The Waze alerts on Google Maps are just another harrowing reminder of our eventual foray into a buttonless future.

Way back in 2013, Google acquired the map startup Waze. Fast forward just 11 years and one of Waze's stand-out features is finally being rolled out to Google Maps. As first noticed by 9to5Google, users are reporting that community reports from Waze are starting to roll out within Google Maps as well.

Google Maps and Waze are making good on updates that were promised back in July. The services, both owned by Alphabet, are offering more information to drivers about traffic cameras, car crashes and speed traps that users on both apps can report or respond to.

Waze police reports landed in Google Maps on mobile devices earlier this week; the same feature is now live on Android Auto

Conversely, Waze, which focuses on detailed traffic conditions and has 151 million users as of late 2022, gains greater visibility through Google Maps’ broader reach. For users, this collaboration is already evident.

Google acquired Waze more than a decade ago, and it is finally leveraging one of Waze's most popular tools. Drivers using Google Maps in Android Auto will begin to see reporting data from Waze users. The ability to see reports from other drivers has always been one of the biggest appeals of Waze, after all.

The feature was promised back in July. Google promised to incorporate Waze data into Maps in July, over a decade after Mountain View acquired

Waze incident alerts, like police presence warnings, are showing up on Google Maps, with a clear note that they came from Waze users. Users can confirm or dismiss these alerts, which pop up briefly to keep the map clean. The feature is still rolling out slowly, with only a few users noticing it, and its regional availability is unclear.

The ability to report incidents is what made Waze popular in the first place, and while Maps has had this feature for a few years now, the Maps version isn't anywhere near as robust. As a result, Waze has developed a large number of dedicated users that take the time to report incidents.

Google Maps is now starting to show Waze incident reports while you navigate and includes the ability to contribute by confirming road conditions in the app via prompts. Google announced in July that both apps would cross-pollinate more data,

Google has started integrating Waze’s crowdsourced incident reports into Google Maps, starting with police alerts.