Google has suddenly become more committed to improving Google Maps in a direction the company has been ignoring for years. The application has been updated with features that were originally exclusive to Waze, and this strategy makes many people wonder if the search giant is finally planning the merger the whole world has been predicting for years.
First, let me detail the incident reporting support integrated into Google Maps.
Google started the rollout earlier this year when it brought the ability to pin hazards on the map to CarPlay. The mobile version was announced in 2019, but Google has ignored phone mirroring software like Android Auto and CarPlay.
Google bringing incident reporting to CarPlay made many blast the company for not favoring its platform. The search firm eventually confirmed the feature would also debut on Android Auto, and earlier this month, the first wave of users started getting this feature in their cars.
Photo: reddit
With incident reporting, Google Maps is expanding into Waze’s territory, so I’m not surprised to see the merging rumors again on the table. However, most people now describe Google Maps as a full-time Waze alternative, as the crowdsourced hazard data was the only thing they said it was missing to make the traffic navigation app redundant.
That’s not true, as Google Maps and Waze continue to be two different animals with different targets.
Before the update, Google Maps and Waze were aimed at different audiences. Waze floods users with traffic data, always looking for the fastest way to arrive at a destination. It offers more complex routes, sometimes with multiple turns and narrow residential streets, to get users to the destination a few minutes faster. It also relies heavily on traffic reports, so it warns users of hazards like accidents, speed traps, cameras, potholes, speed bumps, and merging lanes.
Google Maps offers a more straightforward and convenient navigation experience, focusing on main roads and not sending drivers on more complex routes if they don’t offer a major ETA benefit. Google Maps also displays traffic warnings, though the number is substantially smaller, trying to stick with a silent, cleaner, and generally more convenient navigation engine.
Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
The debut of an incident reporting engine in Google Maps on Android Auto doesn’t change the difference approach that each app is based on.
Google has carefully integrated the traffic reports in Google Maps to avoid cannibalizing Waze, and despite still borrowing more data from the traffic navigation app, the focus of the two apps hasn’t changed.
First, Google Maps only allows users to report common hazards, like accidents and roadworks, mainly in an attempt to make the road more predictable without losing the straightforward and convenient approach I detailed above.
Second, Waze remains the traffic data king. While it also displays warnings for the same hazards supported by Google Maps, it offers substantially more data, including notifications for potholes, speed bumps, roadkill, police radars (not speed cameras), blocked lanes, and many others.
Waze has retained its primary objective of warning drivers of everything that happens on the road, whereas Google Maps only informs users about common hazards.
Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Is this turning Google Maps into a Waze killer? Yes and no. But this was also the answer before Google Maps got incident reporting on Android Auto.
Google Maps remains a navigation app primarily aimed at people who don’t care much about traffic reports but would use the most important warnings for a more predictable journey. I’ve seen many people bothered by the warnings appearing on the screen that they want Google Maps to remove this feature, so yes, people in this user base have gotten used to a quiet and streamlined navigation experience overall.
Waze is still the best choice if you want as much traffic data as possible, even if this means getting spammed with warnings and notifications during your time on the road. As I said not long ago, features like speed bump integration are great, but Waze needs more controls for users who don’t want to get the same notification every time they get behind the wheel and drive on a familiar route.
Google Maps and Waze are different apps, and Google addressing the feature gap between the two doesn’t change this, as the company has evidently tried to avoid the two apps eating up each other’s share. Eventually, a few people will switch from one app to another, and I don’t expect this to change in the long term.
With Google Maps getting incident reporting on Android Auto, are you ready to give up on Waze in your car? Let me know what you think in the box after the jump.