Google purchased Waze in 2013 and developed it as a separate community-based GPS navigation app with several real-time, crowd-sourced social networking features. “Wazers” can alert fellow drivers to accidents, hazards, road closures, speed traps, police activity, and other issues that may call for route changes, and that information comes with an ETA based on current traffic conditions. The app also helps you find the cheapest gas stations along your route, and in conjunction with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, you can use Waze on your car’s display, if it has one.
As you drive along, Waze will periodically notify you via pop-ups of incidents on the road ahead within a preset radius or along your chosen route if a destination has been set. Slow traffic, incidents and accidents, and police presence and speed cameras are among the possible triggers for notifications. That Waze will provide these notifications even if you do not have a destination chosen adds incentive to always have the app running when behind the wheel and on the road; of course, you’ll also be doing your part to improve the map and traffic data available to the whole Waze community by doing so.
Waze doesn’t just focus on driving though. Updates have added support for Google Assistant (on Android) and Siri (on iOS). You can also choose from a variety of app audio voices to guide you while you drive and even use the app’s carpool feature to arrange carpools to offer rides or find companions. Waze is free and ad-supported. It has a motorcycle mode, and you can also listen to your favorite music from apps like Spotify and podcasts by linking those services up with Waze and playing them through the app.
Waze also includes social features (connect to Facebook), game mechanics (earn points and find digital treats on the map), and a questionable Map Chat feature that lets you leave messages and photos on the map for other drivers to browse. There’s also a feature to find and report fuel prices, which can be useful but probably isn’t something you want to use while driving. In fact, generally speaking, the less that you interact with Waze while driving, the easier it is to live with.
