Way back in 2013 Google purchased Waze for about US$1.3BN which was huge. Not just the dollars but the functionality Waze offers has always been excellent, so having that merged to Google Maps was very enticing. The progress has been quite slow, but interestingly users (US only at this time) of Waze have started seeing Assistant functions in Waze.
According to Android Police, the assistant capabilities give options that remove the need to divert your eyes from the road, or touch your device at all (most states have laws specifically against this…) including:
- “Hey Google, report traffic”
- “Hey Google, avoid tolls”
It’s interesting to see that many users have chosen to stick with Waze for a variety of reasons despite functions being integrated into Google Maps. Those I’ve spoken to prefer the more active traffic and Police reporting of the platform even on Android Auto.
Will this be another function we want but won’t see in Australia? Only time will tell, but it does make me seriously think about using Waze for a while.
Waze navigation is horrific in so many ways. Street numbers require a specific way of searching, the routes chosen are sometimes really bad, and rerouting often tries to get you back to the original route rather than recalculating a new route.
I often have it running in the background for its police/hazard warnings, but I always use Maps as the main interface. It’s just more concise and the nav is heaps better.
My frustration with Waze on Android Auto is when I speak a ‘navigate to…’ command, AA hands off the command to Waze and the handoff just seems half baked. The street number never gets handed off, and waze just ends up listing a whole bunch of street names. Same thing when I click on a calendar reminder on AA and same thing again. The address handoff between AA (Assistant) and Waze is pretty poor. Hopefully this will help fix this (to some extent).
I’ve started using waze more for my general commute for that reason. Traffic reports and police presence, and yes I obey the speed limits.