autoevolution
 

These Waze Issues on CarPlay Make the Switch to Android Auto Really Tempting

Waze is, at least in theory, a super-useful application that’s supposed to help you get around traffic jams and find a faster route to a specific destination.
Waze on CarPlay with the current speed indicator partially outside the screen 3 photos
Photo: autoevolution
Waze bugs on CarPlayWaze bugs on CarPlay
And in most cases, this really works, though as many people found out the hard way, Waze continues to provide the best experience on mobile phones directly. Because otherwise, the app can sometimes become quite a nightmare on Android Auto and CarPlay due to all kinds of reasons.

As far as CarPlay is concerned, the experience with Waze has slowly but surely been going from bad to worse lately, as the application has gradually become more unstable and less reliable than ever before.

And one of the bugs that I’ve been struggling with lately shows that using Waze on CarPlay has turned into quite a challenge and maybe a switch to Android Auto makes more sense.

In my car, which features a factory-installed Android Auto and CarPlay compatible head unit, Waze never loads correctly on the first run. Every time I connect my iPhone to the car and launch Waze, the app doesn’t load the map, leaving me with a blank screen.

Furthermore, it often fails to log in me on the first launch, so instead of using my account, it actually launches the app without me signed in. Manually shutting down the app on my iPhone and then launching it again on CarPlay sometimes (but not always) brings things back to normal.

Waze bugs on CarPlay
Photo: autoevolution
Then, there are moments when I’m prompted to “setup Waze on the phone to continue” all of a sudden, without me changing anything and without any recent update installed on the iPhone. What’s worse is that Waze is running properly on the phone during this whole time, and there’s no setup that I need to complete to get it up and running on CarPlay. So the message just goes away randomly, with Waze then running properly.

And last but not least, as if the struggle detailed above wasn’t enough, the current speed indicator sometimes moves to the top right side of the screen, in such a way that it’s partly “outside” the display. When this happens, Waze no longer displays any navigation instructions, and while it still follows me on the map, I don’t see any new directions on the screen.

Unfortunately, the recent Waze updates didn’t improve the experience on CarPlay in any way, and the team in charge of the app has so far remained entirely tight-lipped, so nobody knows exactly what they’re currently working on and whether they’re planning some updates to resolve these issues.

In the meantime, Apple is slowly turning Apple Maps into what many believe could be a Waze rival, and this can only be good news for everyone in the long term. Including Waze itself.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
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.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories