According to reports, Apple is bringing accident reporting to its map App. In addition to that, the company is also incorporating hazards and speed checks. This feature is currently available only on the iOS 14.5 beta.
The Apple iOS 14.4 beta brought a number of considerable changes to the OS. It included one of the most important security fixes by Apple in recent times. With the new user reporting feature, the company has expanded the scope of the current iOS 14.5 beta.
Reports state that Siri is seamlessly integrated into this update. At the beginning of any trip, Siri reminds users that they can now report accidents and hazards.
Users can report an incident by swiping up from the bottom tray. The report button lets one choose from the three options: accident, hazard, and speed check that he wants to report.
According to MacRumors, the option also works on CarPlay. Users can simply interact with Siri without having to report manually.
Accident Reporting has been available in Google maps since April 2019. This user-dependent feature was first launched by popular maps app Waze. Since then almost every significant map app incorporates this feature to ease the commute.
Apple was a little late to catch-up. However, it seems like the company is finally beginning to understand the necessity.
A Reddit user was seen posting about the difficulty he faced while using this feature. By that report, it seems like this update comes on a rolling basis. It should be a while for this to be a usable feature on every Apple device with the latest beta.
Limitations when compared with Google
Apple’s version still has a limited number of options when compared to Google. Google lets users report constructions, road-blocks, lane closure, etc. which gives users a detailed picture of what they might deal with. This is something Apple needs to consider changing with further updates to the app.