Google on Monday continued to blur the lines between Waze and Google Maps. The company announced that those using Waze can now control it using Google Assistant.
“Thanks to its community of millions of drivers contributing real-time data every second, Waze helps you beat traffic, while the Assistant lets you to play music and podcasts, message your friends and call your family hands-free — without ever leaving the navigation screen,” Google writes in its announcement.
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Asking Assistant to “report traffic” or “avoid tolls” will alert road conditions or reroute your journey without looking at or touching your phone screen.
It’s a no-brainer addition but also a strange one.
The company already has a number of ways mapping apps and Assistant can be used alongside one another, including Android Auto — the company’s car dashboard app. Google Maps has also recently received features that were originally found on Waze, including speed limit and trap warnings, and a speedometer popup when in driving mode.
The new addition to Waze sees yet another overlap between Google’s two mapping apps.
Still, for those who prefer to use Waze specifically, this is a boon.
The feature is hitting US-based Android versions of Waze from today. It’s not clear when the feature will be rolled out to other countries.
Feature image: Memeburn
