Should Google kill off Waze? – Android Police

Google Maps and Waze offer very different services; the latter focuses on accurate real-time reporting for drivers, while the former takes a broader approach to navigation. Waze’s laser focus on navigation in personal vehicles earned it a dedicated fan base, of which I consider myself a member. However, Google has recently blurred the dividing line between the two services.If there’s one thing I’m surprised about, it’s that these changes didn’t come earlier. Google regularly absorbs products into its services, but Waze kept its identity for over a decade. You would be forgiven for not knowing that Waze was owned by Google. However, the days of Waze’s independence may be drawing to a close as Google Maps absorbs its best-loved features. But should this mark the ending of Waze?Do you want more information or quicker navigation?One of the best features of Waze, indeed the one that made me switch from Google Maps to Waze, is its driver reporting feature. If you’re not familiar with this feature, Waze users can issue reports to the app via voice commands about hazards on the road. For example, you can report police cars, crashed vehicles, and traffic jams. Other drivers will then see your report and can confirm or deny whether it is still relevantThis system creates a real-time map of all the delays and hazards on your route. While Google Maps has a similar feature, it’s less streamlined. However, it’s rapidly caught up over the last year.As of December 2024, Google Maps users have started seeing reports from Waze drivers in the app. This feature clarifies that the reports have come from Waze users, which raises the question: is this the end of Waze?If Google Maps lets users report incidents in the same manner as Waze, this would leave Waze bereft of unique features. This isn’t the only feature Google Maps has borrowed from Waze. Back in July 2024, Maps updated its incident reporting tool to mimic Waze’s. Later that year, Google replaced the speed trap report with a generic police report, just like Waze.The copying of features isn’t all just one way. Waze upgraded its incident reporting feature in October 2024 to understand context in spoken dialogue. Powered by Gemini, this lets users report obstructions by saying things like “It looks like there’s a mattress on the road” rather than “Hey Google, report that there is an obstruction.”Google is not abandoning Waze soon. It’s regularly updated with features both practical and cosmetic; there’s no sign of the end yet. However, maybe Google should merge it into Google Maps. Beyond its incident reporting features, Waze improves on Google Maps in numerous ways. The UI is much cleaner, and navigational assets are bright and bold, which is exactly what you want from a navigation app.There’s also an impressive number of cosmetic features. You can get Ben Whishaw’s Paddington to issue directions, change how you appear to other Waze drivers, and earn achievements based on your reporting statistics. None of these help you navigate, but they give the app much more character than Google Maps.However, at the end of the day, what matters is helping people navigate safely and quickly. The more people who use the same navigational app, the more reports there’ll be, creating safer and faster journeys.If Google shut down Waze and moved its navigational features to Google Maps, we would likely see more reports for all users. But while this would be an efficient solution for Google, I don’t think it’s the right one.Part of the reason I switched from Google Maps to Waze was that I didn’t have to swipe past various irrelevant options to navigate. Google Maps is a fantastic tool for identifying great places to eat, checking reviews on nearby bars, or travelling via public transport. Waze, on the other hand, is built purely for driving.This dedication to its purpose sets Waze apart from the rest of Google’s apps. Even in this era of AI bloat, the Gemini-powered reporting system in Waze feels like a natural extension of an existing feature rather than an unnecessary tacked-on feature.Killing off Waze would deprive us of the best navigation app for drivers. Even if its signature navigational features are ported to Google Maps, we’ll still miss out on Waze’s fantastic user experience.Google is no stranger to killing off popular and unpopular apps and services; Waze’s popularity isn’t enough to save it from termination. What we need is Waze’s reporting features shared between the new apps so Waze users can also see reports from Google Maps. In the meantime, I’ll be sticking with Waze for driving and Citymapper for public transport.What’s best for getting from A to B?We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.Your comment has not been savedUnless Google merged every feature from Waze to Maps I’d say no. An easier solution would be in integrate Waze into maps via a toggle. That way you