Waze Adds Long-Awaited Traffic Light Icons to Maps

Waze is gradually rolling out a feature that displays traffic light icons on its navigation map. This update has been spotted by some users, finally delivering a visual improvement that has been requested for years.

Feature Overview

The newly added feature shows traffic lights along a driving route as icons on the map. According to Android Police, the feature was first reported on Reddit and later picked up by 9to5Google, bringing it to wider attention. Although Waze has not made an official announcement, the change appears to be enabled server-side in a phased manner.

Competitor Google Maps already offers traffic light indicators as a standard feature. Until now, Waze did not explicitly show traffic light locations, forcing users to infer their presence from intersection shapes and road information. With this addition, users can visually check for traffic signals when choosing a route.

Rollout Status and How to Use

At this point, the feature is not available to all users. While some reports emerged several months ago, the recent Reddit post seems to have accelerated its spread. Waze users are advised to update their app to the latest version and check if traffic light icons appear on the map. If they don’t, users will need to wait for the ongoing gradual rollout.

Waze is a navigation app known for its community-based traffic information. Users report accidents, speed traps, road construction, and other events, sharing them in real time. This traffic light feature expands static map data, which differs in nature from Waze’s crowdsourcing model. It is not clear whether the traffic light data comes from Waze’s own database or if it borrows from Google’s map data.

Waze’s Position and Competitive Comparison

Although Waze is owned by Google, it takes a different approach from Google Maps. Its simple interface and focus on navigation are praised by users. On the other hand, some point out that it lacks offline map support and offers too few features.

Adding traffic light indicators shows that Waze values “small details.” In recent years, Google Maps has become highly multifunctional, with features like restaurant busyness, indoor maps, and AR navigation. Waze sticks to information essential for driving and maintains an intuitive user experience.

However, traffic light indicators are not a must-have for Waze. Rather, some may view this as simply catching up with a feature that competitors already offer. Waze’s core value—its user reporting system and route optimization quality—remains critical.

Editorial Opinion

The short-term impact of this update on Waze’s user experience is likely limited. Traffic signal presence is already indirectly conveyed through voice guidance during navigation, so a visual addition does not fundamentally change the quality of directions. Yet, the implementation of a long-requested feature is positive, especially for those considering a switch from other services. Over a 3-to-6-month timeframe, it will be worth watching how much this feature helps Waze attract users from Google Maps.

From a long-term perspective, this could reignite discussions about integrating Waze and Google Maps. Both apps belong to Google but have maintained separate branding and feature sets. Each time a feature available in one is added to the other, the overlap increases. Over a 1-to-3-year span, a turning point may come where Waze either remains an independent product or is absorbed as a sub-feature of Google Maps. While Google still has strategic reasons to maintain both, the cost-effectiveness of doing so will face increasing scrutiny.

From the editorial standpoint, a key issue is whether this update stays within Waze’s identity of “navigation-focused simplicity” without undermining it. Balancing new features with simplicity is core to Waze’s ability to keep winning users. Traffic light icons do not disrupt that balance, but if many more features are added in the future, the lightweight feel that made Waze appealing could be lost. We recommend readers evaluate Waze’s direction in light of their own use cases.

References

• Waze is finally getting a visual upgrade people have been asking for - Android Police (2026-06-11)