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Waze to Be Integrated into Android Auto

Google’s Android Auto will also feature Waze, the popular navigation app owned by the Mountain View tech giant.
Waze user in promotional video 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
The news came during Google’s Developer Conference, called Google I/O. According to the tech giant, Waze was the single most-requested app since the Android Auto interface was made available commercially.

Thanks to the new integration, expected with the next version of Android Auto, Google will have two competent navigation apps on its multimedia solution for cars.

Waze is the first non-Google app to be integrated into the Android Auto platform, which is a significant move for the tech giant.

The update for Google’s Android Auto is expected to roll out in the coming months, and the Waze app will be available only if it is installed on the user’s smartphone.

As some of you know, Google owns Waze and borrows some of the crowdsourced data it gathers for the Google Maps app. However, not all of the information collected through Waze is available in Google Maps, so the integration brings extra functionality for users once they get the updated version, Mashable informs.

For example, the Waze app provides information regarding road hazards, police crews on the road, fuel cost information for surrounding gas stations, and accident reports. But Google Maps' navigation only receives the latter, and these reports come in the form of suggestions about which routes to avoid to shorten the journey.

In the healthy Google Android Auto versus Apple CarPlay war, consumers will have to collect the benefits, so we can only hope the latter accepts the integration of Waze as well. At the end of the day, these improvements enhance the Android Auto platform, and Apple will be obliged to provide an adequate response to its competitor product, Apple CarPlay.

Furthermore, the integration could allow Google and Waze to improve their services with data collected from the vehicle. If the car’s multimedia unit is able to read data like fuel level or wiper function, Waze will be able to provide info on weather change in real time, as well as suggest the cheapest fuel station along the route depending on the level of remaining gas in the tank.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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