A few weeks ago, Google announced a new feature named busy area - well, that feature now seems to be rolling out. Several folks started to notice this roll out over the past few days. When you are looking at the Google Maps app, Google will show you if an area is busy by labeling it "busy area" with a pulsating indicator.
Here is a screen shot of it from Praveen Sharma on Twitter:
Here is a GIF of it in action:
Google said this is a good way to avoid crowds, Google wrote:
Whether you’re heading to your hometown or exploring a new city, you can use Area Busyness, a new feature that combines live busyness trends to help you instantly spot when a neighborhood or part of town is near or at its busiest. Say you’re not a fan of crowds — just open Google Maps to see places to avoid, like the area near a holiday fair. And if you’re traveling and want to check out some of the more popular areas in town, you can easily pinpoint which neighborhoods are lively.Want more info? Tap on a neighborhood to see how busy it is at different times of day, along with the restaurants, shops and recreational places (like a museum) within it, so you can decide if you want to visit. Area Busyness starts rolling out globally on Android and iOS, in time for this holiday season.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
