Waze Android App Adds Roadside Assistance From Other Users

Waze has long allowed its users to help other users by providing them with a way to add alerts about police cars and crashes, and now it is expanding on that functionality. The company has pushed out an update that brings a new roadside assistance request feature. Unlike other roadside assistance apps, though, this one depends on other Waze users being generous enough to stop and help.

The new feature has appeared via the latest Waze update for Android, which was released today. The iOS version of the Waze app hasn't been updated since late last month, though an update may be inbound soon. According to the app's changelog, the Android version now features a 'Roadside help' button that allows Waze users to alert other nearby Wazers that they're in need of help.

Waze hasn't specifically addressed this feature, and so it isn't clear exactly how it works. Presumably users will be at the mercy of whether others nearby are interested in stopping to help, but it does add a new layer of functionality and potential protections while driving. When the same functionality will make its way to the iPhone app isn't known.

This marks the latest expansion of the popular transportation app, one that has been increasingly dabbling in a sort of ridesharing functionality that allows some Waze users to give other users a lift. The feature isn't meant to compete with Uber and similar, but instead provides just enough cash to help drivers cover the cost of their gas, making it an appealing way to cut down on transportation costs while helping someone out.

SOURCE: Google Play