Google Maps has a stranglehold on many of our smartphones when it comes to navigation, and for good reason. The app offers plenty of features while also giving directions and other information pertinent to your journey. But sometimes it’s worthwhile to give another navigation app a try. If you’ve been eyeing Waze — another navigation app from Google — you might be wondering exactly why you’d choose one over the other.
After all, both apps are made by the same company, so you might think they aren’t very different. Truth be told, the answer isn’t a simple yes or no. Each app offers a different approach to navigation, and they each have a number of unique features that may make one or the other better suited for your needs.
Google Maps is more utilitarian, for starters. It’s focused on providing multiple ways to approach your journey, while also providing you with as much information as possible. Waze, on the other hand, is more personal. The app learns about your journey over time and then uses that information to find the fastest route for you while making you feel like part of a larger community. There are also other features to consider, but ultimately, choosing whether to use Google Maps or Waze comes down to determining what you need out of your navigation app.
The biggest differences
While Google has slowly been adding some of the more important features from Waze to Google Maps, there are still notable differences between the features offered in each app. One of the biggest is that Waze isn’t particularly great for discovering new locations. You can open the Waze app, search for something like “Costco” or “McDonald’s” and see information about the different locations around you, but it won’t provide much additional information beyond basic details like the phone number, address, and store hours.
On the other hand, discovery on one of the strengths of Google Maps. You’ll find reviews, photos, links to the business’s website, and more. It’s helpful if you’re looking for more information about somewhere, and you just don’t get the same level of information from Waze.
Where Waze does stand above Google Maps is in its traffic and incident reporting. Much of the data is fed to the app by users themselves — something Google brought to Maps last year. But Waze still does the job better thanks to its long-standing community. Further, Waze launched a new feature last year that helps you find up-to-date parking around you, which is great if you live in a big city. Waze is also more personal, allowing you to create a profile that shares information with other users, so you always feel like you’re contributing to the community. Plus, you can customize your experience even further with different voices and icons.
Google Maps is still the best navigation app
Ultimately, the thing to keep in mind when choosing between Waze or Google Maps is that you need to decide whether you want a navigational app that offers you more information or one that finds you the fastest route while also giving you some of the best traffic and incident reporting information you’ll find in any app.
Both apps offer many of the other features you’ve come to expect from these kinds of tools — voiced directions, a digital speedometer, and the ability to set favorites like your home address, work, and more for faster selections. I’ve never really felt like I was missing anything when switching between one or the other, though I have personally found that the best choice is to utilize Waze during long journeys and to rely on Google Maps for most of my daily driving or when looking for foot-based or local transit directions.
If you don’t want to switch between the two, Google Maps is the better choice for most users. Waze can find the fastest route and has better incident reporting capabilities than Google Maps, but if you prefer to have more information at your fingertips with user-friendly interface, it’s hard to beat everything that Google Maps offers, especially since Waze is ending support for older Android devices soon, too.
