While Google has been bringing all sorts of bells and whistles to their own Maps app, their other owned navigation app Waze isn’t being left behind. A lot of drivers still prefer to use it to help them get to their destination and now that is going to be made even better as you will now be able to get Google Assistant from within the app. The smart voice assistant will bring more functionality and less distraction while you drive.
If you don’t have an infotainment system built in to your car, you’re still relying on the Waze app on your phone to help you navigate to your destination. Now with Google Assistant available from within the app, you’ll be able to give voice commands to play your podcasts or music, send messages to your friends, and make calls without having to leave the Waze interface or touch your phone and get distracted while driving
But even more importantly, you’ll be able to use voice commands to access some of the favorite Waze features. You can just say “Hey Google, report traffic” or “Hey Google, avoid tolls” or “Hey Google, find another route to the office”. This means you can do all the reporting of traffic jams, incidents, etc without having to touch your phone, which has been a source of accidents at times.
Waze relies a lot on real-time data from millions of drivers so having Google Assistant take care of some of the reporting stuff for you is highly covenient and helpful. It will help you keep your hands on the wheel and not get distracted by tapping on all the things you used to on the Waze interface.
The Google Assistant integration within the Waze app has started to roll out in the US. However it’s only available in English for now.
