The app of my choice for this discussion is the WAZE app. The app is a GPS navigation app designed to pin point your location and provide quicker routes for you in your destination of choice and is available in any smart device platform like Android or the Appstore from Apple. I am very familiar with the app due to my commute each day to work and home. I also use the app if I know that I am driving further than 20 miles away from home. It’s integrated in my SUV display console through Android Car Play. The best part about the Waze app, is that it also give drivers a heads up on traffic ahead, construction, hazards on the road, speed cameras and most importantly the location of police car that is awaiting someone who is speeding by. Having cops in my family, let’s say they despise the app very much. They even give me hints that when someone reports them nearby that they open the app and check off the “Not There” tab to throw drivers off. Despicable I say lol. Anyway back to the app. The functionality of the app is all around very good. The other features other than the heads up alerts that I like, is the tolls voiding option you can select prior to leaving on your journey, the option of selecting any music apps to stream from your playlist while you drive. Music apps such as Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, etc that is supported through Waze.
Now things on the app that I would improve on are as followed.
- Letting drivers know exactly which shoulder the vehicle ahead is a pulled over on.
- GPS precise accuracy helping you get out of unfamiliar shopping mall parking lots guiding you into the right direction towards the highway or road of your choosing.
- In corporate a police vehicle that is in route on the same road as you drive.
- The voice command.
If it was up to me, I would change/upgrade what is mentioned above to make Waze even more popular. When I am commuting, knowing what exact shoulder of the road a vehicle has pulled over on, helps me a lot prepping me to exit the lane closes to that pulled over vehicle ahead of time. When I go out of state and enter unfamiliar shopping mall areas, it gets quiet confusing finding the exit if the direction you entered through is not considered an exit. Waze being owned by Google who I believe has locked down the mapping game, one would think they would incorporate the mapping schemes they perfected over the years into the app but nope, not yet as per the news release. The other thing I would like to see is an animation of sort indicating a police vehicle moving in the same route as you are driving. Often times, people in a hurry overlooks a police car two lanes over from them only to be seeing flashing lights seconds after. Finally the last thing that I would change/upgrade on is the voice command. Those of us who owns an android knows the “hey Google” command assistant. Rather than tapping the phone or give it wave commands, a simple “hey Waze” report accident, report pothole on road, or police on right/left shoulder.
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