Waze app

[Biker 1]

Just be careful if you decide to drive to Iran: https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5026798...

[C70R]

okgo said:

C70R said:

Absolutely. And it still works as well, if not better in some cases, as it did before they owned it. What point were you making again?

People saying how they think google is better/prefer it etc - clearly the google M/A team didn't think so.

Ah, there are certain things that Google does 'better', so I see where they might be coming from.
For example, I was driving back into London and trying to navigate to a restaurant last week, and Waze would show me addresses for every branch except the one I wanted. Switching to Google found the postcode, which I copied and went back to Waze.

Sometimes the 'queue avoidance' algorithm can be a bit spesh too, taking you on a 15 mile detour to save 5min on your ETA. I like that, because I hate sitting in traffic - but Google is a lot more conservative in that regard.

It's horses for courses.

[C70R]

85Carrera said:

Navmii is vastly superior

Unless you were being deliberately provocative, I think what you meant to say is "I much prefer Navmii".
Navmii is no bad app - but the number of downloads and average app ratings (on both Google and Apple app stores) suggest that most people see it as inferior to Waze.

[rmuss]

I love it. I used to use Google maps and Waze suggested me new routes google never did, which saves me 20+ minutes per day.

[Riley Blue]

Not very impressed with Waze yesterday when, as the sun was shining, we decided to go to the seaside. Due to the volume traffic, speeds were generally slow but I realised that not all speed cameras marked on Waze were notified by an audible warning. it seems it's only when you're driving faster than the speed limit that a voice warning is transmitted - this is pretty much useless to me, I want to know where they all are, irrespective of my speed..

Also, due to three-way temporary traffic lights we were twice subject to 20 minute delays. The only warning Waze gave was as we were within half a mile when it said 'Traffic building up ahead.' What help is that? I want to be re-routed round it, not sit in it!

[motco]

rmuss said:

I love it. I used to use Google maps and Waze suggested me new routes google never did, which saves me 20+ minutes per day.

Thread revival!

It is precisely because Waze usually recommends alternative routes that alarmed me yesterday on my way from the Eastbourne area to M40 J4. As I left the coast the radio was warning of huge delays on M25 J9-J10 due to a multi-vehicle RTA. No direction of travel was given as queues were bad in both directions: back to J14 a/clock and J9 c/w. I stopped at Pease Pottage services briefly and the situation was now that hold-ups began at the M23 / M25 junction. It was coming up to 17:00hrs when I started out and getting on for 18:00hrs as I headed up M23. Disaster and death in the saddle was forecast by the radio traffic news and Waze warned of delays but no alarm. Except that I was alarmed because Waze would normally find an alternative route. It seemed that all feasible alternative routes were unusually heavy due, I assume, to people looking for a way around the J9 jams. In the end, though, the traffic through J9/J10 was slow but running with no signs of the seven vehicle crash mention in the still-current warnings, and the only stop-start was on the short stretch between the M4 off-slip and the M4 on-slip. Waze had won the day by NOT panicking and re-routing users. The radio traffic news was out of date by sufficient to allow the road to clear and traffic to bung up the surrounding roads.

[okenemem]

i use waze for speed camera alerts

[HenR56]

I prefer the look of google maps with the Tom Tom camera app over the top for current speed limits and cameras. Tom Tom also tracks you over average speed limit zones which is cool.

However, after going past a mobile camera van at 77 (awaiting possible NIP!) I'm going to have to convert to waze.

[cptsideways]

The Mad Monk said:

cptsideways said:

Goodle Nav long view with waze on alerts in the background win win

Pardon?

Google Nav on the larger traffic ahead view setting

Waze on in the background alerting to hazards only

Seems to work rather well. Waze does not have a view that gives an easy route overview unlike Google does. I generally don't need turn by turn nav as I can read roadsigns but I do like to be able plan ahead & take a diversion well in advance If I can.

[motco]

Reading roadsigns is all very well but you might not choose to use the route that leads to looking at signs if only you knew that a shed load of sheds is blocking the roads ahead. Waze is a real time advice centre and it seems to work fairly well on busy days (when you need it most). On days when there are few other users about to input data it works less well. I got stuck in the London/Surrey cycle event a few years ago because closed roads carry no Waze users and most knew to stay at home that day - except me it seems.

