Wave goodbye to lacklustre commands and say hello the social persona of Waze. Comparable to its predecessors the navigation app Waze offers voice guided GPS integrated with turn-by-turn directions. But Waze’s  imprint within this market is certainly an impressionable one with the loyalty to monotone carried throughout countless navigational apps abandoned and new characters added to audio playlists, including  the king of rock and roll, Elvis. Its functions do not waive at providing best route for you but accomplish much more by updating directions with real time information via general news or edits contributed to help fellow Waze users. As a Wave editor moves up the posting ranks so does their posting permissions. Analogous to a platform game, the more points acquired the more road goodies are unlocked.

Over time, Wave begins to recognise favoured routes of its user and suggests this first. Signalling upcoming gas stations along the way and in a sense getting to know you. Back in 2013, Google forked out a hefty 1.1 billion for the app, but why? Waze is the mobile-friendly, social doppelgänger to the more standardised Google Maps. Waze mingles with Facebook, which means if you can pinpoint locations via this app too. Maintaining assurance that you won’t be confronted with road foes such as tolls, dirt tracks and congested areas. Users also have the ability to track their friends so that meeting for an event can go more to plan.

However, there’s a downside. Each social layer although beneficial can also create visual chaos. Eventually maps will be cluttered with pop-ups, which is distracting even for seasoned drivers, texting whilst driving was banned for this exact reason. Sparking further critic from  claims that due to the continuous nature of real time updates and location tagging could possibly lead to the app being distorted into a stalking tool.

Would you travel with Waze?