Adam Birney / Android Authority
TL;DR
- An Android Auto user reports they now have the incident reporting feature in Google Maps.
- The feature sits underneath the icons for Settings, audio guidance, and compass.
- Users will be able to report incidents like crashes, slowdowns, construction, lane closures, and more.
Incident reports are one of the more handy features that Google Maps offers. However, the ability to make new reports has been sorely missing from the Android Auto version of the app. A revamped version of the incident reporting system is supposed to be coming to Android Auto at some point, but the full rollout has yet to happen. As we wait for the wide release, the feature has reportedly made it onto the app for at least one Android Auto user.
Just for context, the incident report feature is a tool that relies on crowdsourced data. The Google Maps community can report on anything that gets in the way between them and their destination such as crashes, hazards, speed checks, and so on. This is helpful as it gives other drivers a heads-up to avoid or prepare for these obstructions.
Although Google announced that a rollout for the revamped incident reporting system would come to Android Auto in the US, almost no one is seeing the functionality live. However, it appears that the feature has been rolled out for at least one person on Reddit, giving us a look at how it will work.
The Redditor shared a picture of the feature live in their vehicle. Based on the image, it seems incident reporting appears as a yellow triangle with a plus symbol in the middle. This icon sits underneath the icons for Settings, audio guidance, and compass.
If you tap on the icon, it will bring up an “Add a report” menu with options for reporting crashes, slowdowns, construction, lane closures, and more. The other options aren’t visible in the image, but it’s likely the rest of the list includes stalled vehicle, object on road, and speed trap, as those options are available in the mobile app.
It’s still unclear when the feature will become widely available. But when it does, there’s a good chance more people will start reporting incidents, which would improve the usefulness of incident reports.
