Waze is not better

[rh71]

The only benefit I've seen after doing multiple multiple road trips (over the last year) is the police warnings. Maybe the duration of traffic jam too. I often have both Waze and Google Maps going because I can't trust the former. The route Waze tells you to take is often worse, such as getting onto local roads (congested plus lights) to avoid 1-2 miles of highway traffic (still moves at least).

Since Google owns them, why do they continue to offer 2 different apps? If Google doesn't want to offer police reporting in Maps, at least use your technology to overwrite what Waze does with their inferior routing. Both are crowd sourced aren't they?

I've found that I can keep Waze on in the background just to be audibly alerted to cops. But again, 2 apps... and limited data allotment - wasteful.

 

[OutHouse]

Google owns Waze, so I dont understand why they are so different.... maybe since the Google office that works on Waze is in Boulder CO the developers could be high as shit. hahahah

 

[rh71]

Google owns Waze.

2nd paragraph.

 

[OutHouse]

sorry i hit enter before i was done typing.

 

[Beer4Me]

I'm almost certain they maintain both because of different user bases. Most people that I hear that use Waze are avid fans of it, and they've all but stopped using Google Maps. I think they maintain both for data mining purposes.

 

[JSt0rm]

Waze is good but you don't always need to do what it says. It's great in Los Angeles.

 

[Paratus]

I love Waze.

It even rocked in London and the English country side.

 

[Ns1]

What. You don't like making a left across 4 lanes of 55mph traffic that never stops to save 35 seconds of time?

 

[Six]

Waze is much better at determining the best route due to real-time traffic reports. There's a delay in Google Maps. Google Maps is still better at navigating and best at finding stuff (tho' no perfect). No contradiction here. The old Google Map from 2008-2009 was the best ever, because it's route navigation was nearly equivalent to a local person giving you directions, among other features. Since then Google Map has been a rollercoaster ride of good and bad versions, but never great. My guess is the great version ran on the cloud and is a resource hog.

Funny story. One time there was an accident on I15 North in San Diego at the beginning of rush hour. Everyone on all four lanes of the I15 was going 0-10 mph. All the wazers were taking the side road passing everyone by going 50 mph. Then up some miles up ahead, everyone started going 50 mph, and all the wazers who passed us were stuck in a mile or two long line due to stop signs.

 

[Murloc]

waze doesn't have critical mass here so I don't even have that option.

 

[lxskllr]

A B testing.

I use osmand. It's none of google's business where I go.

 

[sdifox]

What. You don't like making a left across 4 lanes of 55mph traffic that never stops to save 35 seconds of time?

I really hate exit to the left.

 

[pete6032]

What. You don't like making a left across 4 lanes of 55mph traffic that never stops to save 35 seconds of time?

lmao

 

[cronos]

Google Maps is better for traveling, to navigate unfamiliar area.

Waze is better for navigating your hometown, when you know where to go and how to get there, and aware that you have several options to your destination (e.g. commuting) and it'll tell you which route is better *right now* based on real time crowdsourcing.

Google Maps does get traffic info from Waze but I have experienced it to be a little laggier than Waze.

 

[clamum]

I'll sometimes check both when looking at route options for a trip/ride, but usually I'll just stick with Google Maps because I haven't found Waze to be noticeably better at anything really (besides the cop, car on shoulder, etc reporting). I don't think either of them have that great of routes; a majority of the time they'll ignore one route I know and I don't know why because sometimes it'll be included but not always. Man I wish you could click and drag the proposed route in mobile Google Maps like you can on a PC/browser.

But that's my experience; I'm sure it really varies because there's a ridiculous number of variables going on here. But the apps are usually certainly VARY fricking useful if you wanna possibly save time commuting.

 

[dr150]

Waze is more "real time" than Google in traffic situations. Google lags about an hour of "real traffic time".

 

[NuclearNed]

Waze has celebrity voices. A couple of months ago Mr. T was yelling at me to "Take a right, Fool!!!"

 

[Turkish]

AFAIK, Waze development team is still based in Israel.

 

[ultimatebob]

AFAIK, Waze development team is still based in Israel.

Do they have a lot of traffic in Israel?

I always wondered if the reason that Google Maps instructions are so bad is because the majority of Google employees get bussed into work and are missing basic city driving knowledge. Their instructions seem to miss common sense at times, like trying to send you through NYC to get from Connecticut to Pennsylvania during rush hour on a Friday.

Pro Tip, Google: Trying to drive through NYC during rush hour is NEVER a good idea unless you're actually trying to get to NYC.

 

[umbrella39]

I use them both. I only just recently even knew what Waze was and downloaded the app. Used it on the phone while I drove for a couple weeks. Sort of like it, just didn't like I had to keep the phone on and running. Then I saw a down arrow on the touch screen of my 17 Fusion after connecting to Android Auto. It was under the maps tab and low and behold Waze was now and option along with Google Maps.

It is now the greatest thing ever... being able to easily switch back and forth between the two if needed.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Do they have a lot of traffic in Israel?

I always wondered if the reason that Google Maps instructions are so bad is because the majority of Google employees get bussed into work and are missing basic city driving knowledge. Their instructions seem to miss common sense at times, like trying to send you through NYC to get from Connecticut to Pennsylvania during rush hour on a Friday.

Pro Tip, Google: Trying to drive through NYC during rush hour is NEVER a good idea unless you're actually trying to get to NYC.

While in Israel a few months ago Waze worked a hell of a lot better with Hebrew input than Google Maps. That said, the side routes it made me take for locations that I was familiar with didn't make a lot of sense.

Yes, there's a LOT of traffic there during peak hours, even outside of Tel Aviv.

 

[rh71]

Waze is more "real time" than Google in traffic situations. Google lags about an hour of "real traffic time".

Source for this info about an hour delay? That would make it completely inaccurate in many places that have a dense population. I haven't noticed Maps being inaccurate other than within a few hundred feet of where traffic starts/ends.

The wiki simply states: Google Traffic works by analyzing the GPS-determined locations transmitted to Google by a large number of mobile phone users. By calculating the speed of users along a length of road, Google is able to generate a live traffic map.

Google Maps is better for traveling, to navigate unfamiliar area.

Waze is better for navigating your hometown, when you know where to go and how to get there, and aware that you have several options to your destination (e.g. commuting) and it'll tell you which route is better *right now* based on real time crowdsourcing.

It's too bad because I need Waze mostly for the cop situation for driving on the highways to get somewhere other than my local area... lots of road trips for half of the year between summer and a travel sport.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Waze all the way. Getting police/hazard/etc notifications in real time and getting faster route information is a must for me. I even find myself submitting hazards and police when I see them. I only go to Google maps to see if there is another available route that Waze didn't show.

 

[NutBucket]

Waze for commuting and GMaps for travel.

Waze is better if you know about your route so you can choose when to avoid those "bad" left turns and major road crossings. Those get old real quick if you follow it blindly. Also, there's a setting now where you can tell it to avoid "hard" left turns.

 

[gorcorps]

When I used Waze, I was constantly getting notices for slow traffic and cars on the side of the road that didn't exist. Didn't seem useful, so I didn't bother after a while