could easily toggle between a Waze overlay and a Maps overlay. I like that idea Patrick “If Google Maps lets users report incidents in the same manner as Waze, this would leave Waze bereft of unique features.”It isn’t “in the same manner”, though. One maddening misfire I find in GMaps is that, when I make a report, it imposes a cooldown period where I cannot make additional reports. Waze has no such restriction. Also, Waze traffic updates feel more real-time whereas GMaps always seems to be behind by 10-15 minutes. It’s almost like Google is batching Waze updates. Therefore, I will always prefer Waze over GMaps when driving. But GMaps is definitely superior when it comes to researching POIs. So until there is true feature parity (not just surface-level UI mimicking), they both have their place in the Google ecosystem.What the author fails to mention is Waze is safer to use when driving compaired to Google Maps and combining the two will create a less than ideal driving situation. Leave it alone!Either way, Ways and Google maps should merge having all features of both apps in the same app.If anything, Google should close Google Maps and name Waze as Google maps or something, Wase is superior over Google Maps. No it isn’t. You didn’t read the article, did you? One is great at one thing, other is great at other thing.WAZE FEATURES I LIKE1. I like having a male voice for navigation because it is easier for me to understand.2. I like having speed limit and my current speed displayed even when I haven’t chosen a destination. GOOGLE MAPS FEATURES I ILKE 1. Ability to see pics of destinations I can not get no sound on waze,i have the volume turned up on high,but barely hear the directionsIt is not only a matter of how many different features .The route suggested and the voice guide is still much better in WazeI use Waze because i trust it more, but I dont understand why we need 2 navigation apps. Bring everything from Waze to Google Maps. Waze has been a lifesaver in all my trips, including Euro trips and USAMaps users can thank Waze users for the hazard reports WE make.This is an opportunity. The backend database for google nav can be harmonized with wase, and both products be made to be two portals into the same data, allowing greater versatility by providing multiple “faces” to the core database. Why would this be useful?? Verticals can be created quicker with their queries against the same backend. Perhaps surveyors would like an app to show plats. Perhaps highway construction companies have special needs. What about the proverbial traveling salesman problem?All of these and many more aps can become standards in their verticals by removing 66 percent of the development, the back end. I find that waze drops out more than google maps. ??I hope they don’t shut down Waze. One problem with incident reporting on Google maps/Android Auto is that the incident reporting icon doesn’t display on many car screens due to the screen size. I have a Honda Ridgeline and the incident reporting button is nowhere to be found. I know several people who use Waze every day including me. It’s great for instant reports of car accidents and speed traps. 2 big things Google Maps hasnt adopted. Both of these are when you havn’t entered a destination. Not everyone wants active directions every day going places they know; just having it up for traffic/incidents. Both of these work on Waze without a destination entered. 1) speed limits while not navigating, and 2) incident reports while not navigating to a specific destination. There is no reason these cannot be displayed all the time like Waze does.For traffic, Maps should adopt how Waze does it with the mph over users around and the same colors.this has been one of the most unbelievable runs for a Google-acquired app ever.i figured Waze would give up the ghost years ago after Google bought them just because Google bought them to add to the Graveyard.having 2 almost identical apps is redundant and beyond belief waste of Google money to operate.i have always been a steadfast Waze user, but if Google actually fully integrated ALL of the features of both into one app (which is what I expected them to do years ago), there wouldn’t be a need for 2 apps doing the same thing under one corporate umbrella.having said that…we all know when this happens Google will botch the merge and inexplicably leave out features from one app in the merger, so i’ll keep hoping it doesn’t happen.but honestly, every day that goes by Google hasn’t closed Waze yet is truly a miracle.Yes, just close it already. We don’t need 2 separate navigation apps sharing the same features. From idea to finished presentationInching towards parity with the Android appGoogle says a ‘technical issue’ was to blameStay productive no matter the platform’Nudges’ highlight common Gemini workflows’From sunset to sunrise’ is broken

Source: https://www.androidpolice.com/should-google-kill-off-waze/