Today, Waze, which is owned by Google, updated its iOS app with CarPlay support, which Google Maps received last week. I took Waze out for a few errands over lunch and in my limited testing was impressed.
The first stop was the bank to pick up some cash. As I passed through a busy intersection, Waze warned me that there were stoplight cameras ahead, which I knew about, but it was good to see Waze did too.
Next, it was off for some steak tacos to celebrate finally finishing my Mojave review. On the way, Waze said there was an object in the road. Sure enough, there was a piece of plywood straddling two lanes not too far ahead. Waze also alerted me to heavy traffic just ahead of my turnoff.
With each alert, the CarPlay UI displayed a notification with two choices: ‘Thanks!” and ‘Not there,’ with big buttons to allow me to help train the Waze database. I flipped back to Overcast, and as I approached my next turn, Waze announced it, momentarily pausing the audio, and displayed a notification that I could tap to return to the map of my route.
For people who use Waze regularly, those sorts of alerts and notifications will be familiar. Apple Maps still has the advantage of Siri integration with the hardware buttons on my steering wheel because like Google Maps, Waze can’t access Siri. That’s a shame because it’s easier to press a dedicated steering wheel button than it is to poke at a CarPlay screen in the center of your dashboard to do a voice search, but from a parked position in a bank parking lot the voice command I gave it was recognized immediately and I was on my way to the correct location.
I’ve only used Waze for this one trip, but my first impression was that the app is solid and should be well-received by its users. Especially for commuters that want traffic and other real-time, crowd-sourced data, Waze is a great option.