[Car-Matt]

cptsideways said:

The Mad Monk said:

cptsideways said:

Goodle Nav long view with waze on alerts in the background win win

Pardon?

Google Nav on the larger traffic ahead view setting

Waze on in the background alerting to hazards only

Seems to work rather well. Waze does not have a view that gives an easy route overview unlike Google does. I generally don't need turn by turn nav as I can read roadsigns but I do like to be able plan ahead & take a diversion well in advance If I can.

Waze does give a route overview like google.....on the routes view, change from list view to map view.........

[A900ss]

Car-Matt said:

Waze does give a route overview like google.....on the routes view, change from list view to map view.........

But not on Android Auto for some strange reason.... list view only.

[Dan_1981]

I've been a long term Waze user, ranked in the top 500 UK users.

However I think it's getting worse.

It doesn't seem to auto update to the quickest route anymore.

And frustratingly when it does it seems to be to reroute me through the city centre or some tiny back roads to shave a potential 2 minutes off.

[motco]

Dan_1981 said:

I've been a long term Waze user, ranked in the top 500 UK users.

However I think it's getting worse.

It doesn't seem to auto update to the quickest route anymore.

And frustratingly when it does it seems to be to reroute me through the city centre or some tiny back roads to shave a potential 2 minutes off.

In south London that tendency to send my down car-lined back roads with speed humps drove me mad when I used to have to drive to SW17 to my son's flat frequently. Now he lives in Sydney it works a treat - as long as I swap to metric units for the duration.

[The Mad Monk]

Thinking of using Waze again.

Any changes in the past eleven months I should know about?

[95JO]

The Mad Monk said:

Thinking of using Waze again.

Any changes in the past eleven months I should know about?

I've been using it regularly for a almost 2 years and there has been no major changes, just overall less buggy. It also has Spotify integration now, not sure if that was available 11+ months ago or not...

[bony_13]

I use Waze all the time and love it. This morning it automatically diverted me onto the back roads avoiding the car park on the M11. Estimated time saving was 1hr 10mins.

Just set 'work' as a destination and now all I need to do is turn the app on in the mornings; it recognises I leave at 7am everyday and so by the time I'm at the bottom of my road the app has picked the fasted route and predicting ETA, without any further input needed from me.

I have never had any issues with the interface or it's appearance, can't say they bother me too much.

[ukaskew]

Still not used widely enough out in the sticks to get the full benefit, very few users about so I'm frequently the first one to be reporting queues or incidents etc.

The only thing I don't get is that it initially tries to route me the most direct (but by far the slowest) route to work every day. As soon as I ignore it and get on different roads it reroutes to fall in line with what I'm doing and knocks 10 minutes off. If that route is clearly quicker, why not suggest it in the first place?!

[Frankthered]

Mrs FTR has been using Waze for quite a while now and swears by it.

I've used it occasionally over the last few years, and daily since I started my new job in April and I really, really dislike it!

This is why.

Dan_1981 said:

And frustratingly when it does it seems to be to reroute me through the city centre or some tiny back roads to shave a potential 2 minutes off.

stty little back roads and sometimes frankly daft little detours to put me near the front of a queue that I might have been two cars further back in if I had just sat there (who can ever say!).

I always feel like Waze is trying to make a point of how clever it is, but it misses for me.

I also wonder how quick it is to update after the problem has gone, seems a little slow to me.

[roadsmash]

I use Waze regularly and although it’s not perfect it’s worth it’s weight in gold for hazards/cameras etc.

It can be a little slow to update after the hazards go away but overall it’s fairly accurate and gets me to my destination on time or there abouts nearly every day.

I think a lot of people expect miracles, but you should be aware that no app can perform miracles. There are thousands of cars on the road at any time and if a bad accident happens 2-3 minutes in front of you then Waze won’t alert you in time and you’ll certainly get stuck. Some incidents are unavoidable.

The app gets better and more accurate the more people use it, so download, and turn it on before each drive, even if you don’t put a route in or submit hazards, you’re still helping everyone!