Apple files patent for Waze-like navigation system

A patent filed at the US Patent and Trademark Office has suggested that Apple seems to be developing an application that will crowd-source traffic data to give users directions and real time notifications.

The patent discovered by Apple Insider shows that the application will generate custom routing information, crowd-sourced by users themselves, pretty much like the Waze app. The application will work on mobile devices with GPS capabilities like the iPhone and iPad.

The application will put the power right back into the hands of the users. They will be able to add real-time notifications while passing by an area to let other users know if the traffic is bad or there’s been an accident on a route. Users who are using that particular route will then be given these notifications.

Patent images for the app

The app will have an inbuilt system that will let users assign a number rating to a route that they’ve just travelled on. This rating will be sent to a central navigation system that will generate separate routes for other users based on it. Users will also be able to select routes to navigate upon based on criteria like scenic routes, avoiding highway, tolls etc.

The patent was filed on December 28, 2011 and credits Jorge S. Fino from San Jose as its inventor.

This patent by Apple bears some heavy-duty similarity to Waze, the Israeli start-up that was scooped up by Google last month. The app that cost Google about $1.3 billion too has its focus on traffic and user-sourced data. Waze uses satellite signals from members’ smartphones to generate maps and traffic data, which it then shares with other users, offering real-time traffic info.

In April, it was revealed that Apple was also working on a Street View-like feature for Apple Maps. A patent filed by the Cupertino-based company showed that the feature would be a navigation system based on panoramic location data.

Features like Street View and traffic data will only go on to bolster Apple maps better onto iDevices. The maps application has found less than enthusiastic response ever since it was launched with iOS 6 last year as a replacement for Google Maps. The service, riddled with glitches, had earned the ire of users for showing inaccurate data and also cost the head of Maps, Richard Williamson, his job. It looks like the wind of change is blowing in Cupertino as far as Apple Maps are concerned.

(Cover image credit: Getty Images)