Waze AI features transform navigation with Google Gemini integration and personalized routing

Waze is getting a bunch of new AI-powered features

Waze is getting an AI makeover. Google is integrating its flagship AI assistant, Gemini, into the driving app with the goal of letting users personalize their trips a little more. Of the four new updates, only two are being described as involving Gemini. Waze says its updating its conversation reporting feature, first introduced in 2024, to allow drivers to use conversational voice commands to report traffic incidents and suggest map updated, like a road closure or outdated house number. In addition, Waze introduced Destination Search, enabling drivers to use (again) use conversation voice commands (e.g., "Find me a coffee shop that's open right now" or "Find me a gas station nearby with the lowest prices") to find a destination. This makes sense, given how much better conversational voice interactions have gotten with AI. For its non-AI features, Waze is allowing users to adjust to a "less chatty" mode for voice prompts so drivers don't have to sacrifice their music or podcast listening while using the app's driving directions. Waze is also getting a Motorcycle Mode that incorporates two-wheeled shortcuts and more accurate ETAs for the best possible routing. And lastly, Waze will now suggest routes based on a user's past trips and using its own data about local traffic patters. So if you prefer highways over local roads, Waze will make sure you see those routing options first. So far, Google has held off on giving Waze a full AI revamp. Google Maps, however, has been getting more and more AI-powered capabilities, as the tech giant seemingly exerts greater control over its flagship navigation tool.

Waze Gets AI, Personalization Options -- Including One to Make It Less Chatty

Waze's Conversational Reporting feature and Less Chatty option. (Credit: Google) A new round of features for Waze aims to take Google's driving app in a more personalized direction-with AI riding shotgun. The most significant change is one that people more familiar with Google Maps might have thought was already a Waze feature: the option of driving directions tailored to your earlier use of the app. "Now, Waze will suggest routes based on your previous trips, in addition to its hyperlocal understanding of a city's traffic patterns," Google says. "So if you prefer driving on highways over local streets with multiple stops, you'll see those suggested first." Two other changes involve Waze's voice interface and let you make your in-car experience more or less verbose, as you wish. A "less chatty" mode will have the app reduce its voice prompts to "critical reminders about hazards, turns, and lane changes" -- delivered, per Google's post, less often than by default. Google is also expanding the Conversational Reporting feature, based on the company's Gemini AI models, beyond its current support for reporting traffic issues in simple spoken-word speech. You'll now also be able to request map revisions to reflect changes, such as a road being closed, by talking to the app. The Mountain View, California, firm is now turning on all three of these options worldwide in Waze's Android and iOS apps, while two additional updates are a little farther down the road. A conversational voice search, now coming to drivers signed up to test beta versions of Waze, will let you ask queries like "Find me a gas station nearby with the lowest prices." The description of this Gemini-enabled feature evokes the Ask Maps features added to Google Maps in March, but it's unclear how long it will take to reach general availability in Waze. Waze is also applying AI to help its motorcycle users with directions better tailored to their smaller vehicles and alerts of hazards riskier for riders than drivers, such as "potholes, speed bumps, raised crosswalks, shoulder endings, and narrow bridges." Waze users in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines should now start seeing this in their apps, while riders in the US will have to wait a little longer. Google spent nearly $1 billion to buy Waze in 2013, but Monday's updates continue to leave Waze behind Google Maps in certain navigation features. With gas prices as high as they are, two continued Waze shortfalls stand out: Its directions still don't highlight the most fuel-efficient route, something Google Maps added in October 2021, and it still doesn't let drivers of hybrid or electric vehicles further optimize its directions for their choice of powertrain.

Waze rolls out new AI features including Motorcycle and 'Less Chatty' modes - Engadget

Waze, Google's other navigation app, is getting a collection of new AI-powered features that make it easier to navigate on a motorcycle and less annoying to receive directions. The app's new Motorcycle mode uses AI to consider the specific needs of two-wheeled vehicles, according to Google. Those include specific shortcuts that might only be available to motorcycles and "hazards that are tricky for riders, like potholes, speed bumps, raised crosswalks, shoulder endings and narrow bridges." While using AI might raise some questions about the accuracy of Waze's motorcycle directions, the app's insights are at least still powered by a real-time traffic map and a group of human, motorcycle-focused editors who keep things up-to-date with hazards. Waze is also getting some new personalization features as part of this update. The app will now suggest routes based on previous trips, along with Waze's normal traffic-focused recommendations. These personalized, suggested routes can be disabled, but Google thinks they might better anticipate your driving preferences. A new "Less Chatty" mode also tweaks how Waze communicates. If you hate constantly being interrupted by your next turn or an upcoming hazard, toggling voice guidance to "Less Chatty" minimizes the app's voice prompts and focuses them on critical directions and reminders. Of course if you want to talk to Waze, the app's growing Gemini integration is making that possible in some new ways. Waze began testing what it calls "Conversational Reporting" in October 2024 as a way to use natural language to report traffic incidents. As of these updates, Conversational Reporting can now also be used to suggest map updates. Via Waze's voice search, Gemini integration also lets you ask questions like "Find me a gas station nearby with the lowest prices" and receive a page of custom results. Waze's personalization features, "Less Chatty" mode and Conversational Reporting are rolling out globally on Android and iOS. Gemini-powered voice searches, meanwhile, are rolling out to Waze's beta community globally, and Motorcycle Mode is specifically coming online for users in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and the Philippines.

Waze's latest update is all about Gemini, and it's picking up your driving habits too

The update also makes the app's route recommendations more personalized to you. Waze is fundamentally different from Google Maps in its philosophy; it's primarily designed with drivers and riders in mind, and places a heavy emphasis on crowdsourced data. This data is also richer in detail and more descriptive than in Maps, which keeps it relevant to date. That's also one of the reasons why Google sends occasional updates to Waze, keeping it alive for its individual appeal, rather than merging it with Google Maps. Today, Waze gets another big update that blesses it with some of the smartest features in Google Maps. The Waze team at Google is rolling out an update heavy on Gemini and AI. For starters, the app's recommendations will now appear more personalized to you. The announcement notes that Waze will now remember your preferences for routes, whether you like driving the highway with fewer stops or through quicker lanes that beat the traffic, and optimize your route the next time. If you don't want Waze to show you these recommendations, you can simply turn them off. In addition to your route personalization, Waze is also adding bike-specific features to Motorcycle mode, which is now supercharged with AI. With this update, Waze will show bike riders specialized routes that may include narrow lanes or shortcuts unsuitable for cars or bigger vehicles. And along this route, you will also be notified of any hazards or potential stoppages, such as speed bumps, raised crosswalks, narrow bridges, etc. Waze has engaged dedicated Map editors who scrutinize these additions to its database. The Motorcycle mode is rolling out in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines. Gemini's ability to hold a conversation longer than Google Assistant is also trickling down Waze's feature list. While the Gemini-powered Conversational Reporting feature in Waze already lets you describe road incidents, such as accidents or slowdowns, you can now report a wider variety of occurrences, including road closures or incorrect addresses, by talking to the app. You can now also rely on Gemini to get recommendations based on vague descriptions, such as when you try to "Find a gas station which also sells coffee with vegan milk options" along your way, Waze should be able to pull up recommendations, just as the Ask Maps feature would. This feature also solves for instances when you don't remember the exact name of where you'd like to go. Alternatively, if you'd rather have the app focus on playing media instead of nudging you frequently, you can now also toggle a "less chatty" mode, where Waze only informs you about crucial hazards or obstructions on the way. Apart from the improved Motorcycle mode, all Waze features are rolling out to both Android and iOS users worldwide.