I have mentioned the iPhone/Android app Waze in a previous post. It really is a worthy tool for the commuter so I will invest some time in a review. I started using Waze several iterations ago and they have been constantly improving its functionality and adding new features.
First of all, it's FREE and fully functional right out of the gate! And, even better, no ads! ( edit: Right after I published this Waze started serving up full page ads and pop-ups over my map. If it continues, I will abandon it) It's very rare these days to find a fully functional, useful app that doesn't involve some kind of reduced functionality or micro-purchase and that doesn't cover 1/3rd of the screen with ads. Reading a post from their CEO, they intend to keep the service free. They derive their revenue from commercializing their real time mapping and traffic data.
Waze has a clean, usable interface and both 2D and 3D map displays. There is a choice of several color schemes and the display will dim for night time driving. Traffic, events, hazards and other Wazers are represented well on the real-time map display. You can customize your Waze icon by mood, and you you will earn various accoutrements and exclusive moods as your points stack up. I prefer to use the 3D map while driving as it gives me a further look ahead. The 2D map is useful for a God's eye view of your surroundings while stationary. Again my preference.
The heart of any crowd-sourced driving app is its real-time event reporting. The event reporting feature of Waze is fairly simple to use. The process for reporting events varies from just a few screen presses to searching sub-menus for whatever you wish to report. It gets easier as you memorize event locations in the menus but does require you to take your eyes off the road if only momentarily. I would recommend using the reporting feature sparingly or not at all while driving. I primarily drive in NY and they recently passed a law making it a primary offense (3 points/ $150 fine) to fiddle with any electronic device while driving. They can now pull you over just for texting, Wazing, etc. Plus, it's just plain dangerous to take your attention away from your primary responsibility, controlling a one to two+ ton vehicle.
Real-time traffic data is a combination of crowd sourced inputs and data from commercial traffic service providers like Total Traffic Network. When combined these two sources give Wazers gives a very accurate picture of traffic conditions along their routes. Obviously, the more Wazers reporting, the more accurate your situational awareness. On my suburban morning commute, there just aren't enough of us on the road at 5:30 AM and I rarely get any reports. I definitely wouldn't trust Waze alone to save me from a speed trap. In fact, no matter what time of day,I rarely if ever get an accurate speed trap report. I chalk that up to low Waze population density in my area although it has been increasing lately. Another issue I've found is that a lot of the alerts are expired but still show as accurate. Sometimes you can hit the "not there" button and they will clear. I've seen alerts that I had posted 10 hours previously still on the map on my return trip!
Another downside of Waze is that you won't get an audible alert until you are right on top of the event. Competing apps like Trapster allow you to set warning radii in miles/km and get advanced audio warnings so that you don't have to take your eyes off the road. Another issue that they are addressing is that if you slow significantly or stop and fail to click "no" in the "are you in traffic" pop-up within a few seconds, a false traffic jam message will be generated. On the plus side, one of the great features about reporting is that you can report events in the other lane. This allows warning of oncoming drivers but won't generate false alerts to everyone else.
As far as the social aspects of Waze, you can reach out to ping other drivers and chat with them so long as they allow it and you are not moving. Waze will not allow you to type while moving but your passenger can override this safety feature. I was recently able to reach out to some fellow Wazers when a tractor-trailer accident completely closed our local highway. Once stopped, I checked the map and saw them stuck in traffic. I reached out to them via the ping/chat feature and let them know what was going on and wished them luck on their horrible detour. I was recently stuck in the Capitol beltway during rush hour. Waze was very helpful in making my escape. For those interested in such things, you earn points, ranks and achievements on your journeys. Every time you report something you will earn points. You can check your score on the web site or within the app. You can also join groups in Waze. There is also a Facebook and Twitter interface if you feel like spamming your friends with your trip details. Occasionally, Waze will throw in incentives in the form of virtual objects (cupcakes, Android symbols) in an attempt to get you to diversify your route. When you virtually run them over, they will earn you additional points. I've found that these are more a distraction than anything else. You will get all sorts of bleeps and bloops when you hit them and they all conspire to pull your eyes off the road. We all know what a hazard distracted driving is these days.
Waze has a fairly good GPS navigation component that now includes text-to-speech. The routing is fairly good although I have had some oddities such as trying to route me through highway rest stops and sending me on non-existant roads. These are probably map errors and the map database can be corrected through the app or edited on the Waze website. I recently corrected some inaccurate street names and in about 24 hours they showed up correctly in the app. The "drive-to" feature is fairly rudimentary. Type in "hospital" and it won't use your current location and present you with the closest one. (edit: I could be wrong about this. It certainly doesn't work inside but outside with a GPS signal it did find local restaurants) You need to know the address or at least name and city of the location you want. There is no support for routing to points-of-interest (POIs) within the app at this time although it is mentioned on their Wiki page as a future add-on.
The faults are few and I have no doubt that this app will be a great help on your next trip. Waze is so good, I have walked away from other crowd sourced driving apps such as Trapster and Radar Active.
Here is a link to the guided tour on their site:
http://www.waze.com/guided_tour/
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