Roger Fingas
The latest update to Waze's navigation app for iOS introduces a major redesign that not only alters its look to be clearer, but also simplifies many tasks, particularly for long roadtrips.
Maps in the app should be easier to read, and reports and alerts are likewise color-coded for quicker recognition. The reporting system itself should be faster thanks to icon-based based menus.
Waze also promises fewer taps to begin a trip or share locations and directions. For more complex drives, a new ETA panel centralizes things like alternate routes, reports, and ETA sharing, with options to insert mid-trip pitstops.
The updated app will further trigger time-to-leave notifications for iOS Calendar events, based on current traffic conditions.
Waze lastly promises "significantly reduced" battery consumption, important given the app's dependence on GPS and keeping the screen on.
The Waze iOS app is a free download and runs on any iPhone or iPad with iOS 7.0 or later, though only cellular-equipped iPads have built-in GPS.
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
30 Comments
I'm not impressed with the new Waze interface. They attempted to simplify but they already had a simpler interface - the Windows Phone version of Waze was the best version of Waze. Had they ported it to Android and iOS, it would have been a good move. As it is, the new version simplifies the main screen well enough, but fails on basics - I can't edit or delete Favorites, can't assign a new address to Work... The only nice thing I can say is that they did a better job than eBay did - eBay absolutely ruined their attempt at simplification.
Love WAZE. It has replaced my outdated onboard GPS & TomTom. My wife & I got to use the new version on a day trip this weekend and so far liked the changes.
The only reason this might be news for AI is that Waze is useful while Apple Maps is still unusable. Hate to say it but c'mon, already. Aesthetically it's very pleasing but maps data still is unreliable. It's hard to trust that you'll get where you want to go. 3D flyovers is really captivating. It's stunning and really fun in a Google Earth exploring way. Besides that there is no reason to use Apple Maps over the competitors for turn-by-turn.
"Watch out! Vehicle stopped on shoulder ahead!"
[quote name="pawolverine" url="/t/189610/waze-for-ios-gets-redesigned-with-new-look-simpler-interface-improved-battery-life#post_2792859"]Love WAZE. It has replaced my outdated onboard GPS & TomTom. My wife & I got to use the new version on a day trip this weekend and so far liked the changes.[/quote] A few times in the past Waze had been offline for some reason and I found Apple's Maps acceptable, but there are so many little extras that make Waze a real pleasure to use. Also, my Tom Tom GPS unit hasn't seen use ever since Waze was first released.