Waze App Now Offers ‘Planned Drives’ to Take the Anxiety Out of Making it to Appointments

If you’ve ever fretted over making it to the big meeting on time, or missing your upcoming doctor’s appointment, Waze has some great news for you. The popular social-powered navigation app has released version 4.3, which adds a new feature called “Planned Drives.”

“Now you’ll always know when to go! Enter the time and date you need to arrive and Waze will recommend the best time to leave. You’ll also receive a reminder closer to your event with an updated departure time based upon real-time road conditions. Just set it and forget it.”

The Planned Drives feature also makes it easier to manage your time, by scheduling to-dos, such as errands and road trips, to avoid traffic.

To use the new feature, follow these steps:

1. Open the app and enter a destination (“Menu” ->Enter address in search bar).
2. On the Waze ETA panel, click the Waze Planned Drives icon (bottom left).
3. The Waze Planned Drives screen opens and illustrates peak traffic hours along your future route, taking into account expected traffic conditions based on smart algorithms, aggregated traffic history and predictive analysis.

The new version of the app also includes some other improvements:

• The Traffic Bar now shows the reason for a jam (if one is known) like an accident or object on the road
• The app now mutes automatically during an incoming or outgoing phone call
• Bugs and stability fixes

Planned Drives launches on the iOS version of the app today, and the feature will hit Android devices in the near future.

Waze for iOS is free, and is available in the App Store. [GET IT HERE]