How to make an app like Waze in 2025?

Whenever you need to go to a new place, you probably pick up your smartphone and look for directions on your preferred navigation app. It has become such a natural response to the situation that you don’t even need to think twice about it. These navigation apps are perfect for finding the best routes to the destination, taking into account the information about traffic, road blockages, weather, and more.

It is a little easier to understand the scope and potential of the navigation apps market when you know that it is estimated that total revenue would rise at an average of 8.56% annually (CAGR 2022-2029), with a predicted market volume of US$2.50 billion by 2029. That figure is motivation enough to get many entrepreneurial minds asking - how to build a navigation app.

If you are not tech-savvy, it can be unnerving to build an app from scratch. Creating an app from scratch requires deep tech know-how and a lot of time and financial investment. However, it is possible to save time and money and still build the perfect navigation app. Appy Pie’s navigation app builder lets you make a Waze-like app in just a few minutes!

What is Waze?

Waze is a GPS navigation app that is set apart from the rest of the navigation apps due to its advanced features. The app is second only to Google Maps in its popularity. The app gives you accurate information about the state of the roads, including information about road accidents.

By the end of 2020, the app had 130 million monthly active users.

The app lets users add information to the app in real-time. The app takes into account all this information while devising a route, and this is why the app is particularly popular among taxi services.

Top features you must add to an app like Waze

Waze is more than just a run-of-the-mill navigation app. The app is particularly popular due to the advanced features it offers to the users. Hence, if you plan to build a navigation app like Waze, here is a list of features you must include in your app.

1. Authorization and user profiles

To start using the app, the users first need to register and create a user profile. Creating these user profiles lets the app users contribute to the app by entering real-time information about a particular route. This creates among users a connection with the app or the service they are using.

2. Geolocation and navigation

This is the most critical feature for a navigation app like Waze. The combination of GPS and Cell ID makes it possible for the users to find accurate directions from point A to B. Using the geolocation and navigation feature, app users would be able to find traffic information, best routes, and the quickest ways to reach their destination while avoiding road blockages.

3. Voice prompts

When you are driving, you can’t possibly be looking at the phone screen for every turn you need to take. This is where the voice prompts gain importance. You can choose a voice to guide you through the directions so that you can reach your destination safe and sound without having to check the screen for directions at every turn.

4. Route change

There will always be some unpredictable instances like road repairs, accidents, traffic, and more. In such situations, the app should be able to provide an alternative route. The process of rerouting needs to be quick without making the person behind the wheel wait for long and holding up the traffic.

5. Social media integration

Social media integration is a great way to authenticate users for your navigation app. It will also help you as the app owner in serving better, more relevant ads to the app users so that the experience does not seem disruptive to them.

6. Communication

Communication makes everything better. Adding push notifications can help you communicate directly with hundreds, even thousands, of your app users with just a click. You can even segment your app users into groups and send targeted push notifications to make communication more valuable. Additionally, the app should also let your app users reach out to you and the customer support team easily.

7. Payment

You can add paid features to your free app, provide cashback, promote coupons, and more to keep users coming back to your app again and again. You could include a wallet and payment gateways to give more options to your app users.

How to make an app like Waze?

If you have reached this part of the blog, you have a lot of answers like what is the Waze app and what are the must-have features to add to your app if you want to build an app like Waze. Now is the time to ask and answer the most critical question - how to create an app like Waze?

It may seem intimidating to the point of seeming unrealistic to build an app from scratch. You know what? You don’t have to. You can simply go to Appy Pie’s no-code app builder and create an app like Waze in minutes without coding.

1. Enter the name of your app

Choose an appropriate app category, select a design theme, and add your brand logo to make the app truly your own.

2. Add the right features to your navigation app

Drag and drop all the right features to your navigation app without any coding. You can edit your app to your liking.

3. Test and go live!

Once you are happy with how your app looks and works, you can test it on real devices. That’s it! You are ready to go live on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.