Google Maps adds Waze incident reports

August 20, 2013 John F 2 Comments Android Apps, Google Maps, Google Nexus, Waze

It’s only been a couple months since Google acquired Waze, a community mapping and navigation tool that’s updated by users around the world. Already, the fruits of this acquisition are making their way into both respective apps, although Google Maps users arguably gain the most.

Google just announced on its official Maps blog that real time incident reports from Waze users will begin appearing in Google Maps for mobile users. This means that when Waze users report accidents, construction, road closures, and other incidents on Waze, the updates will also appear on the Google Maps app for Android and iOS. This features will be available for US users, along with those in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Switzerland, and the UK.

Additionally, Waze users will also get two new features: The Android and iOS versions of Waze just received an update that now includes Google Search, giving Waze users more access to information while navigating. And second, the Waze Map Editor now includes Google Street View and Google Earth satellite imagery to help people build better maps and correct map errors.

Overall, this is an exciting time to be a Maps and a Waze user, and I’m starting to wonder why anyone would use any other mapping application on iOS or Android. In any case, you can grab both Android apps in the links below.