Google Maps is getting new Waze incident alerts, but not all drivers are happy
- Google Maps now shows incident reports from Waze drivers
- This follows the rollout of traffic reporting features within Google Maps
- There are indications that not all Maps users receive incident reports
One of the defining features of Google-owned Waze is its community-driven traffic incident alerts, which have traditionally been kept separate from Google Maps. But that’s starting to change, as some Google Maps users see the rollout of Waze traffic alerts in the app.
On the Google Maps subreddit (via Android Police), some Maps users have reported seeing warnings like “police pre-reported” from Waze drivers. This feature was announced by Google in July, but appears to be getting a wider rollout – just in time for the holiday season.
Google Maps has been asking drivers for updates on traffic incidents via pop-up messages for several months, but these alerts delivered directly “from Waze drivers” are new. The other types of incidents include lane closures, nearby roadworks and more – basically anything that could throw a wrench in your carefully chosen travel plans.
Google has rolled out its incident reporting alerts globally on Android and iOS, along with Android Auto and CarPlay, so these Waze alerts will likely do the same in the coming months. The only problem is that not everyone is a fan of community-driven incident reporting and there’s no easy way to disable them…
Is Google Merging Waze and Maps?
It looks like Google Maps is slowly taking over some of Waze’s features, which has traditionally been the more proactive, community-driven option to help you avoid live incidents and situations. Will Google continue to keep the apps separate?
For now, it certainly seems that way. In 2022, Google combined the Maps and Waze teams, but in a statement reassured fans of the latter that it remains “deeply committed to Waze’s unique brand, its beloved app and its thriving community of volunteers and users.”
That was almost two years ago, of course, and Google certainly isn’t shy about incorporating acquired apps with a thriving community into its own products – just ask disgruntled Fitbit fans. But Google will also be wary of making major, unpopular changes to Maps, which is much more than a navigation tool for drivers.
There is mounting evidence Google Maps Forums And Reddit threads that many drivers are unhappy with the growing number of incident alert pop-ups from both Google Maps and Waze, with some finding them distracting or too frequent.
So it seems like there are good reasons for Google to keep the apps separate, even as their feature sets increasingly intersect. Whether Google will continue to do that, or make a somewhat characteristic U-turn, remains unclear.