It was only yesterday that reports were coming in that Google had announced the popular traffic monitoring app Waze could be used by manufacturers as a default app. This meant that it could be installed on devices as ‘bloatware’ and offered to customers as an out-of-the-box app. It was unclear as to what the motives were behind such a move and especially when there have been issues for both local police authorities and residents in certain areas over the app. That said, Waze was picked up back in 2013 by Google and as such, this might be just the latest step in bringing the app more in line with the other Google apps and services like Gmail, Maps and so on.
However, an announcement by Waze today might provide a bit more insight into the decision. Waze announced today on their blog (source link below) that the app will from today include Amber Alerts sent out by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children agency. These alerts will be integrated into the app and displayed whenever a child is reported as missing, alerting drivers of the situation. According to the blog, Waze will scan the U.S. for alerts every ten minutes. If one is noted as relative to your area, then it will be displayed on your Waze app page. If you are worried about having to receive such announcements while you are actually driving, then the blog also announced that the alerts will only display in ‘Wazers’ vehicles once the vehicle has stopped for at least 10 second. Not to mention, that the alert will only display once per week, per alert.
It is probably also worth pointing out that the announcement advises alerts won’t just be a minor alert but might also include photos of the missing children, information on the vehicle, model, licence plate number and so on. There will also be the ability to click ‘more information’ which will open a web page with the relevant Amber Alert information. So what do you think? Is this a good move by Wave? Let us know your thoughts.