[BarryJI]

I am contemplating getting this app but I have to watch out for upcoming storage limits on my iPhone. Can anyone tell me how redundant Waze is alongside the BMW enhanced nav with live traffic info? The social aspect of it is interesting but I can live without it. Basically, the decisive factor for me, i.e. the reason for getting it, is how it helps spot looming traffic cops; how does it do this, just via reports from people further downrange with the app? If I'm barreling down the freeway, I know I wouldn't risk going heads-down to report a copper sighting on my iPhone so this would hardly be a method I'd feel I can trust completely. Comments from users much appreciated.

[pikcachu]

It's much better than the car navigation in my experience, it reacts much faster to traffic jams etc cause all the phones with the app open report the position to the servers even if they dont explicitly report something manually

[BarryJI]

Got it! That's good to know.

[Anchored]

cop spotting and traffic light information too!

[BarryJI]

But how does the cop spotting work?

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by BarryJI

But how does the cop spotting work?

when there is a cop around in your route that somebody else reported, it will tell you and show an icon in the map...

you just tap 2 buttons to report a cop

[BarryJI]

That's brilliant! Thanks pikcachu, I'm getting it.

[Spaghetti]

Originally Posted by BarryJI

Can anyone tell me how redundant Waze is alongside the BMW enhanced nav with live traffic info?

For me it is the other way around. It is the in-car nav that is redundant and unnecessary.

[Ramos]

Amazing app but beware, it eats up a lot of data

[5plus2]

Waze has been so helpful with spotting cops that I heard some police departments have protested and asked Google (who bought and owns Waze now) to remove the cop feature. They cited a ridiculous reason: for officers' safety. Give me a break. If someone is determined to harm a police officer, they will not need Waze. I think it is more plausible that they have realized fewer and fewer drivers got caught for speeding and their ticket revenue has declined! In fact, cops can use Waze too and I am sure they do. The moment they see their location is revealed on Waze, they can just move to the next location. But in a populated area or on interstate with many drivers, their new location will be reported on Waze almost instantly.

[Zooks527]

I have the in-car Nav with the trafffic reporting feature, and run it side-by-side with Waze..

Waze beats the Real Time Traffic system about 40% of the time / loses about 10% of the time / matches about half the time in areas where there's a lot of users to support the base data needs (from personal experience, think Rt. 495 near Boston). Waze is pointless in places where there aren't enough users to hit critical mass (think Rt. 29 between Sioux Falls and Brookings, also from personal experience). In low Waze areas, the RTTI system gets enough info from state highway sources to be far more useful.

The Nav RTTI system is also strongly biased to keep you on the highway (minimum 5 minute time saving required to take you off of the highway, possibly more on longer runs). Waze has no compunction about taking you off the highway and through local regions, which may not be a good idea if you have no grasp of the tenor of the local regions through which you may be taken. There may be a reason there's no traffic in that neighborhood.

There's an issue with how both interact with the web. Waze routing is done using their servers, not your phone, so if you're in a bad connection area, Waze cannot calculate routes nor give traffic information, where the car can by doing the routing onboard, although it won't have traffic information if it can't get a connection.

A last one is data privacy. Waze reports your position every few seconds to its own servers to calculate road speeds and determine traffic conditions. They end up with the date, time, and start/stop locations for every trip you take, along with speed breadcrumbs all along the route. The data is associated with either your account (if you have one) or your cellphone number, and it's retained for an extended period of time. Your car retains the destinations you select, but not the start point or intermediate speed data, and it's stored locally, not on someone else's server.

[W///]

I don't run it all the time, but I have to say it was super useful when I did a 2500 mile road trip. You'd be amazed at how many spotters there are, so the info is very up to date. Plus you can do voice command, so you don't have to look down at your phone (I have a mount on the windshield anyway).

I use it when I'd need Nav or when I know I'm going through a heavily patrolled part of town. Well worth it considering it's free

[FSociety]

Anytime I get in my car i use Waze 100% of the time, BMW Nav 50% of the time (maybe for the HUD and seeing if it guides me the same)
What I like about Waze is being so easy to use and giving you 3 routes where you'll see 1 usually to avoid tolls.

For ex, first route with tolls 55min, second route no tolls 59mins, third route tolls 1hr 10mins..

[jtzako]

I think Waze is a bit broken in my area.. Most of the time it doesnt show traffic speed lines (green, red etc) even when traffic is not moving and there are icons on the screen indicating slow speeds. I dont use my phone for navigation since the car has it, but I do check it before I leave to see if my route will be clear or not.

[Zooks527]

Originally Posted by jtzako

I think Waze is a bit broken in my area.. Most of the time it doesnt show traffic speed lines (green, red etc) even when traffic is not moving and there are icons on the screen indicating slow speeds. I dont use my phone for navigation since the car has it, but I do check it before I leave to see if my route will be clear or not.

Lack of users. Just because there are a few people who are noting traffic issues, without a large enough user base in the area, the system doesn't fly. In those areas, the in-car RTTI system is a better option.

[BarryJI]

I must say I am not thrilled with it so far. I find the screen way too busy and cluttered. Even after I turned off a lot of superfluous elements (I don't need to see other Wazers and have no need to use it as a social networking tool) there are a lot of paid sponsors that show up on the screen and the icons are big and ugly. I also find the map manipulation via the usual iPhone gestures clunky; rotating or zooming the map for situational awareness is much smoother in my native iPhone map service.

I am pretty sure I would feel differently if I did not have BMW's enhanced nav in my car, and/or if I had a phone mount in my line of sight rather than in a cup holder mount. As it is, though, the screen is far too cluttered, busy and difficult to manipulate precisely to be of much use to me in the low mount.

If I keep the app it will only be for pre-departure recon. The car's nav is much more sophisticated for most functions and there are much better moving maps for the iPhone than Waze's. I am a little surprised and disappointed by its crudeness but, as someone said, it's free.

[jtzako]

Originally Posted by Zooks527

Lack of users. Just because there are a few people who are noting traffic issues, without a large enough user base in the area, the system doesn't fly. In those areas, the in-car RTTI system is a better option.

Could be, though Inrix consistently has the traffic maps even when Waze doesnt (and in some cases the BMW isnt updated as quickly as Inrix) I was thinking Waze would get real time traffic similar to other apps like Inrix, but perhaps not.

[Zooks527]

Actually, Google Maps is probably as good a choice as Waze, if not better. It uses the same database as Waze (Google bought Waze a couple of years ago), and the interface is better. It also doesn't track you.

You lose the "social" aspects of the application, but as noted by BarryJl, those are more nuisance than benefit.

I ran the two side by side on my phone for a while in separate windows. Traffic prediction and route selection sometimes differed, but overall performance/benefits/utility between the two was a wash.

[Zooks527]

Originally Posted by jtzako

Could be, though Inrix consistently has the traffic maps even when Waze doesnt (and in some cases the BMW isnt updated as quickly as Inrix) I was thinking Waze would get real time traffic similar to other apps like Inrix, but perhaps not.

Waze only gets its feed from other Waze users. Inrix uses its own set of mobile users and (I believe but can't remember from where) also collates road speed sensors from state DOTs and other 3rd party feeds (Inrix is the data supplier for BMW's ARRTI system). Google Maps pulls 3rd party data in addition to the Waze data set.