I just started using WAZE for traffic, police airings and general road information. Anyone else using it or have opinions about it?
Me but rarely. I usually just use am radio for traffic updates. My dad is a truck driver and he uses it all the time.
I have it, but am not really out and about around town enough to make it really useful. I guess I could look and see if there are traffic tie ups before I go for a walk in the neighborhood. Traffic around Columbus is so predictable too.
I use it! and I love it!! It's not always accurate when picking up police but most of the time it does a good job and I find it really accurate with road hazards. I was using it coming back from thanksgiving weekend in Akron and was cruising down 71 until WAZE redirected me onto some backroads. Sure enough right after the exit there was lots of traffic. Probably saved me 30-40 minutes of sitting in traffic. Overall, yes I like it and find it to generally be very accurate.
Agreed, it's awesome! I use it just for the alerts when I don't need GPS. Well done. Recently purchased by Google and they added some of the real time traffic info to the google maps app via Waze.
So does one drive around staring at a little screen while driving? Another driving distraction or a valuable aide? Fill me in how does one use it?
With your phone mounted high it works just like a Garmin or any other gauge as far as viewing it. I don't see it as any additional distraction from what I already have.
You don't have to stare at it. It has audible alerts that police are ahead, construction, road hazards, etc. It also functions like a Garmin where it speaks your directions so you actually never need to look at it.
I use it as well, doesn't have to distract if you use the talking option and know where you are going. I don't like it for directions to places I have never been.
I have it on my iphone as well. I don't have a garmin type GPS and I only fire it up when the daily commute traffic starts to look like it is going to heck. I also have an app called Beat the Traffic that isn't really a GPS but it looks like the traffic map that you see on your local news with the red/yellow/green marks letting you know if things are backed up where you are heading. It also has access to trafic cameras so here in Columbus I can open an image of a traffic camera up ahead and see if it is a small delay or time to bail and find another route.
Guess I'm a Luddite. I think a car should have a steering wheel gas brake & clutch. That's enough for anyone.
Agree if you are enjoying the steering wheel, gas, break and clutch, but if you simply need to get somewhere, Waze does the trick.
I've been using the Tom Tom app for my android phone and just couldn't make the thing work well for me. After reading this I installed Waze and gave it a shot. It gives me all I need (speed, route, traffic) and as I use it, I find a bunch more. I was pushing it a bit tonight and someone had noted that a State Trooper was monitoring behavior down the road a bit, and the phone told me about it (voice) way before my radar detector did (it went off when I was close, so I think he/she was using instant on radar). Might have saved me. So I dumped the Tom Tom tonight...
I use Waze all the time, have for years. There are a few interface quirks that bug me (needs an onscreen compass, which it used to have) but overall I like it a great deal. Around town I mostly use it for the alerts, which sadly are only as good as the users of the app where police are concerned. I send alerts when I can, but don't always get a chance.