Google Maps Waze Alerts Are Helpful for Holiday Driving, Even If They Are Distracting

I ’ve been motor around more than common this holiday time of year . This time of year permit me some extra free meter that inspires me and my family line to yield the bridge toll and go rat far and all-embracing . Because if not now , then when ? Over the Thanksgiving break , we were hazard out toward IKEA when I noticed Google Maps on Android Autospouting alertsabout where highway patrol was on my itinerary . I ’ve seen alerts like this before , but not this boastful . I think to myself , this must be the final wave ofWaze featuresintegrated into Google Maps .

Waze has always been popular among commuter train because of its community - take reports . The same people you ’re wedge to divvy up the route with can tap on the app to let others know whether there ’s a clash up in front or a lag due to an physical object in the road . It ’s very specific about what ’s going on , too , which is extremely helpful when you ’re driving and ca n’t paw through societal medium to figure out what ’s plump on .

The alert feature is now embedded into Google Maps , similar to how you ’ve interacted with it on Waze . An alert will go off , and a boxwood will drink down up . It will ask if the incident ahead is still there or has been assoil . Then , you ’ll have some time to answer by choose an option .

A photo of Google Maps split-screened on Android Auto

© Florence Ion / Gizmodo

This is the part where it jump to get perturb . We were in rush hour dealings on the way nursing home , and as you may envisage , the feature article was going off , alerting us of every incident up onward . At first , it was helpful — I have a lead foundation and want to know about speed traps ! But then it became something on screen that I had to interact with , thus read my manus off the wheel and heart off the route . When the prompting asks you to report whether an incident stay ahead , the start - up boxwood stays on screen for what feels like an entire minute ( or at least it did while I was driving ) . My married man also found it distracting while drive and snarked about wanting it to turn off .

The trouble here is not with Waze and this special readiness of feature . There ’s something that antedate it . It was the innovation of the touchscreen in the auto , which has graduated from a fad into an expectation . I was so happy when we bought our Subaru Outback three years ago until I realized the mannequin we ’d opt was only available with an 11 - inch touch screen . That touchscreen is slower than smartphone interaction and requires an actual press for the user interface to acknowledge . It continue to rag me year later on while I ’m drive . Whenever Waze toss off up with this feature , I ’ll be remind that I ’ve been charge with a touchscreen that distracts me while drive .

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