Waze – A Crowd-sourced Navigation App
With smartphones taking over everyone’s lives these days, it is obvious that you are also putting maximum use of it in your daily routine, be it to browse the web, chat with your buddies, checking your social networks, making hotel reservations, online purchases etc, apart from the traditional making & receiving calls!!!!!
With so much new features being added, it was clear that the smartphones will take over the more robust GPS navigation systems like Garmin or Tom-Tom one day. That day has already come and gone and we use the Google Maps or the Apple iOS maps for our navigation when we want to get some directions or even search for nearest restaurants on our way or see how the traffic is and re-route if possible.
Note: Pictures below are screenshots from my Awesome Samsung S3.
What is Waze?
Waze app was initially focussed on crowd-sourced traffic information, but lately it has blown into a fully-functional navigation app, first of its kind which is free to download on Android and iPhone. I have taken several screenshots of the various features of Waze using my awesome Samsung S3 (read review) and I will try to explain each one with a short description. This way we can make this post more reader-friendly and avoid lengthy paragraphs.
1. Report a Traffic Condition – Waze has made it simple enough for anyone driving to report on a traffic incident, and the cool thing is it allows you to add a voice memo and also a picture of the road condition along with it. You can also specify whether the jam is in your lane or the opposite lane thus helping others travelling in either direction.
2. Report a Camera – This reporting feature has some intelligence built into it. I tried to report a camera on my way back from work, and it just wouldnt accept it. Later, when I wasnt driving, i explored it a little further and realized that your report will be taken into consideration, but it will be published only after confirming with the county municipal department for the existence of the camera. Isnt that cool??
3. Getting Social – Do you think it will be nice to allow friends or family to know which route you are taking and where you are currently? Waze allows you to do exactly that, you can “share” your drive with anyone via any of the social networks or just by a mail or a message.
4. Anyone Around? – If any tool or application or website is asking you to link your Facebook profile during sign-up, then be sure that they intend to share all the information around your friends and circles. The same with Waze, you can see your FB friends list and also you can see if any of your friends are “On Your Way”. Now, that is interesting!!!!
5. Settings – The two main features of the Waze app is the customizable Settings menu and the built-in Reports menu. Settings has all the options you will ever need to make the app more customized to your liking and needs. As you can see below, there are a variety of setting features that you can control as per your whims and fancies.
6. Reports - There are several Report options that you might find useful. I have been using the “Traffic Jam” and “Camera” to some extent now, and works well. I also find it a lot useful when fellow Wazers report a Traffic Jam and I get to see that on my route and re-route accordingly. There are several others that I still need to explore!!!!
7. Menu Options – Apart from some of the features mentioned above like the Share, Finding Friends and Settings options, the menu button has some more basic GPS functions like the Navigation, adding a stop en-route and Finding the cheapest Gas around. All these options are neatly coupled and placed inside of the menu options button at the bottom left corner of the app, easily accessible while driving.
8. Display Properties – When you enter a heavy traffic zone, your route will be immediately shown as RED and also shows at what average speed the traffic is moving through the zone. That is quite helpful, but the only con here is that the app doesnt display lane-traffic. In the below screenshot you can see that the route is shown as red, but actually it is the opposite lane to mine which is having traffic!!!! I think a quick update to the app is forthcoming 
One other improvement they can actually put in is the speed limit for the road or highway, currently it displays at what speed I am driving, but unlike other traditional GPS systems, it doesnt display the allowed speed-limit.
9. Voice Prompts – The Waze app doesnt allow you to type in your destination when you are driving. Though it seems like a safe-bet, it sometimes is necessary. All you can do is use the voice prompt to tell what you need to do, like route or gas or log off. The voice feature is not accurate and sometimes irritates the hell out of me, so I tend to stay away from it.
p.s. Notice the 3 cameras in the below picture, those are the ones reported and approved by the county!!!! Nice to know where they are so I can slow down and avoid tickets
10. Night Vision – The app auto-converts the display to Night vision and shows all prompts and signs in bright colors easily readable for the driving. Some things to note in the below picture – Police en-route (which was actually accurate), traffic jam (which proved to be the opposite lane), fellow wazers (shown all over my route), destination in miles and minutes with current traffic. All those proves really useful and I am sort of hooked onto this app now.
11. Alert Pop-Ups – These are quite handy, when there is a reported incident on your route, a pop-up message comes up warning you of the same, you can dismiss it by saying it is No Longer there, and that gets recorded, so it will not bother other wazers.
12. Extras – As you can see below, the app records you usage, the number of miles driven, the number of incidents reported etc to enable certain features. There is also a small pac-man like game which pops up some candies on your road to eat and earn points. I would say, you better disable such features not to distract your driving
13. Cheap Gas – The Waze app also reports which of the nearest gas station has cheaper gas, thus allowing you to save a few cents as well on your route. Now this can be really helpful when we are on long-drives and will allow us to plan accordingly.
Over To You – So which GPS navigation system do you use for your commute? Have you used Waze, if so do you think it is better than others out there? What are the other features you would love to see in such navigation apps? Do share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Thanks for reading.
Category: Smartphone Apps, Technology
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Twitter: harleenas
Interesting Praveen!
