and have Street View enabled), less than Google does everything possible to distinguish some streets from others. So count the traffic lights and stop the signs on the ground It makes it easier for us to know not only where we are, but what’s next.

So if Google asks us to turn right in an area where the streets are very crowded, it is useful to know that we are talking about the street after the traffic light. Or the street with the stop sign. This is an option that seemed trivial when announced, but saves us from many bad waysand lots of “route recalculating” messages because we’re exiting incorrectly.