Five tips to supercharge Waze
Here are a few ways to make Waze work even better.
JUST based on the number of people we know who use Waze, it’s safe to say that it’s one of the most popular GPS navigations apps in Malaysia.
Having more people use it is all for the better, as the app builds its map by logging the tracks the users have travelled.
With that in mind, here are a few tips and tricks to max out the powers of the app.
There are actually three ways of adding your favourite destinations to Waze app. Firstly, you have to look for a place or address by bringing up the search bar by tapping on the menu button at the bottom left hand corner of the screen. Next, tap on one of the items in the search results – this will bring up a summary of the location, along with a star icon. Tap on the star to add the destination to your Favourites list.
The other method is to add past destinations – as soon as you bring up the search bar, you will see a list of places you have visited. Tap on one and you will see the star for adding it to your list.
The third way is to simply tap and hold a place on the map. The app will drop a location pin on the map and pop up a dialogue box. Tap on the little “i” icon to bring up a menu which has the star for adding the location.
Did you know that you can search for a location in Waze with just the GPS coordinates?
If somebody gives you the GPS coordinates in decimal degrees ( such as 2.79748° and 101.77219°), you can enter the two sets of numbers in the search bar to have the app find the location.
We’ve tried it and it only works with the coordinates expressed in decimal degrees and not in degrees/ minutes/ seconds ( such as N2 47 50.928 and E101 46 19.883) format.
However, you can easily find converters with a a quick search on Google such as the tool at goo. gl/ xTYFxU.
While many of us type into the search bar to find what we want, Waze actually offers a voice search option which works surprisingly well.
Voice search can be activated by tapping on the little red micro- phone icon next to the search bar. While the feature has been available for some time, many don’t bother with it due to a general distrust in the accuracy of voice search.
However, we have found it to be quite accurate as long as the environment is not too noisy and you speak clearly. Another little- known feature in the search bar is that you can actually search for a person’s name in your contact list.
Assuming you’ve properly filled out your contact with the correct address, tapping on your contact’s name in the search result will have Waze automatically bring up his or her address. Pretty nifty!
Of course, this only works if you allow Waze to link to your contact list.
Waze always shows you the route that gets to your destination the fastest by taking into consideration the traffic condition and whatnot.
However, if you want alternatives which may be shorter in distance, it’s only a tap away. When Waze plots you a course, hit the Routes button, and it will show you other routes with the traffic condition, distance and estimated travel time.