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Hello Again, Google Maps: Horrible Waze Experience on Android Auto and CarPlay

Let’s be honest about it: Waze is a fantastic piece of software that works a charm in 99 percent of cases. But in the remaining 1 percent, it acts up so badly that it’s nearly impossible not to think about giving up on it.
Waze on CarPlay 7 photos
Photo: autoevolution
Waze on CarPlayWaze on CarPlayWaze on CarPlayWaze on CarPlayWaze on CarPlayWaze on CarPlay
This is what’s been happening for several months on Android Auto and CarPlay.

Waze sometimes feels slow, laggy, or unresponsive on the two platforms, and users have been complaining about the whole thing on the official forums for quite some time.

In nearly every single case, Waze only behaves like this when the mobile phones are connected to the head units in the cabin, and this seems to suggest that the app isn’t playing nice with Android Auto and CarPlay.

Disconnecting the smartphone and running Waze right on the screen of the mobile device seems to be the only workaround, though more often than not, people are also planning a switch to another navigation app. At least, until a fix lands, that is.

And speaking of the switch, it turns out Google Maps is working just fine for these users on both CarPlay and Android Auto, with no freezing or lag experienced whatsoever. Again, this indicates the problem resides in Waze and the code for the support of Android Auto and CarPlay.

The Google-owned company is yet to acknowledge the problems, even though there are tens of complaints in this regard on the official forums. It remains to be seen if any fix is coming, but in the meantime, the Waze dev team has a lot of work to do anyway.

For instance, Waze doesn’t yet support Coolwalk, the highly anticipated Android Auto update that is now available for select beta testers. Coolwalk is projected to go live at some point in 2023, so the company should hurry up to make sure Waze feels like home on Android Auto.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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