New app tracks wait times at Toronto grocery stores

There's a new app that's tracking wait times at grocery stores and pharmacies in Toronto, and the availability of essential products, to help make shopping during COVID-19 a little less stressful.

Live Lineups is free and uses crowdsourced data to report wait times and stock information. For instance, after visiting a store, users are asked to share wait times on that particular location. The app provides that data to other users in 15-minute increments, up to "60-minutes or more."

"Based on the results populated, you can decide when and where to do your urgent shopping," according to the website. "No need to panic anymore!"

To report on the availability of essential items such as toilet paper and feminine hygiene products, shoppers can select "available," "not available" or "unknown."

Users can search for a store based on their current location or by entering an address. And, using the map view to search allows users to see wait times at nearby locations, too.

Google has a similar feature that provides real-time updates of how busy a grocery store is and how long shoppers will likely have to wait in checkout lines. Estimates are based on anonymous data from users who have opted in to Google Location History.