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Waze’s latest update is perfect for dog and cat owners

Published Jul 1st, 2021 8:24PM EDT
Waze Cat & Dog
Image: Waze

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Waze provides one of the stand-out navigation experiences thanks to its crowd-sourced real-time information about the traffic ahead. You can use Waze as a primary navigation app, or it can act as the go-to app for heavy traffic. You won’t be sorry to have Waze installed on your Android or iOS phone in either case. But the company wants to bring some fun on the road, as Waze has just launched a Cat & Dog theme that will surely start have everyone in the car talking.

The limited-time navigation experience will let you pick your favorite: Cat or Dog. You’ll be treated to new voices, car icons, and driving directions all themed around your favorite animal.

You might be a cat person or a dog person in real life. But that might not matter with the Waze Cat & Dog theme. You’ll want to try both of them to see which one makes driving with Waze more fun:

From today for a limited time, drivers can choose between two navigation voices designed to personify our beloved household pets. Users who want to hang out with a dog that’s feeling upbeat, excited, but with a tendency to get distracted or a cat that’s feeling skeptical, irreverent and a little neurotic can now do so by activating this theme!

How to enable the Waze Cat & Dog theme

Waze launched the new Cat & Dog theme feature for both Android and iPhone, where it’ll be available for a limited time in English, French, and Spanish.

Waze
Animation shows how to set up Waze’s new Cat & Dog theme. Image source: Waze

“We’re so excited to bring Waze’s very own Cat & Dog theme to our users around the world,” Waze’s Head of Brand Programs Erin Bellsey said. “People often define themselves as a cat or dog person, so we wanted to put this to the test and see which moods and personality traits our drivers choose to embody. Our creative team had a blast concepting this, and we can’t wait to see which furry friend our users identify with most!”

To start, head to the brand new “Cat person or dog person?” option in the Search menu, as seen in the animation above. Tap the question, and you’ll be able to customize three aspects of the Waze navigation.

The Moods section lets you switch between cat and dog, the Car section lets you change the car on the map to a Meow Mobile or Woof Wagon, and the Voice menu lets you switch between the cat and the dog voices and personalities.

Waze
New Waze Cat & Dog theme: Car icons. Image source: Waze

The feature might be a hilarious way to improve your navigation experience this summer as you explore possible vacation destinations. Waze’s Cat & Dog theme might work well with children in the car, although the novelty might wear off quickly the more miles you put behind you.

It’s unclear how long the Waze Cat & Dog theme experiment will last, but Waze’s announcement implies it will not be a permanent feature.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2007. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he closely follows the events in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming new movies and TV shows, or training to run his next marathon.