How the auto zoom works?

I've been using the Edge 840 for a few weeks and can't figure out how the auto zoom works. On the old etrex 30, when I enabled auto zoom, I had the zoom set to 500 while navigating, and when approaching an intersection, the zoom gradually enlarged the map to 300, 200, 120, and 80, and after passing the intersection, it zoomed back to 500 (which was the original setting). Back then, auto zoom made sense and was helpful for me. But I can't see how the auto zoom works on the Edge 840. Can someone explain this to me? The manual says nothing except that it exists.