With hundreds of thousands of users, Waze is far-and-away Canada’s most popular driving and navigation app.
While the majority of Wazers enjoy the app’s main function – navigation from point A to point B via the best route – there are other features currently under-utilized but that can improve the daily lives of drivers. Below you will find a list of features that make the Waze experience more user-friendly.
Planned Drives + Waze Calendar
Waze can connect with your iPhone, Android or Google calendar to send you a push notification reminder to let you know what time to leave based on real-time traffic conditions. Simply open the Menu => Planned drives => add a drive => search for your destination and select the time and date you need to arrive by and then hit Save. To sync this feature with your calendar, simply open Menu => Planned drives => Sync Calendar events.
Parking
Waze can help you find parking before you leave for your destination. Once you’ve planned a drive, simply tap the three dots beside the destination and select Find parking. Parking lots near your destination will appear.
ETA
The Waze app is all about empowering the driving community to connect with one another, while keeping safety as the top priority. Sharing ETAs with other Wazers prevents drivers from being tempted to use their smartphone to text while driving. To share your ETA with friends, simply tap the three dots beside your destination before you start driving. You will need to sync Waze to your mobile number via a text verification, and allow the app to access your contacts. Once setup, you can simply select “send” by tapping the three dots beside your destination and choosing who from your contact list you want to share your ETA with. They will automatically receive a text message with your estimated arrival time, eliminating the temptation to text and drive when unexpected delays hit.
Display & map
Waze takes a lot of pride in its cool turquoise branding, but recognizes that that colour scheme isn’t friendly to all eyes at all times of day. By selecting Display & map under Settings, Wazers can choose if they wish to view the map in day mode or night mode, and can select whether or not to display the map editors under “Map color scheme”.
Voice
Under Settings => Voice directions, Wazers can choose whose voice they would like to narrate the directions of their drive. Waze also currently offers voice directions in over 20 languages in addition to English. Wazers can also enjoy limited edition celebrity voices. Most recently, Dateline NBC’s Keith Morrison was added to the list of options available to drivers for a limited time.
Child Reminders
It is an unfortunate reality that children are occasionally left in the back of cars, Waze has responded to this issue by releasing Child Reminders. To access this feature, simply open Settings => General => Child reminder and select “Allow reminders.” You can also customize the message by selecting “Custom message.” This feature can be used to remind you to collect your kid, your pet, or your even your backpack from the back seat.