Google simultaneously updated its two navigation apps, Maps and Waze, with a host of new features. The company continues to integrate Waze tools directly into Maps, adding improved traffic incident reports, larger icons for road closures, construction, traffic cameras, and police presence. Waze, in turn, received a new interface for local events.
Image source: Google
Google Maps has a new building entrance finder that will identify the building you’re looking for and highlight the main entrance in green as you approach it. Nearby parking lots will also be displayed. The improved traffic alert system is already available on Google Maps on Android, iOS, Google-enabled cars, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay, with destination help coming “in the coming weeks.”
Waze has also received some significant updates, with users now able to report new types of traffic cameras that record driving in dedicated lanes, texting while driving, and not wearing seatbelts.
Waze’s new dedicated interface will help you get information about local events that affect traffic, such as a marathon, bike ride, concert, and other public events. Users will receive a push notification immediately when a road is closed near their office, home, or a place they recently visited. The launch of the new tool is timed to coincide with the start of the 2024 Olympic Games.
It may seem like Waze and Google Maps are on the path to full integration, but company executives deny this. Google Maps chief Can Comertoglu emphasized that Waze users are very dedicated. According to Waze CEO Tim Queenan, Waze now has more than 500,000 active users.
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