Waze: crowd-based navigation app

[hoosierdoc]

Anyone using this? We did for the first time while driving back from Orlando to my mom's house. We then used it to get home from FL. Pretty handy at warning you of issues up ahead like traffic jams, pot holes, stopped cars, police, etc.

if you don't mind it tracking you the app will report average speeds on various roads too and help guide which way you should take. Pretty slick.

honestly the road departments should use this app as a means to report potholes.

I believe the app is also voice controlled, so you can add hazards without ever touching your phone.

 

[Reagan40]

I use it pretty frequently. Go through the audio menu and try some of the different voices. A few are good for laughs. They also have Morgan Freeman's voice now. It's entertaining to have him direct you.

 

[pute62]

I tried it when it first came out and it wasn't that great. I just reinstalled it a few weeks ago and really like it. It actually shows what's happening in real time.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Yeah, I've grown to be a fan of it. Just now, my wife shared her "trip" with me so I can know when she'll be home. One time, while driving south on 37, Waze started telling me to turn left (where I obviously hadn't planned to). Turned out there was a stoppage on 37 in a couple of miles and it routed me around it.

I can't find it now, but I got a thing on my FB feed today that the Tennessee DOT is going to team up with Waze to notify of construction, detours, etc.

Yeah, I've grown to like it and it sounds like it's getting better.

 

[chezuki]

I tried it just for the Morgan Freeman voice... I was pretty impressed. He kept calling me Mr. Vice President.

 

[jbombelli]

I use it. I'm a fan of the real time road info (pretty accurate when enough people are using it).

 

[Tactically Fat]

It can be fun to put speed trap alerts where there arent any...or so i hear. Heh

 

[foszoe]

Between Waze, an Escort Redline and Escort Live/Escargot Drive, my driving stress has gone way down.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Escargot drive? You drive that slow, eh?

 

[hoosierdoc]

It can be fun to put speed trap alerts where there arent any...or so i hear. Heh

Those get shot down pretty quickly.

some neighborhoods do that or report problems to keep the traffic out of their neighborhood. The app shall overcome

 

[jbombelli]

Those get shot down pretty quickly.

some neighborhoods do that or report problems to keep the traffic out of their neighborhood. The app shall overcome

They last about as long as it takes for the next person using Waze to drive by and say it isn't there.

 

[jd42k]

Works pretty good.
Will give audio voice alerts via bluetooth thru my vehicle speakers.
Seems to work better than my onstar mapping.

 

[GNRPowdeR]

I only have one requested addition to the App... "No Ghettos" check box... Been down a few streets that made my wife nervous, but I'm a fan. I also appreciate how Google is finally doing something with it after owning it for a few years.

 

[GlockRock]

I'm a "Wazer". I've used it for over a year., It definitely has gotten better since then.

 

[looney2ns]

How does this compare to Google Maps navigation?

 

[BugI02]

It can be fun to put speed trap alerts where there arent any...or so i hear. Heh

The current version of waze rates the accuracy of the account that reports hazards and will dynamically filter you out if your 'reliability' falls below a certain threshhold. Short form - your days are numbered

 

[hoosierdoc]

Today I had waze, two devices tethered, and pandora blue toothed. My charger couldn't keep up. Standard USB port one in dash

 

[chipbennett]

I tried it just for the Morgan Freeman voice... I was pretty impressed. He kept calling me Mr. Vice President.

"I may be the vice president of the country, but you're the president of this car!"

 

[chipbennett]

I use Waze extensively when driving in the Boston area. For the most part, it's really good. I have a couple of minor issues, that may be correctable but that I haven't bothered to look into how to correct:

1. Waze doesn't seem to identify side-street traffic jams until the moment I reach them - then tries to reroute me. The app should recognize the jam sooner, and suggest a re-route before I'm already stuck.

2. Waze keeps trying to route me through some really convoluted routes that circumvent traffic in some really douchey ways, that I refuse to do - but still has yet to learn my driving preferences well enough to stop suggesting them.

3. Waze sometimes needs to learn the difference between "keep left/right" and "turn left/right". I have missed turns because "keep left/right" means to be on the left/right of a lane split, but the route actually needs me to make a turn.

 

[jkaetz]

How does this compare to Google Maps navigation?

I started using Waze when google pulled the ability to have a navigation view in google maps without a destination entered. Now that they've added "Driving mode" back to google maps I have switched back. Primary reason is that waze doesn't seem to give traffic info unless someone has reported it. That someone is usually me. Google maps has the traffic info on the roads before I get to them so I can avoid if I want to. My other annoyance with Waze is that it randomly decides to turn on the sounds even though I never want them on. There is no obvious pattern, most times the sounds will be off but then randomly they will turn back on. I know I know, first world problems.