Questions and answers
Routing
Does Lefty tell me when a turn is safe?
No, never. Lefty reduces how many risky turns are on your route. At every turn you still look, judge and decide.
What does Lefty count as a risky left?
Ranked from worst: an unsignalized left across a major road; a left at a light with no confirmed arrow; a left at a light with a confirmed arrow outside the hours it runs. Right turns and going straight are never penalized.
Why is the Lefty route sometimes identical to the fastest?
The fastest route already had no risky lefts or undivided roads to remove. Lefty shows both so you can see that.
How much longer are Lefty routes?
In our Toronto study, about 3% on average, roughly 40 seconds on a 25-minute trip, for a third fewer left turns. Some trips cost nothing; a few cost a couple of minutes. The card always shows the difference.
What is cottage-country mode?
Lefty also discourages two-way roads at 70 km/h or more with nothing between you and oncoming traffic, and gravel roads. It prefers divided highways and shows how many kilometres of undivided road each route has. The last stretch to a lake is often two-lane no matter what; Lefty minimizes it rather than pretending it can be avoided.
Where does it work?
All of Ontario. Confirmed arrow data is densest in Toronto.
Does it know about traffic?
Not yet. Route times are estimates from road types and speed limits, not live traffic.
Arrows and the community
How does Lefty know which lights have a left-turn arrow?
Toronto published signal phase data, which seeded about 350 intersections. Everywhere else, drivers answer the arrow question. No map records arrows, and many arrows run only at certain times, which is why Lefty keeps time-of-day windows.
When does the arrow question appear?
Only during a trip, only after you have been stopped for a few seconds within about 45 metres of a signalized left on your route, and only once per turn. It disappears the moment you move. You can ignore it.
How many answers confirm an intersection?
Three different devices agreeing, with at least 75% of answers in agreement, per approach and per time window. Where Toronto's data already suggests an arrow, one driver's answer settles it. A single answer never changes routing on its own.
What are ranks?
Rookie, Scout, Navigator, Pathfinder, Wayfinder and Left Legend, earned through points: 10 per answer, 40 more when your intersection is confirmed. They appear in Settings. Ranks are private; nothing about you is shown to other drivers.
Privacy
Does Lefty track where I go?
No. Your position is used to plan and guide the trip and is not stored on our servers. Trip history stays on your phone. Details in the privacy policy.
Are my reports linked to me?
They are linked to a random code on your phone, stored hashed on our server. We cannot connect it to your name, email or Apple ID.
Lefty Plus
What's free and what's Plus?
Free: both routes side by side, guidance, the arrow question, ranks, all of Ontario. Plus: time-of-day arrow routing, cottage-country mode, trip history and export, and CarPlay when it launches. During the pilot, everything is unlocked.
How do I cancel or get a refund?
Cancel in iPhone Settings › Subscriptions. Refunds are handled by Apple; see the refund policy.
Will there be CarPlay?
It's planned. CarPlay for navigation apps requires Apple's approval, which is in progress.
Android?
Not yet. iPhone first.