Apple Maps Adds Waze-Like Features in iOS 14.5 for Crowdsourcing Accidents, Speed Traps and Hazards

Apple Maps is getting Google and Waze-like accident reporting. Apple is bringing accident, hazard, and speed check reporting to Apple Maps. The feature is recently available to users with the iOS 14.5 beta and is similar to user-reporting features found in Waze and Google Maps.

When you input an address, select a route, and then choose “Go,” Siri lets you know that you can report accidents or hazards that you see along the way.

If you swipe up on the ‌Apple Maps‌ interface where map details are available, you can tap on a “Report” button that lets you flag an accident, a hazard, or a speed check, similar to other mapping apps like Waze. Tapping automatically symbolizes your location with no confirmation window, so it shouldn’t be used except in a valid situation.

You can also say “Hey ‌Siri‌, there’s an accident” and ‌Siri‌ will send in a report to ‌Apple Maps‌, and presumably, if enough people file reports, an accident site will show up in the Maps app through the crowdsourcing. This is available in the United States in a test capacity at the present time, and it’s not yet clear if it’s also working up in other countries.

This user-centric reporting feature is now something that all the major map apps either have or have in development. While this feature was popularized with Waze, it’s been available in Google Maps since April of 2019, so Apple is playing catch-up here (like it’s also trying to do by adding user-generated photos and reviews to Maps). It is worth noting, though, that Apple’s version has way fewer options as of today — Google’s, shown below, is much more in-depth.

Apple Maps Download

Apple Maps on Chrome