Apple May Be Looking to Acquire Waze to Bolster iOS Maps

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Posted January 2, 2013 at 5:55pm by Shalom Levytam

Apple is looking to acquiring Waze to bolster its Maps offering on iOS, reports TechCrunch. Waze is a community-based traffic & navigation app with 30 million users that features real-time traffic & road information.

TechCrunch believes that an acquisition of Waze would be more beneficial to Apple than the previously rumored acquisition of Foursquare.

Waze’s international use has been growing because it is genuinely useful, especially in places where Maps remain a problem, such as in Asia and the Middle East. Because Waze maps are built on the location of moving cars, it’s far more accurate than check-in apps. Outside of Google’s project to map cities with Streetview cars – something which has taken years to complete – and the real-world mapping undertaken by volunteers on the Open Streetmaps open source project, there has been little to match Waze’s approach. Waze turned mapping into not only a game, but also a way for drivers to be social, reporting road obstacles, traffic and police traps. It is properly useful.

Newsgeek, an Israeli news site, is also reporting rumors of acquisition talks and has heard that Apple placed an initial half billion dollar offer on the table.

You can download Waze from the App Store for free.

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Apple May Be Looking to Acquire Waze to Bolster iOS Maps

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They see me trollin' - January 3, 2013 at 5:51am

Waze is awesome.... Apple is going to fuck it up!

Jan - January 3, 2013 at 3:03am

Yes, a great move indeed. Then fix the battery drain for this app. Aside from the batt drain waze is brilliant with its connectivity and saved me hours every week.

Asaf - January 3, 2013 at 1:18am

This would be a great move. Waze is awesome in many countries. Much more accurate than apple maps and routes.

Wolverinemarky - January 2, 2013 at 9:18pm

I like Waze it's a cool app hope they don't mess it up or get rid of it all together if they buy it

BrawlBro1 - January 2, 2013 at 9:17pm

This is the only possibly way Apple could catch with Google Maps. Buy a couple of map applications, use their map data, and implement their features.

Michugana - January 2, 2013 at 8:13pm

I love waze. Will stop using it if apple squires them though.

sidewinder - January 2, 2013 at 9:40pm

That makes no good sense. I happen to love WAZE as well and I am fearful that apple will screw it up as well. I, however, will wait - if they aquire WAZE - to see if they screw it up before throwing it away; something I definitely would not do due to ownership.

Victor - January 2, 2013 at 7:54pm

Waze is amazing, I hope apple dont screw it up. It would definetly solve the lack of traffic information on apple maps, at least in Brazil.

dancj - January 2, 2013 at 6:57pm

I can't see the point of this. The problem with Apple Maps isn't the maps themselves - its the database p locati

dancj - January 2, 2013 at 6:58pm

Oops - the problem is the database of locations.

Ab08 - January 2, 2013 at 6:27pm

I love Waze, Apple better now mess it up. Having said that, Waze is really only good for commuting and local incident information. It lacks a lot in a GPS app: Pre defined routes, lane assist, local speed limit notification, easy access to top down area traffic map. I love it and wouldn't want to commute without it, but it really only does 1 thing well.

Briedis - January 2, 2013 at 6:07pm

Bamm!

MUKAI - January 2, 2013 at 6:05pm

It's gonna look like crap. Ill stick to google maps

BrawlBro1 - January 2, 2013 at 9:12pm

The only thing they will implement is Waze features and their map data. I highly doubt they're going to implement a ugly design like this.