what3words Reviews 289

A good idea, but not really well constructed. Using 3 words is unweildy and can easily be mis-said or spelt. Too many similar words. 3 numbers would be much simpler. Also, it doesn't work indoors.
A nice, fun gimmick, but I would warn emergency services from depending on it 100%.

I am complaining about the advert showing the old couple stealing the young boys parcels. Not a good choice for an advert promoting stealing parcels. My son said I thought it was against the law to steal parcels will they be arrested . That’s from a 10 year old

As a delivery driver if only everyone with house name used this would be so much easier

Points to the wrong house and some delivery drivers seem to believe it.
EDIT: Great communications from what3words helped me fix this problem by suggesting an edit on Google maps. This has been sucessful.

My daughter was involved in a car accident recently where a friends car left the road. They had no idea where they were as their satnav had taken them on a cycle path. She gave me the w3w address and it led me straight to her. Also used it when a stranger collapsed in the middle of a park. Fantastic app!

This really is a strange and frankly pointless app. Oversold and under delivered, it's like a map without the accuracy. A smart gimmick at best, but not a reliable way finder at all.

UPDATE: thanks W3W but your suggestion we used the wrong address makes no sense. We found (and just rechecked) our W3W address on your website using a desktop computer. Just asked the same friends to find W3W a...c...s... on their W3W mobile App. It's our front entrance... Maybe the W3W app only works in fine weather? ENDS. We gave friends clear instructions to find our house in France, but as it was dark and raining, they said they would prefer to drive to the nearest town and then use the What3Words map reference. W3W took them to a built-up area about 5 km from our rural location. They then spent a further 30 mins searching for our home, eventually resorting to Google Maps (which is what they should have used in the first place). I wrote to W3W 21 October asking for an explanation, received an auto reply, then chased them on 17 Dec. This morning (27 Dec) finally ... oh no, just another auto-reply in my inbox. Don't suppose I'll ever find out what went wrong, but I'd never trust W3W again.

Good concept in theory but doesn't solve a real-world problem. I think the money could be put to much better use!

Thought this was a great idea but once installed they put you on their spam list and send rubbish sales adverts etc with no unsubscribe option so I've uninstall Ed it and good riddance.

This is the coolest app that I have ever seen. I have sent the link to download to all my family, friends and have even called my local 911 services to make sure we all use this VERY useful tool. What if one of your family members went camping and you had them give you their 3 word location once they set up camp. Say bad weather goes through the area and they loose cell service completely. You get concerned and travel to their location. You will be able to find them within 10 ft. Of where they pitched their tent. Very cool. What if you hunt, get shot and time is of the essence, wouldn’t you like for the ambulance to make it to you in a timely manner.

Used it yesterday as we came across an injured lady in the forest. No signal on phone but Emergency no worked. W3W on my phone said we were in Oxford, at least 60 miles away. Used my friends phone instead. The paramedics wasted an hour wandering in a wood a mile and half away. In the end I cycled to them and led them to the injured lady. This is the second time it's failed in an emergency situation. The paramedics said it's a regular problem in low signal areas. Shame, the ideas good but unreliable especially in an emergency.

I love it. I have been using it for remote camp sites, safe anchorage’s & locating friends in a crowd. What’s not to love. Great idea.

installed it, gave it an address to find, it gave me 4 squares to choose from ...!!! I mean if I knew which house Im looking for, why would I want w3w ?
AND.... when I hit the navigate button, it said there was a magnetic fault... so I still had no directions..
AND I see it retains the address's under w3w, whats the point of that, a collection of words with no address attached, how do I know which was 37 Acasia Ave ?
Waze and my satnav are still the better options

ooOOoo

I’ve just seen the reply, They didn’t address the other two points I raised..... one has to wonder why...!!

I have been using this app for a while now and tried to leave a positive review before but was told it didn't meet with the rules. Really don't understand why, so thought I would try again. This app is particularly good for locating out of the way places where a postcode isn't precise enough. Love it and have never had a bad experience.

What an amazing app. A must for anyone anywhere. Great for walking in the countryside in case you have an accident.

During the pandemic my nan died, and due to travel restrictions I couldn't be at her funeral. When her ashes were scattered I was self-isolating for an operation, and so I missed that opportunity to say goodbye. My mum noted down the w3w location for me to be able to pay my respects quietly once that was done. However, what she noted down wasn't quite right and placed me a few hundred miles off the west coast of Africa. I figured I could take what she noted down and find the nearest spot with a similar w3w location given how it's supposed to be unique and words spread out. NOPE. There's no way of looking at a close map with the squares labelled. It would be easy for them to do but the company, being a for-profit company, don't want to provide such functionality as it could eat into their business model. And as a result it took me 8 months to manage to get my elderly mother and I to the rough location and try and piece together the right place from the photos she took on the day, and there's no guarantee that we found it.

The idea behind it is ok but being privately operated and a closed system with a wordlist full of homophones and plurals means that what their PR machine tries to convey is pretty far from not being able to say a final goodbye to your grandmother.

I use what3words within the products that I produce, I’m a professional landscape photographer and I share locations in calendars and books via the 3 word address so others can find the views… it proves popular and people are genuinely interested in how it works and how to find the views and go on to try the app.

Used it also to call in a woodland fire that would otherwise been hard to pinpoint at the time. All in all really useful.

Everytime I access what 3 words it shows a different 3 words for my address. Is this right?

Useless app, people have relied on it out on the fells and it's inaccuracies has literally nearly cost lives

Useless have broken down twice in the last 2 months in different vehicles. Called the Aa as a member faffing around with it on my iPhone with directions from AA advisor was in a dangerous position also and after being on the phone for 45 mins messing around trying to get the words ! I said I'm right next to Halfords on the main road you can't miss me look for the traffic !
Second time broke down on M3 motorway again phoned AA had what 3 words on my other phone gave them the location the words it said and correct spelling!
AA van went on a303 totally missing me I mean for god's sake what's the point !
When the patrol finally turned up even he said it's useless and more hassle than it's worth - why can't I just share my location with AA instead of this useless rubbish.