Filed under: iPhone, App Review
Waze for iPhone has a ways to go
Several of our readers suggested that we take a look at Waze, a free navigation app [iTunes link] that depends on other users for reports of traffic tie ups, accidents, and speed traps. It also functions as a turn-by-turn navigator with spoken directions, although it doesn't have text to speech capabilities for naming streets or points of interest.As a navigator Waze is fine, but it seems to be missing a lot of residential addresses. Waze had a nasty habit of jumping my vehicle icon to a nearby parallel street, and while it was nice to have both 2D and 3D maps, the software seemed to change the zoom factor without me telling it to. This erratic zooming seemed to happen when I went to a menu and then returned to the map.
The maps aren't very attractive. There are both day and night views for the Waze maps, but even when set to 'auto,' the night map comes up no matter what time of day it is. The maps and POI data are all downloaded from the internet, so if you're in a "dead zone" for data, you have no navigation.
As for the social functions of the app, they are a great idea, but in reality you're only going to get information in a densely populated areas. Even then, you may not get much of anything in terms of reported incidents. If you go to the Waze web page and look at the national map for reported incidents, it is pretty lightly populated. Of course, that should get better as more and more people use Waze. A clever aspect of the app is that it keeps track of where you are while you're navigating, and uses your speed to add to its database of road conditions.
I think Waze is promising, and if you don't want to spend money on a turn-by-turn nav app, it's a start. To be really useful some of the bugs need to be fixed, the address data needs to be more complete, and there need to be a heck of a lot more people using Waze so there is more incident reporting.
This app is free and implements some creative ideas. If you're thinking about getting a nav app, but you're on the fence, make the risk-free download of Waze and see if it enhances your driving.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
artist said 7:53PM on 10-14-2009
I've recently started using Waze and I like it alright. I haven't used it for very extensive navigation, mainly for getting to places I mostly know how to get to. In a way, I've just been testing it. I hadn't noticed it jumping my position around on the map like in the review.
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Chad in China said 7:50PM on 10-14-2009
I just noted on the map Waze is displaying some very familiar streets. You are not a Tucsonan are you Mel?
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DigiPimp said 8:03PM on 10-14-2009
The jumping around is a GPS or AT&T network issue and it only happens for a second or two at the most and you'd usually only notice if you're staring at it the entire time you're driving.
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Rich Sipe said 8:03PM on 10-14-2009
I love Waze but I never use it for navigation. HUH you say:??? Well to me Waze is an awesome location aware game. I have tried a tons of location "Mafia" style games and all were not that great. For some reason "Munching" roads is just the best kind of IRL pac-man ever.
My wife and have found it increases our desire to go discover roads in our area and "Munch" them for points and clear the dots off the road. We have gone from rank 44K to about 300 in a few weeks and just love grabbing more dots off uncharted roads.
Someday they will get their mapping there but the only way for them to do that is via users driving around and finding issues and improving the map accuracy.
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jay said 8:31PM on 10-14-2009
Waze is a great concept. It makes sitting around in traffic a little more tolerable because you can warn others about it. It's also neat that you can see other drivers while you're on the road that are also using Waze. I have no issues with the ui really, but I have to say that actually using it for directions is pretty awful.
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Stacey said 9:07PM on 10-14-2009
I too liked the IRL PAC man... Fun, but didn't find it too useful in my rural neighborhood. Ui was fine and it did jump me a few times when travelling home on a 4 hour trip once. Overall not bad but not ready for primetime yet. I prefer motionx right now but for free it ain't bad.
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Andre said 9:42PM on 10-14-2009
Not available in Canada...
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ALan said 10:03PM on 10-14-2009
Take Campbell up past River, all the way up to Skyline, make a left, and you're at the Tucson Apple store! Yes, Mel lives in the Tucson area!
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Randy said 10:31PM on 10-14-2009
I've been using this app for about 3 weeks now. There is some truth the fact that the routing improves over time, the more you use it. but don't expect that to happen overnight.
My biggest gripe with this app is the routing. It seems to have problems with on/off ramps. It tells me to make turns where it's not possible.
On my route to work there are sections of road where the route ends and the app gets confused. but then it re-establishes again. I'm just not confident yet that this app will get me where I want to go.
If you need a working Nav App stay away from this one. However, if you're will to put up with some quirky routing, and want to help and to see this improve, then jump in.
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Ryan S. said 12:15AM on 10-15-2009
Waze is awesome. I'm an area manager, and it's great I can help fix issues that other users report, and do my best to fix the major roads. There's a lot to go through, but it's great when you're dead bored. :) It's also great to know that you're helping out other people. I was able to save about 30 minutes in traffic already, and there's not a lot of people using it. :D
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PowerHouse said 2:07AM on 10-15-2009
As of right now, it only has a 200 mile trip routing limit... They say they are working on improving that.
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lebow said 3:58AM on 10-15-2009
WAZE has been out in israel for over a year ( on nokia phones, I don't know about iphone ) and it is great!
It is aware of traffic conditions in real time and routes you accordingly. It is constantly updating it's maps based on users gps tracks and has a feature that you can add new roads. Waze showed me roads that I weren't up on any of the map sites yet.
It seems like the israeli version is much further along that what you guys in the US are using.
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Mark said 9:34AM on 10-15-2009
I have been using Waze for a few weeks also, and have found all these issues. The routing is way off, limited to 200 miles and doesn't really have every address. There are issues with maps loading fast enough and just not knowing where it is. But...I use it because I believe in the potential of this app to be great once the maps are verified and there are more users for the real time information. Keep on it Waze!!
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Chris said 2:05PM on 10-15-2009
Well it work pretty well in Israel, all roads are covered and available on Nokia's S60 and Windows Mobile.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=iw&u=http://www.waze.co.il/&ei=biTXSqz2A9aM_AagjvCUAQ&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&ved=0CBoQ7gEwAg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwaze%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DhE6
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jb510 said 12:06PM on 10-15-2009
Inhavent tried this app yet, but I just noticed GPS-X Drive, which is a similarly inexpensive nav app. It interesting they charge $20-30 per year for voice nav if you want to upgrade via an in app purchase, also availble monthly IIRC. I downloaded thier free GPS-X Sport app months ago but have never really used it, looks good though.
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Mitchramos1 said 12:18AM on 10-16-2009
I think the idea behind the app is great. With enough people using it, the live traffic updates would be superior to any other nav system out there. At this point it is just a baby app but soon enough it will climb to the top of the app store.
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alxndr said 6:51PM on 10-16-2009
"see if it enhances your driving"?? I can guarantee staring at a small screen will NOT enhance your driving in any way. (It may improve your navigation skills, though.)
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