Google has announced new Waze and Google Maps features rolling out for iPhone and CarPlay users that aim to keep them safer and more informed on the go.
First up, changes to Maps aim to make it easier to report incidents and helpful information, like nearby construction, lane closures, objects and police presence. These reports come from the Maps and Waze communities, and users will now see which app a report came from. There are larger reporting icons that are designed to be easier to tap for quickly sharing updates, and other drivers can also confirm the incident with a quick tap.
Meanwhile, Google Maps gains new destination guidance to make it less confusing when users don’t know where to enter or park when they arrive somewhere, especially if it’s nighttime. When driving to a place, Maps’ new destination guidance will automatically light up your building and its entrance as you approach it, in addition to showing you nearby parking lots.
Over on Waze, Google is adding the ability to see new camera types that enforce things like speed limits and carpool lanes. For example, drivers now see an alert if they’re approaching a camera that snaps pictures for things like speeding, running a red light, using the wrong lane (like bus, HOV or carpool), not wearing a seatbelt, or using phones while driving.
In addition, Waze is getting a new traffic events feature, which is meant to give users a better understanding of how things like parades, concerts, and sporting events are impacting nearby traffic. If a driver recently went through an impacted area or has places saved near the area in Waze, they will now get a notification once the event has started. This will include details like the cause of the event, if there are road closures and real-time traffic conditions. To help your friends and family, these details are also easily shareable, allowing others to be more prepared for their own ride.
Lastly, Waze drivers will soon get navigation guidance like turn-by-turn directions and real-time traffic updates while their phone is locked. Google says Lock Screen navigation for Waze is coming to iOS this fall, while the other updates to Google Maps and Waze are rolling out globally now on Android and iOS, cars with Google built-in, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay.
