Driving today is all about balancing focusing on the road while trying to handle all the other things that happen when you are navigating busy streets. Waze understands that the best way to make roads safer and get the most efficiency is by letting drivers chat with the app.
Waze gives you many voice commands you can use to help it become more of an active, reliable co-pilot. Knowing those basic voice commands is how you make sure your next drive is as smooth, safe, and stress-free as it can be.
Take me home/to work
“Take me home” and “Take me to work” are some of the best things about Waze’s setup. The genius behind this command is how incredibly simple it is. If you just take a minute to put your work and home addresses into the app, Waze instantly starts navigating to that spot when you speak the command.
The biggest benefit you get from the “Take me home/to work” command is that it essentially functions as a pre-filed, two-card index system right there in your navigation library. You don’t have to search through tons of entries every time you need directions. You just speak the name of the two places you go to most often, and the route pops up instantly.
Report police
The voice command “Report police” is a social feature built right into the Waze app. The way this specific command works highlights the unique, community-driven spirit of Waze because the app relies on drivers actively sharing real-time road smarts with each other. Even if you are personally committed to following the speed limit yourself, others are grateful when you warn them about police being around.
The only thing you have to do is say “I saw a police car” or anything similar, and it is reported at the location you said it. Wazers moving forward will be warned about the area. It’s not like you’re helping them break the law; in fact, it probably makes sure that while people are there, they are following the law.
Report hazard
The Report Hazard voice command is a really crucial feature built right into the Waze system. I tested it a lot while figuring out how the newest update works, and it operates really well. All you have to do is say that you see a hazard after pressing the hazard button or activating Gemini to do it. That hazard will be added wherever you were when you used the voice command.
This is one of the more intuitive features in Waze, and it takes seconds to do. This is a lot like reporting police nearby, and is even done the same way. You’ll get confirmation immediately, and you will see that hazard on screen the next time you come around. Other Wazers will see it if they come by after your report.
Find a gas station/restaurant
There are times when you won’t know that you need gas or that you need a place to eat until you’re already out on the road. Telling Waze “Find a gas station/restaurant” works a lot better on Waze than Google Maps, from my own experience. When I was an Uber driver, I used this command a few times to find stations in areas I was unfamiliar with, and it consistently led me to real locations.
On more than one occasion, Google Maps took me to areas that were not real gas stations, which is awful. However, Waze will update your map to show you one close by that normally isn’t out of your way, or requires a U-Turn to get to.
What’s my ETA?
There are times when you can’t look at your dashboard but need to know when you’re going to arrive somewhere. Asking Waze, “What’s my ETA” or something like “how much longer on this trip” will have the app respond with how much longer you need to be on the road to get to your chosen destination.
This can change based on conditions that appear while driving, and I’ve even had it go back and forth when I drive my kids to school, so it’s a good idea to ask more than once. Either way, it’s a good way to keep your eyes on the road where they belong, even when the trip is taking longer than you’d expect.
Stop navigation
Getting out of navigation requires you to press the ‘x’ button on the top right of the directions. I’ve had it misclick more than once, and move the map instead of closing out the navigation, so it’s not out of the ordinary to want to avoid that issue. If you use the voice command “Stop navigation,” it will end your route immediately, and that kind of thing is just as important as starting a route.
The moment you are actually driving in the real world, the usefulness of this command becomes very clear, especially when the address you put in is not exactly the final spot you are trying to reach. It’s very annoying to have the car trying to tell you to go somewhere else when you know you don’t need to, and this is a good way to keep your eyes on the road when in a parking lot, or somewhere you need to pay attention.
Show me alternate routes
Waze gives you a lot more options on your route than an app like Google Maps, and I’ve sometimes seen three different routes when starting. The voice command “Show me alternate routes” is great when you’re coming across a hazard, police, construction, or other reasons that will keep you from following the set route.
You can do it more than once if you decide to change your mind again, but it’s much faster than just doing it yourself. If you change routes without confirming it, the app will try to get you back to the direction you are already taking before giving you a new one, so this may be a faster way to use a different route.
Waze is more than a map system; it’s a way to make your car much smarter and helpful. It gives you control during those tricky moments of a trip, which makes it such a great app for travel.
At the end of the day, all these hands-free commands are made to keep your eyes on the road, which is the most important thing to do while driving. If you can learn even a few of them, you’ll likely keep yourself from an accident or worse out on the road.
