Anyone here a Waze user?

[sclitheroe]

Just looking for opinions on Waze from the masses - anyone here use it? If so what did you think of it? It's a reasonably good looking app (and bonus points that I can get it for my Z10 in addition to my iPad), but I'm wondering how it is out in the real world.

Thanks!

[Russic]

I really enjoy it and wish Apple would have done something with it for maps. For those unaware, Waze is a maps application that relies on crowd-sourcing for it's data. You can pin the map with things like photo-radar, accidents, traffic flow etc. and the system will alert other motorists.

Pros:
- When it works, it works great. I find it's much faster than google or Maps for alerting me of traffic back-ups
- If a road doesn't exist on the map, you can go into a mode, drive regularly, and it will be sent off to Waze for review and addition.
- I reported an error on the map, and was responded to within a day with a notice of it being fixed

Cons:
- If heavy traffic is reported, sometimes it has a tough time figuring out when the traffic has lessened. I've been rerouted off Macleod trail by 1 block before, only to look over and see no problems whatsoever.
- It's just not that attractive in comparison to Maps or Google Maps imo.

[sclitheroe]

Thanks!

Are there many active users in and around Calgary? I've only just started playing with it, and Sunday night probably wasn't a super active time for people to be out on the roads.

[ken0042]

I have it as well. I pretty much only use it during rush hour when I am looking to see if there are any traffic issues.

My biggest con is relatively minor- it is a battery hog. If I have it on and the phone plugged in- the phone will barely charge.

[fredr123]

I used it for a time when Google Maps was no longer available on iOS. It had some problems with really simple things like going from eastbound 16 Ave NW onto northbound Deerfoot Trail. There was a weird detour through Renfrew resulting in a few hundred metres of off-roading and a sick jump over a cement divider to get back onto the main road that I wasn't a big fan of.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Thanks!

Are there many active users in and around Calgary? I've only just started playing with it, and Sunday night probably wasn't a super active time for people to be out on the roads.

To me it seems like there's a minimum of about 20 of them driving around. Generally enough to plot the major problems.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by fredr123

I used it for a time when Google Maps was no longer available on iOS. It had some problems with really simple things like going from eastbound 16 Ave NW onto northbound Deerfoot Trail. There was a weird detour through Renfrew resulting in a few hundred metres of off-roading and a sick jump over a cement divider to get back onto the main road that I wasn't a big fan of.

At least it's honest about the fastest route

[Bobblehead]

I just started trying it last week. It is definitely a battery hog. It can give stranger directions sometimes: the first day I was using it, I needed to go from WB 16th to SB 36th. It wanted me to go NB 36th then do a U-turn. I couldn't see why so I just disregarded it an took the normal lane. The next day it used the normal lane.

I think the more people use it the more accurate it will be.

[Bobblehead]

I think the newer release isn't as hard on battery life as the earlier one. But it does still want to give some outright wrong directions. There have been a few time where it wanted me to turn down a side street, go 100m, then turn around, go back to the main street and continue on. No reason I could see why it would recommend that.

[Azure]

Google just purchased Waze for a little over a billion dollars.

http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/06/11/go...tion-app-waze/

Apparently Facebook was interested as well, but wanted the company, which is based out of Israel, to move to the US. Waze didn't want too and negotiations fell apart.