Six Apps You Desperately Need to Beat Traffic
Jeff Jablansky
There’s nothing fun about playing in traffic. You likely learned that at a young age. The era of the smartphone has ushered in personal navigation assistance to lessen the burden of traffic jams, and it's likely that the phone in your pocket is a better navigation system than the unit aging quietly in your car. Most modern navigation apps can alert you of radar traps, speed cameras, and tolls as well as send an ETA to a friend, but some are even more functional than others. While you can't make traffic disappear on your own, here are a few of our favorite apps for beating it.
This content is part of The Genesis of Personal Discovery.
This content is part of The Genesis of Personal Discovery.
Waze
The gold standard of traffic-avoidance apps for iOS and Android phones also carries no price tag for end users. You've probably heard of Waze by now, and it's critical that you add it to your arsenal of congestion-avoidance technology. In essence, Waze relies on data gathered from its network of users—in addition to live traffic data—to inform you which roads are flowing smoothly.
Inrix
Before there was Waze, there was Inrix Traffic Maps, an app that upped the ante in real-time traffic avoidance. Now updated from a clunky user interface to one that integrates Apple Maps, Inrix is a true contender to Waze. The major benefits to Inrix are its easy-to-use interface and regularly updated travel times. Like Waze, Inrix learns from users' data to help smooth out traffic. Need to arrive at a destination at a particular time, and want to know when to set out? Set it in Inrix, and drive with assurance.
Genesis Connected Services
So you want to outmaneuver traffic, but you don't want to rely on a bite-size screen for the most up-to-date information? Turn to the Genesis Intelligence Assistant app, a personal assistant for your car that's always at the ready, presented in gleaming color and graphics on a 12.3-inch wide-screen display. Standard on all Genesis models, the Genesis Intelligence Assistant app goes far beyond what an app can offer. Whether you're looking for a coffee shop or a quick getaway, integrated Google search offers up answers instantaneously. And with a standard subscription to SiriusXM Traffic and Data Services, you never again have a reason to be lost or late.
MapQuest
Brands come and go in the world of navigation software, and MapQuest has been around since the days of searching online and printing directions ahead of setting out for a journey. Today, the MapQuest app is relatively easy to use, delivering options for travel by car, public transit, private ride share, or walking—closer to what Google and Apple provide. Admittedly, the map's contrasting shades of gray aren't the easiest to follow from a quick glance down to the cupholder where the phone is stored, but ETAs are relatively accurate, and the readability of the display—while in motion—is clear.
Sygic
Sygic counts 150 million drivers among those using its map software for 200 countries, but it's not the most prolific app in the United States. Sygic uses a proprietary interface to guide you through traffic, as opposed to Google or Apple's maps, and the experience is more like that of an in-dash navigation system. Sygic's party trick is the ability to mirror the screen at night, or general darkness, onto your windshield, in case your car is without a built-in head-up display. (Harder is keeping the phone still while you carve through corners on your favorite back road.) You'll have to shell out $24.99 for Sygic Premium or a fiver more for "lifetime" traffic updates, but the HUD trick alone could be worth it.
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