By Anu Joy
Publication Date: 2026-08-07 12:00:00
When Google acquired Waze in 2013, many assumed the two navigation apps would eventually become one. More than a decade later, they remain separate, even though they have become increasingly similar.
Google Maps has adopted several features that made Waze popular, while Waze has borrowed ideas from Google’s mapping expertise and broader ecosystem.
The result is two apps that overlap more than ever before. Both can navigate you around traffic, suggest alternate routes, warn you about road hazards, and estimate arrival times with impressive accuracy.
Yet despite years of borrowing from each other, neither app has become the obvious choice for every driver.