Honestly speaking – I am a far cry from technology and hardly use my mobile for any of these
Yeah – you can call me ‘antique’ in the real sense 
But yes, my kids and hubby are much into all of these things, and we do have a GPS in our phone, though we use it rarely. Waze does sound wonderful and something that would help many, and I shall surely be sending them this post of yours.
Thanks for sharing.
Harleena Singh recently posted…Why Do We Sleep – A Lesson to Learn
Twitter: techivy
Harleena – I can understand that, and am sure your hubby and kids will love this tool.
There are some features though which are not desirable while driving, and they need to be switched off for one’s safety.
Drive safe!!!!!!!!!
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praveen recently posted…UKHosting Giveaway!!!!!
Twitter: ElevatorEscalat
Its just looks amazing praveen I have never heard about this app i found it through your blog when I will get new mobile I shall firstly installed this app and then other thing really nice app
Thanks for that nice post praveen………
Twitter: techivy
Elevator Lift (it really helps when you give your real name while commenting)
I am glad you liked the app features and hope you find it useful on your new smartphone as well.
Have a good day.
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praveen recently posted…UKHosting Giveaway!!!!!
Twitter: TechTeenBlog
Hi Praveen,
It’s Ash here from Carolyn’s blog. I own a technology blog too! This app looks really handy if I were a driver, but I am only 14 so I won’t be driving any time soon.
I will definitely check out this app. I also tried to find your email list so I could subscribe but I could not find it.
Ash recently posted…Top 5 Films of 2013
Twitter: techivy
Ash – Welcome to TechIVY and am glad you left a comment for this article. Wow, 14 huh??? I just followed you on twitter and visited your website. Looks pretty awesome, will surely add you to my list of blogs.
I just added a sign-up form for Tech-IVY newsletter, though I am not much into sending email promotions and marketing. I would suggest you subscribe to the feed to get my articles in your reader.
Nice to know you and glad you are here. Have a wonderful weekend ahead.
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praveen recently posted…UKHosting Giveaway!!!!!
Hi Praveen,
That’s a really really helpful app mate
Well, I guess its best use for US and countries around, isn’t it? 
Anyway I need to install and see how it works here.
I haven’t heard of it at all and it’s only Google Maps I’ve been using to find where I’m going or wanna go so far.
When I read through your post, I’ve memorized features as I love ‘em enough but when I finish reading, seems I love all the features you have described Praveen
First off, I like how report camera send it for confirmation. Seems like lot of processing happening behind the scene
That’s really cool. Sharing the location (I don’t think it’s better always 
lol…) and finding friends is awesome.
Display properties is cool and whoops… Night vision?! Really they have been thinking about the user experience a lot more and really a good example for app developers. I hope they take your suggestion into consideration there mate
Do they offer a way to send feedback?
lol
I had no much luck with voice commands generally. That will take lot of efforts. Do general voice commands works for you on your S3 mate?
Gosh that’s lovely. Nearest gas station and lowest price. Impressive. I feel like rating 5 stars without even using it Praveen. Well, I gotta try it out first
Thank you for the informative post about an amazing app Praveen
I just came here before I sleep, but I can’t sleep without installing it 
Have a fabulous weekend ahead
Cheers…
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Twitter: techivy
Mayura – I am glad you liked the features of this app. I have been using this constantly on my 1.5hrs drive to work everyday. Each day, the navigation route varies slightly depending on the traffic conditions. It is just great to know in advance what to expect.
There are other apps out there which gives us pretty much all these information, but somehow i liked the user interface of waze a lot better.
The only problem i have with this is the voice isnt very clear and audible. Yes, the voice prompt is difficult to use and I am not the one to use the regular ones on android or the “Siri”. It is annoying at times.
Thanks for a detailed comment and hope to see you back soon.
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praveen recently posted…Social Media One of the Best Platforms to Create Social Awareness
Hi guys,
I love the Waze app. I had a little issue using it on my iphone since I had no place to fix my phone. But since I got this cool charger/fm trasmitter I am using it every day.
See image here: http://www.cheapcarssales.com/very-cool-and-cheap-iphone-fm-transmitter-and-charger-for-your-car/
Twitter: techivy
John – Welcome to my blog, and am happy to know that you are using this app already. Yes, I do have something similar to that cell phone holder in my car as well, works pretty convenient.
praveen recently posted…Social Media One of the Best Platforms to Create Social Awareness
Hi Praveen, This is a very helpful review of Waze. I have had a lot of readers tell me that I need to review it but hadn’t tried it out before. You explained the features so well, now I understand why those readers have been raving about it!
All the information provided would be very helpful, but there is one issue that really bugs me. The fact that the traffic congestion shown in red doesn’t distinguish between lanes is huge. You could spend a lot of time avoiding a jam that isn’t in the direction you’re going anyway.
I hope the update to the app comes soon that fixes this issue!
Thanks for the great review, Praveen!
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Carolyn recently posted…Manilla – The Thrill of Organizing Your Accounts
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Carolyn – Thanks for your wonderful comment. The waze app is awesome and I am using it most often and it has never failed me until now.
Yes, there are some small tweaks that will make it better, and am sure the waze team is working towards it.
I hope you found this review useful and will start using the app too
Have a good day.
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praveen recently posted…How Beneficial Is Facebook and Twitter for Your Business
Twitter: TechChunks
Being a technology evangelist who is in constant look out for new and interesting tech developments I must say this was an interesting article. I’ll certainly try it out myself. Thanks.