One of Waze’s most distinctive features is taken over by Google Maps. Is this the beginning of the end of Waze?
Maps takes over Waze’s function
Both Google Maps and Waze have been owned by Google for quite some time. One app now takes over an important function from the other. Google Maps will have access to Waze’s notifications. The number of reports is limited for the time being, but will be further expanded later.
Waze reported previously stated that Google Maps will display reports from Waze users directly in the app, starting with police reports. In the future, more types of data will be shared and attributed to Waze.
Police reports
Waze users have been able to make police reports for some time, unlike Google Maps. So that is now changing. Waze’s police reports will now also appear in Maps. This also applies in the opposite direction: notifications from Google Maps users are also visible in Waze.
To see the notifications from both navigation apps, you don’t have to do anything. The feature is being rolled out in phases, so you will see the notifications appear automatically at some point. Initially, notifications from Waze users will only be visible to a limited number of users. This will change over time, but it is difficult to estimate when the time will come.
Sharing notifications between the two navigation apps ultimately makes them both better. It is therefore not likely that Waze will disappear for the time being. Google Maps is admittedly a lot bigger, with more than 2 billion monthly active users. According to the latest reports, Waze remains stuck at around 151 million. Internally, both apps are managed by the same Google ‘Geo’ team.
Conversational Reporting
But Waze also continues to develop. For example, Google recently introduced the AI-driven feature ‘Conversational Reporting‘ added, for incidents and obstructions during navigation. You will soon be able to report there via voice commands when you encounter an incident or obstruction. You can then concentrate much better on the road and at the same time tell what you see. Waze can also ask follow-up questions if more information is needed.
To use the feature, all you have to do is tap the ‘report’ button and start talking. AI understands context and natural language so you can speak freely. It is not yet clear whether this feature will also come to Google Maps.
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