Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Choosing the right app for a road trip is crucial, especially if you’re driving to unfamiliar destinations where you don’t know the location. Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps are the top three choices, so when I started planning my vacation, these were the first apps I looked at.
Apple Maps was the first to go, as I still consider it useless in any region where the detailed city experience is not available. Most businesses and points of interest are missing, and its maps are terribly outdated in Europe, as Apple has clearly focused primarily on its national road network.
Because I didn’t want to be unprepared, I decided to use both Google Maps and Waze for my 600-mile trip. I downloaded the offline maps to Google Maps while I was at home, because I wasn’t sure I would have a data connection for the entire trip. I ran both apps on CarPlay, with my iPhone running the latest version of iOS wirelessly. Waze and Google Maps were both up to date.
Here's what I discovered after spending hours on the road with Google Maps and Waze.
Photo: autoevolution
You might think that offline maps make a huge difference when you're on a long trip like this, but that's not the case. While offline maps are nice, I rarely lost data, and when I did, Waze came online in less than a minute, immediately downloading updated traffic data.
Offline maps are definitely more critical when traveling abroad and dealing with ridiculous roaming charges. Luckily, we don't have that problem here in Europe, where we don't pay extra when traveling to another EU country.
However, I still recommend everyone to download offline maps before going on a long trip, especially when going through remote areas. Waze does not have this feature, and it is essential to be prepared for anything. Plan your route carefully, inspect each section of the trip before you hit the road, and keep your apps ready and up to date.
Photo: autoevolution
Google Maps and Waze gave me nearly identical routes to my destination, but Waze got me there 15 minutes earlier, thanks to several shortcuts that avoided difficult intersections and numerous traffic jams.
I know 15 minutes doesn't seem like a lot of gain, but after driving for several minutes with a four-year-old who talks all the time, you'd probably take any route, even if it was a minute faster.
Fortunately, Waze didn’t force me to make multiple turns—it does that when I’m dealing with heavy city traffic—but my route didn’t include any major cities. Google Maps’s route prioritized major roads and suggested a 20-mile stretch of highway, even though it included a detour.
Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Traffic reports make a huge difference. This is where Waze clearly wins the battle with Google Maps, even though the search giant is trying to close the glaring gap between the two.
Waze’s crowdsourced incident reporting system is a godsend. Luckily, I drove in countries with very active Waze user bases and traffic reports were very common. Most speed cameras, potholes, accidents, and roadworks were marked on the map, so I could slow down and approach each hazard with caution.
Google Maps has been focused on a smoother and quieter navigation experience. Google is working on bringing more traffic reports from Waze to Google Maps, but even when this plan goes live, Waze will still be the king of traffic data. Compared to Waze, Google Maps supports significantly fewer types of reports.
Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
The speed limit changes are brilliant. Considering that I have been traveling abroad, mostly on unfamiliar roads, I could have anticipated the speed limit changes.
With a recent update, Waze warns you of upcoming speed limit changes with on-screen notifications and a speed indicator on the map. It’s easier to slow down before you reach the marked location and avoid getting a ticket, and you won’t realize how important this feature is until you’re driving on an unfamiliar route.
Google Maps recently updated with a speedometer on CarPlay, but the feature is not yet enabled in my car. However, the app does display the current speed limit, although Waze has offered the same feature plus a live speedometer since launch.
Overall, Waze was easily the best option for my trip, largely because of how predictable it made each stretch of road. However, the lack of offline maps (which wouldn’t make sense in Waze anyway) might push some users to stick with Google Maps, especially when driving in remote areas. High data costs might also force some to abandon Waze when going on road trips, but as long as an internet connection is available, Waze is king. That’s why merging Google Maps and Waze doesn’t make sense for Google yet, as the two apps are more different than they first appear.
What’s your favorite long-distance travel app? Let me know in the comments below.