Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Waze has quietly started the rollout of Coolwalk support for the Android version of the app. The navigation solution, therefore, takes full advantage of the multi-app screen on Android Auto, as it can replace Google Maps in the navigation card.
In addition to providing users with a Google Maps alternative on the new Android Auto experience, Waze also helps deal with a widespread Coolwalk problem.
Google announced this highly anticipated Android Auto redesign in January. Since then, the search giant has been using a release model that brings the update to users in waves. This approach allows the company to closely monitor the Coolwalk reliability and address potential bugs in a very early phase.
One of the glitches that somehow escaped unnoticed causes the lower part of the Coolwalk interface to freeze. The app in focus stops responding, while the taskbar becomes unavailable. As such, users can no longer interact with the running app, while tapping an icon in the status bar isn’t possible.
The glitch has become rather widespread as more users receive the new Android Auto interface. Google is already investigating reports, but a fix is yet to be released.
The release of Waze with Coolwalk support brought to light additional bug details. It turns out the freezing error is caused by some sort of compatibility issue between Google Maps and the Coolwalk design on certain head units. Users who replaced Google Maps with Waze on the dashboard screen claim the bug is gone and interacting with everything on the screen works at all times.
If you want to use Google Maps on Android Auto Coolwalk, the only workaround when the freezing occurs is to reconnect the mobile device to the media receiver in the car. Certainly, this isn’t a very convenient workaround, especially when the vehicle is in motion, but so far, no other solution appears to do the trick.
The experience with Waze on Coolwalk appears to be generally good, though it goes without saying that not everybody is a big fan of this app. Google Maps is often considered the preferred navigation app on Android (and therefore on Android Auto, too), so switching to Waze is something that many users refuse to do.
Google Maps, for example, also supports offline navigation, whereas Waze requires a permanent Internet connection for route guidance, traffic updates, and incident reporting. The only way to use Waze without a data connection is to configure the route when you are online, such as using the Wi-Fi at home before leaving the garage. However, the app wouldn’t be able to update the route and provide traffic updates. The same for alternate routes, as Waze would only offer guidance for the configured route with the data downloaded when an Internet connection was available.
Google announced this highly anticipated Android Auto redesign in January. Since then, the search giant has been using a release model that brings the update to users in waves. This approach allows the company to closely monitor the Coolwalk reliability and address potential bugs in a very early phase.
One of the glitches that somehow escaped unnoticed causes the lower part of the Coolwalk interface to freeze. The app in focus stops responding, while the taskbar becomes unavailable. As such, users can no longer interact with the running app, while tapping an icon in the status bar isn’t possible.
The glitch has become rather widespread as more users receive the new Android Auto interface. Google is already investigating reports, but a fix is yet to be released.
The release of Waze with Coolwalk support brought to light additional bug details. It turns out the freezing error is caused by some sort of compatibility issue between Google Maps and the Coolwalk design on certain head units. Users who replaced Google Maps with Waze on the dashboard screen claim the bug is gone and interacting with everything on the screen works at all times.
If you want to use Google Maps on Android Auto Coolwalk, the only workaround when the freezing occurs is to reconnect the mobile device to the media receiver in the car. Certainly, this isn’t a very convenient workaround, especially when the vehicle is in motion, but so far, no other solution appears to do the trick.
The experience with Waze on Coolwalk appears to be generally good, though it goes without saying that not everybody is a big fan of this app. Google Maps is often considered the preferred navigation app on Android (and therefore on Android Auto, too), so switching to Waze is something that many users refuse to do.
Google Maps, for example, also supports offline navigation, whereas Waze requires a permanent Internet connection for route guidance, traffic updates, and incident reporting. The only way to use Waze without a data connection is to configure the route when you are online, such as using the Wi-Fi at home before leaving the garage. However, the app wouldn’t be able to update the route and provide traffic updates. The same for alternate routes, as Waze would only offer guidance for the configured route with the data downloaded when an Internet connection was available.
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