Waze features that often go unnoticed
Waze, which Google has owned since 2013, is a crowdsourced navigation app centered on real-time driving conditions. It includes buried options such as navigating to addresses saved for contacts and customizing the driver's mood or avatar. Users who do not want to share their contacts can revoke that permission through their phone's settings.
Waze has been part of Google since 2013 and distinguishes itself from Google Maps through crowdsourced, real-time road reports. Drivers contribute alerts about crashes, potholes, congestion, and police activity, making live conditions central to the app.
Several useful options sit deep in menus. Users can navigate to a contact’s saved address after granting contacts access, choose a mood or sidekick, or record custom voice prompts—39 in total, each up to six seconds. Waze can also help plan later trips by suggesting departure times based on anticipated traffic.
Features like contact-based navigation and custom voice prompts may make driving feel more personal and convenient, especially for families and frequent travelers. At the same time, granting contacts access could raise privacy concerns, so users who revoke permissions may lose some convenience. Trip-planning tools could help drivers time departures better, potentially reducing stress or congestion, though actual effects depend on adoption and traffic conditions.