Update to Waze ends a “horror story” that gave some Waze users the creeps

On Dec 25, 2022

Earlier this month we told you that Google had started to combine the Google Maps and Waze teams. Google bought Waze in 2013 and continues to offer both Google Maps and Waze, each with a different user experience. Google Maps has spread its wings and no longer simply gives you turn-by-turn directions showing you how to safely get from point “A” to point “B.” Maps will now tell you where to go when you get to “B, where to dine, where to stay, and what to see.

Google Maps also helps those walking between places, riding a bike, taking a bus or train, and more.

Waze still concentrates on the whole crowdsourced navigation bit and users are part of a giant community that reports accidents, police activity, detours, and anything else that drivers need to know about. Sure, Google Maps allows users to report certain issues too, but Waze makes it easier for drivers by taking the crowdsourced info and using it to suggest alternative routes so that the user can get to his destination in a timely and safe manner.

Waze subscribers have recently found themselves creeped out by one of the voices that give users verbal directions

But recently Waze users have been getting creeped out by the voice option known as Jane. According to posts on Reddit, Jane’s mood changes on the iPhone and CarPlay about halfway through a Waze user’s journey. A Reddit subscriber with the handle bgj48 wrote, “Abruptly, the navigation voice will switch (for example) ‘turn left on’ will be a very creepy voice then go back to the preset voice. Anyone else?! So weird!!”

Update stops Jane from turning creepy halfway through your journey

A Waze user on Reddit responded by writing, “Yes, I noticed this a few days ago as well. She sounds like she’s been on a three-day bender with no sleep.” Another Waze user said, “It’s bad and very random. Freaked my wife out a bit,” and yet another Waze user posted on Reddit, “This! I was on a long drive back from Montreal to Ohio last weekend when we noticed it as well.”

Note that the voice named Jane seems to be the only one that is scaring Waze users in the middle of their drives. If you’re curious to check out Jane in action or want to switch to another voice, open the Waze app and tap on the speaker icon at the bottom right corner of the screen. Tap on Waze voice and select the voice you want to use. You can even choose to hear directions in your own voice!

Google’s update for Waze puts Jane on a more even, stable keel

There is some good news to report about this freaky Waze bug. Google released an update to Waze 4.90 for the iPhone that improves Jane’s moods so that she no longer sounds so strange. To see if you have the update, open the Waze app on your iPhone and go to Settings. Scroll down to About, tap on it, and you’ll see the Release number in the top section of the page.

To see if the update has arrived, open the App Store and tap the round icon in the upper right with your initials. Scroll down and you’ll see all of the apps that are in queue for an update. The fastest way to tale care of multiple updates is to press the blue “Update All” link. Before you do that though, you might want to scroll through the list to see whether you have received an update for Waze.

If you’ve always wanted to give Waze a chance, you can install it for your iPhone from the App Store or for your Android handset from the Google Play Store. And as long as you’re running version 4.90 or higher of Waze on your iPhone, Jane will never scare you again.

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