Waze has pushed a few major updates over the past year or so, and today, the company has another slew of announcements. The biggest reveal? Waze is adding lane guidance, perhaps the best navigation feature from Google Maps.
During its “WazeOn” event this morning, the Google-owned company announced a plethora of updates coming to its app, headlined by three major announcements. First, lane guidance is coming to Waze.
Long available in Google Maps, lane guidance tells drivers which lane they need to be in for an upcoming exit or turn before they actually approach the intersection. If you’ve ever used this feature on another app, you’ll know just how useful it can be especially in places you’ve never been before.
Another major feature Waze is adding is Trip Suggestions. This addition uses your navigation history to determine common routes and give you a quick look at your routes to see if there are delays. On a similar note, Waze is also bringing Traffic Notifications to its users. This feature will send an alert to your phone when Waze detects traffic is building up on a planned route.
Beyond those major features, there are a few useful upgrades also coming to Waze. Amazon Music is coming to the platform as the latest built-in music integration following Spotify, YouTube Music, and others. Waze is also improving ETA calculations in areas/times where there are fewer drivers on the road. Google Assistant integration is also expanding to French, Spanish, and Portuguese-speaking users. Search is also being upgraded with new location badges that make it easier to find specific kinds of locations along your route (gas stations, parking, etc).
Lane guidance is rolling out to Waze users starting today while traffic notifications and trip suggestions won’t arrive until next month. The Amazon Music partnership will be available “in the coming months” and all of the other features mentioned above are available starting today.
More on Waze:
- You can now send directions on Waze from your computer to your smartphone
- Waze users can now set Batman, voiced by Kevin Conroy, as their navigation voice
- Waze will help you pay for gas from your phone at select stations
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