Traffic Reports and Road Hazards
One of the main benefits of Waze is that it has a huge community and fanbase that’s constantly reporting information into the app. While Apple Maps and Google Maps also crowdsource traffic data, they do this automatically behind the scenes — every iPhone and Android device is reporting data back to its respective mothership whenever it’s on the move. Waze, on the other hand, allows its users to actively report specific road hazards and other information, and this gets posted in real-time so every other Waze user can immediately see it. It’s basically one big online road club.
So in other words, while Apple Maps is fairly accurate at showing you where there is traffic congestion, it won’t usually tell you why, at least not unless a formal accident report has reached Apple’s servers. Waze, on the other hand, will likely have dozens of other users ahead of you who have spotted and reported the incident directly into the app, so you’ll be better-equipped to know what you’re driving into.