New Google Maps incident reporting comes to mobile & Android Auto, Waze gets lockscreen navigation

In addition to image safety, Google is rolling out new features to Waze and Maps, like a redesign of incident reporting. 

On mobile, the message bubble is replaced by a more prominent orange triangle that opens a larger sheet with bigger buttons. Your color-coded options are: Crash, Slowdown, Police, Mobile speed camera, Construction, Lane closure, Stalled vehicle, and Object on road.

This is rolling out globally now to Google Maps Android and iOS. It’s also coming to Android Auto, CarPlay, and Android Automotive (“cars with Google built-in”).

Meanwhile, Google Maps is adding new destination guidance that will “automatically light up your building and its entrance as you approach it.” This is helpful when visiting new places, while nearby parking lots will also be surfaced. This will be available for Google Maps on Android, Android Auto, Android Automotive, iOS, and CarPlay “in the coming weeks.” 

Waze is getting alerts for new camera types, like “speeding, running a red light, using the wrong lane (like bus, HOV or carpool), not wearing a seatbelt, or using phones while driving.” 

These alerts serve as a helpful reminder about an area’s traffic rules, so you can make any necessary adjustments. New camera types on Waze are rolling out globally on Android and iOS.

A new traffic events feature will warn when concerts, parades, sporting, and other events impact areas with places that you’ve saved or recently driven through. Waze will send a notification “once the event has started,” with details like the cause, road closures, and real-time traffic conditions. You will be able to share these details with others, with this rolling out globally now on Android and iOS. 

Waze will soon let you navigate — with turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic updates, and hazard alerts — even if your Android phone is locked. This is similar to what’s already possible with Google Maps. This “lock screen navigation” is rolling out globally on Android this month, and coming to iOS in the fall.