All set. Let’s go! Turn right, you say.
Waze, the popular navigation app owned by Google, added a cool new feature Monday for users of Apple iPhones, the ability to ditch the standard navigation with your own voice, in a new Voice Recorder.
Consider it a new twist on the Selfie. But instead of taking a photo of yourself, instead show off your vocal chords.
The Waze app, which has featured celebrity voices like Stephen Colbert, Keith Morrison, Mr. T. and Morgan Freeman, first introduced the recorder in the Android app in May.
To use it, update the app first at the Apple (or Google) App Store, then go to Settings and click on the Voice Recorder.
From there, you’ll get a set of nearly 40 prompts to set it up before you can begin motoring.
You click on each tab (“Start driving,” “In 0.1 miles” “in a quarter of a mile”) and record your rendition, with 6 seconds to finish. Once you’ve gotten to the last one –“You’ve arrived,” you’re done, and ready to drive.
In the car, you’ll hear yourself alerting about accidents or hazards reported ahead and that you should take the first exit or a u-turn. You are also given the option to share your directions with other Waze users.
If you don’t like the sound of your voice, Waze offers seven different takes on U.S. English (from Amy, Nathan, Randy and others) U.K. English (Kate, Thomas, Simon) and many other languages, including German, Spanish, French, Italian and Russian.
TalkingTech tested out the feature Monday, and spent a little too much time trying to be silly during the recording. (“I said, turn right, okay?”)
It was fun while recording, but in playing it back, street after street, the attempt to be funny got old really fast.
So it’s back to straight English Nathan for us.
