iOS 14.5, introduced new Waze-like features in Maps

Apple is looking to enhance its Maps service with new crowdsourced information that alerts users to accidents, speed cameras and road hazards.

The beta version of iOS 14.5, available to developers and public beta testers, adds a new feature to Apple Maps that allows us to report incidents, hazards and speed cameras along the route when we get directions.

When we select a route and then click on “Go”, Siri will tell us that we can report accidents or dangers we encounter along the way.

If we scroll up in Apple Maps where map details are available, we can click on the new “Report” button which allows us to report an accident, hazard or speed camera, similar to Waze.

We can also use voice commands to report an accident. We can say, for example, “Hey ‌Siri‌, there is an accident” and ‌Siri‌ will send a report to ‌Apple Maps‌ and presumably, if enough people send reports, the point of the accident will be displayed in Maps thanks to crowdsourcing.

The new function is also available via the CarPlay interface:

Siri‌ will inform us about the new incident reporting feature the first time we look for directions after updating to iOS 14.5.