Credit: Unsplash
A bit late to the party, but better late than crashed.
Much like Android phones with Google Maps, iPhones have their own built-in GPS directional service, Apple Maps. However, compared to Google Maps, Apple Maps is a bit lacking in certain features, which is why a lot of iPhone users prefer third-party mapping app Waze instead. One of the major features that both Google Maps and Waze posses that Apple Maps lacks is accident reporting, allowing users to inform each other of car accidents, speed traps, or road hazards. Luckily, while it’s a bit late, Apple will be receiving this exact feature very soon.
Accident reporting is now available in Apple Maps for users of the beta version of iOS version 14.5. For beta users, Apple Maps now has a Report button located on the bottom of the app window, through which you can report accidents, speed traps, and road hazards, just like Google Maps and Waze. If you’re in the car and don’t have a passenger to tap the screen for you (and you better not be using your phone while driving), you can make a report through Siri as well with a command to the effect of “there’s a speed trap here” or “there’s an accident here.” Any reports will be publicly posted to the app’s maps for all users to see and, hopefully, avoid.
#Apple Maps gets crowdsourced accident, speed check and hazard warnings in #iOS 14.5 beta https://t.co/0X5dErFI0h pic.twitter.com/Y4Kfbm9dHG
— AppleInsider (@appleinsider) February 9, 2021
The addition of this feature could turn some users over to Apple Maps from Waze based on convenience, though some users have noted that it’s still not as in-depth of a feature as Google Maps’, which allows users to report specific types of hazards like construction or lane closures. Still, more detailed maps are always a plus, even if they took a little while to actually get that way. It isn’t currently known when the Apple Maps update will be available outside of the iOS beta.
