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Waze, the navigation app owned by Google, is adding some new features. Some of these are safety-oriented, like alerts about first responders or speed limit changes. Others are convenience-minded, like help navigating roundabouts or parking information. It’s also expanding its use of crowdsourcing to determine road conditions.
When Google bought Waze back in 2013, the navigation app was already well-liked for adding a slightly social aspect to in-car navigation—something that seems adorably quaint and perhaps unthinkable these 11 years later.
Over the years, Google has slowly incorporated more of Waze’s features into its own Google Maps platform and taken away Waze’s autonomy, too. In 2022 it was formally merged into the same division at Google that runs Maps, and last year Google laid off some workers and ditched Waze’s own ad platform for Google ads.
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