January 2021
Hello Communities!
It's time for a special End-of-Year newsletter!
2020 was full of challenges and thanks to YOU - it was also full of great accomplishments! Thank you for a great year together. Happy Holidays and a happy new year!
Waze Communities Team.
Look at Everything the Community Accomplished in 2020!
2020 was an eventful year. It definitely was :) Surprising, full of uncertainties, but looking back at everything the Waze Communities did in 2020 is absolutely inspiring!
Here are some of the amazing things YOU did:
Mapped Railroad crossings, Lanes and other features in 30+ countries!
Responded to COVID-19 regulation by isolating cities, mapping testing and medical centers in 60+ countries!
Participated in Mega, Local and Regional Online Meetups, Office Hours sessions, several Waze Cafes and a few face to face Meetups right before COVID-19 broke out :)
Held 70+ Raids for Falcon, Small & Medium-Businesses and ongoing Map updates!
Took on new community roles, like Boosters, refreshed all brand icons and appeared on the news a lot!
WOW! If you did all that in a strange year like 2020, just imagine what this unstoppable community can do in 2021! Here's to an AWESOME 2021 together!
Kick off 2021 with Waze Management!
On January 10, you'll get a chance to hear directly from Waze Leaders in a special Management Q&A Office Hours session! Our senior management will summarize 2020 and answer your questions.
CLICK HERE to sign up and hear directly from:
Noam Bardin - Chief Wazer, Waze CEO
Gai Berkovich - Waze COO
Hila Roth - Head of Waze Communities
CarPlay and Android Auto Upgrades
Thanks to our helpful Beta testers, both in-car systems have recently enjoyed a significant upgrade: Waze is now available on Carplay Dashboard for iOS, and an improved design was released for Android Auto!
The Carplay Dashboard is a split layout screen where half of the screen is for the map and the other half is split for navigation instructions, search and media.
Android Auto's improved design places the map back at the center of the experience, including fun changes like the ETA bar separated from the instructions bar.
Share Location from WME and More!
The latest Waze Map Editor version contains many exciting updates, like the ability to share a segment's permalink and coordinates in a single click! Read all about it in this forum post.
You're famous!
Our dear Editors community is so helpful, that you made it to this blog post, this Facebook clip and Hila Roth, the Communities Group manager, was interviewed for CNN Philippines to speak about your contributions!
Also, community members and leaders from Portugal were recently featured in a primetime news item!
Our stars explained about Waze, the community, the fascinating features they mapped and their collaborations with city officials. Watch it here (in Portuguese).
Meet a Top Contributor - Tamás from Hungary
Tamás from Hungary, AKA Szili17, has been using Waze since 2015, after hearing his brother talk about a "cool navigation app".
Tamás wasn't driving at the time, and was editing his small area. He says he got a warm welcome from
the Hungarian community and was able to master WME thanks to Wazeopedia and his friend, Szikra.
Tamás gradually started helping other editors and have since then become a Global Champ, Localizer, and Beta Leader.
Tamás's tip to new editors: "I know it's not easy at the beginning but hang tight you'll get hooked if you are willing to learn the ins and outs".
In Honor of our Departed Friends
During 2020, several cherished members of the Waze Editors community passed away. We'd like to pay our respects to them all, as we're thankful they made the community a big part of their lives and contributed to it so greatly.
We have recently said farewell to Martin Ugahary from Indonesia, AKA kukimonsta, A. J. Ross from Australia, AKA Ituajr, Nelson Ramos from Brazil AKA Nelramos, Alexander Vorobyov from Belarus, AKA Alexash and Jens Zuehlsdorf from Germany, AKA TSD66. All were pillars of their communities and dear friends to us all. May they rest in peace.
Toll Restrictions Launched in the Philippines
The first Toll Restrictions were recently launched in the Philippines!
Starting December 2020, some toll roads in the Philippines require special passes which come in the form of RFID stickers. Thanks to the local community, this feature was launched so that Wazers could enter their passes in the app, and be routed accordingly.
We want to hear from you :)
Share your community's story, be featured in an upcoming newsletter or tell us what you think about this newsletter in this form!