tooloud10

I read comments from at least one department chief that said he welcomed the location information in the app--basically said "we're the police--we want citizens to be able to find us as easily as possible".

Makes sense to me.

street rod

I've never tried it. Can someone give me a quick rundown of how Waze works?

Little Green

Free simple gps that allows the users to tap an icon alerting other drivers of police, speed cameras, accidents, potholes etc.

For example you put in dc from philly and it pulls up routes. Choose your route. It will show where other users have seen police or accidents. As you are nearing an incident it will tell you "police reported 2 miles ahead". As you are within say a half mile it shows the cop on the road ahead. As you are close it gives you the option of thumbs up or thumbs down (is he there/not there). The icon will disappear if you say he is not there.

I have been a user for maybe 2 years. Love it.
Funniest thing is there are only a few car options
Red Ferrari
Red beetle
Smart car
Clue car
Red car
Suv
930 turbo red
997 copper
911SC IN GREEN
911 in blue.


Someone clearly loves the 911

Little Green

Just download the app

daddyscar

The easiest way to to use Waze is to just download and listen to it on speaker phone as you drive. It will alert you on such things as traffic, road hazards, red light cameras and police. Try to keep your phone charged as gps intensive apps tend to drain your phone battery.

I downloaded it about a year ago and never used. I was accustomed to using Google maps or the nav in our cars with real time traffic via satellite radio. So I didn't see the value of using Waze. I used to look at Google maps to get an idea of how traffic was looking and the nav in our minivan was supposed to guide us around the traffic but never worked very well. Plus road maps on nav equipped cars are updated annually at best.

I recently went on a road trip with a friend who just started using it. That's when I really got what Waze was all about. You rely on what other drivers share about what is going on as they drive. Waze set up a point and hierarchy system to motivate people to share what they see. I assume they share traffic flow information simply from their gps coordinates. But you can get points by reporting gas prices, traffic conditions and where a speed trap is.

My friend had a dash mounted iPhone holder. Even as a passenger it was hard for me to read and key in info. It's better to get some iPhone holder that positions your phone by your e-brake/shifter and rely on speaker phone to listen to alerts and key in info when you are pulled over.

Waze or even Google for navigation is so good I would not choose the nav option on any new car. You don't have to participate in sharing traffic info but it would be cool if you did. Otherwise you simply enter your destination, set it up on speaker phone or bluetooth, keep your phone charged next to you and listen to any road info people are sharing. I am however waiting for some ads to start popping up.

Wayne Smith

Within Waze settings you can enable voice commands. If you see something, you can wave your hand in front of the phone. Waze will ask how it can help you. Say Report xyz to report whatever xyz you saw. Other than a wave across the screen it is hands free. See below for information on controlling the sound stream with prioritization.

I have my Note 2 attached to a wired docking station made by Proclip (no affiliation). This mounts it on an upper vent so I have minimal eye or hand motion. Wherever I go, the phone charges on the way. I hooked up the Aux jack as well. Cables are almost invisible (tucked into molding to the glove box, through the glove box, to the side plug for power and down the center tunnel to plug into the center storage box for the Aux connection). Getting into the car I simply slide the phone into its cradle and plug in the Aux cable.

I have the phone output on Waze shut off so it outputs on Aux and into the car speakers (easily done in the Waze Set Up Screen). Pandora offers music out of the Aux connector, Waze mutes Pandora when necessary. The phone's Bluetooth over rides everything. It is pretty simple and foolproof. Everything plays through the car speakers so my marginalized hearing doesn't miss anything.

BTW, when you wave your hand to make a report, Waze mutes Pandora in the same way as it does to make announcements.

Waze is only good if you have a large community. At power on, Waze reports on how many Wazers are nearby. Use this to gauge how you drive.

You can also drive live with friends. When I leave the office, Waze asks me if I am going home. I tap the screen to confirm and Waze shows pictures of my friends. I touch my wife's photo, and she knows when I will be home for dinner.

Heading up the freeway I can tell if there is a solo LEO handing out tickets if I see a Police warning every mile or so. That is a bit annoying. But I can count at least four times a week when, in my 25 mile (times two ways) commute where Waze has saved me a ticket. I pull right and slow down. People pass me wondering what I am doing. And then, over the hill, behind a construction barrier, sits a LEO!

Racetwin2

Another good advice is to directly put in the Job and home adress under the personal info. Then it will automatically detect when you are travelling from/to work and give you new routes based on traffic even if you haven't activated the navigation as such.

street rod

Impressive. Thanks all for the info. I may have to try it.

mwolfe

If the police really want to keep traffic in the speed limits and keep drivers safe, they could park every 1-2 miles so that all the people with Waze will report their location and then everyone would drive slowly.

I am a new Waze user and have more to learn but it is impressive so far.

thoth105

Nothing better than having Terry Crews to tell you to "TURN RIGHT!"

ADias

One issue with Waze and similar tracking tools is loss of privacy. One's whereabouts, and car speed are all available and can easily be linked to one's identity. See recent metadata tracking article on WSJ - Metadata Can Expose Person’s Identity Even Without Name.

Note: WSJ link above may not work without subscription.

Wayne Smith

My son used to fear FastTrac because "they" would know where he had traveled. There was an NYPD show on TV some years later that pointed this out by way of a murder conviction (yeah, make believe).

But these days the kids don't think twice.

For any of us (all) who carry a cell phone the NSA knows where we are whenever they want to. This could lead to automated speeding tickets, but the government hasn't gone there yet. I don't see "them" using Waze as their conduit. The real problem here is that although your phone was being used, were you the one who was driving? Side bar: Glare on windshields is our savior for camera tickets. I wonder if a really bad picture at the DMV would do the same.

Privacy is only a concept these days. Just look at the targeted ads that pop up just for you.

I don't feel comfortable with this New World, but I will avail myself of its perks! I gain nothing via deprivation. I believe in Waze. By reporting where the LEOs are, it's kind of like that last available act of defiance ... The mouse holding his middle finger up to the hawk that is about to swoop down upon him!

I even signed up as a beta tester for the new software Waze is now preparing. I guess I'm just a masochist ... But I hope to get a chance to offer some feedback -

Can they feed the audio out via Bluetooth (yes, I understand the technical problems here but it would be a lot nicer for the audio system interface)?

The wave feature to speak warnings during reporting is intermittent if there is not a destination programmed.

The new release (test version) doesn't offer a clear way to abort a navigation.

I realize Waze is not perfect. But for me, privacy be damned, it's pretty sweet.

SamDaMan

I wish Google just integrated Waze (now that they own it) into Google Maps. Maps has a much better visual layout, integrates into my Contacts so I can find addresses easily, and synchs with desktop Maps and other devices. Waze continues to feel homegrown on some levels - that was fine when they started and I can celebrate the counter-culture as well as the next guy....but where I live in VA we aren't allowed radar detectors, and Waze is the only line of defense against the Man. Well I could slow down....

Wayne Smith

Slow down? Slow down? What is this slow down that you speak of?

I hear you on the interface, and all the rest. The are a number of improvements that could be made, but Google Navigation dumped one of my co-workers in the middle of deep Oakland rather than the address he typed in. Waze got him out. With the bad comes a lot of good! I'm good, just so long as they don't can or bury Waze.

I've designed machine-user interfaces and other GUIs for a third of a century. There are very few that are good, and none that are perfect. The more general the application, the more compromises in the interface.

daddyscar