Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Waze is often the preferred navigation app on CarPlay, despite Apple users being provided with a native solution to make driving from point A to point B faster and more convenient.
Waze is significantly better than Apple Maps for several reasons. First, the crowdsourcing engine allows users to send traffic reports and help the application find faster routes to the destination. Apple Maps also packs incident reporting, but the feature is yet to gain traction, even in the United States.
Second, Waze has a larger user base, as it also works on Android and Android Auto. As a result, the number of reports is significantly higher, whereas Apple Maps only receives reports from iPhone owners.
However, using Waze on CarPlay has become a major pain in the neck and is often dangerous due to a bug that causes the app to stick with the light visual style even at night.
Users reported the glitch in early August after receiving a new Waze update. The latest Waze version on iOS devices is 4.97 and received the go-ahead on the App Store on August 2. It's most likely responsible for the bug, as the previous update dates back to July 13.
Waze users who turned to Google's forums claim the application ignores the "Only at night" setting, sticking with the light mode even when driving in total darkness. The dark mode can only be activated by opening the app on the iPhone, so users must unlock their smartphones and launch Waze to turn off the daytime mode on CarPlay.
It was initially believed that only CarPlay wireless suffered from the bug, but it now looks like the wired sibling also struggles with the same problem. The workaround is the same in both cases: users must open the application on the iPhone to enable the dark mode when driving at night. However, users say this workaround only restores the dark mode the first time Waze launches on the iPhone. If the app is already running on the smartphone, CarPlay sticks with the light mode unless the user force-closes Waze on the iPhone and relaunches it.
Using Waze with the daytime mode when driving at night is dangerous, as the screen is too bright.
The Google-owned company is yet to acknowledge the glitch, but given the behavior has become widespread, a patch could be included in the next Waze update. A new version should start rolling out in the coming days, as Waze typically releases a new update every month.
In the meantime, users must stick with the manual workaround detailed above, as going back to a previous Waze version is not allowed on iPhones unless users restore a complete phone backup from iTunes.
Second, Waze has a larger user base, as it also works on Android and Android Auto. As a result, the number of reports is significantly higher, whereas Apple Maps only receives reports from iPhone owners.
However, using Waze on CarPlay has become a major pain in the neck and is often dangerous due to a bug that causes the app to stick with the light visual style even at night.
Users reported the glitch in early August after receiving a new Waze update. The latest Waze version on iOS devices is 4.97 and received the go-ahead on the App Store on August 2. It's most likely responsible for the bug, as the previous update dates back to July 13.
Waze users who turned to Google's forums claim the application ignores the "Only at night" setting, sticking with the light mode even when driving in total darkness. The dark mode can only be activated by opening the app on the iPhone, so users must unlock their smartphones and launch Waze to turn off the daytime mode on CarPlay.
It was initially believed that only CarPlay wireless suffered from the bug, but it now looks like the wired sibling also struggles with the same problem. The workaround is the same in both cases: users must open the application on the iPhone to enable the dark mode when driving at night. However, users say this workaround only restores the dark mode the first time Waze launches on the iPhone. If the app is already running on the smartphone, CarPlay sticks with the light mode unless the user force-closes Waze on the iPhone and relaunches it.
Using Waze with the daytime mode when driving at night is dangerous, as the screen is too bright.
The Google-owned company is yet to acknowledge the glitch, but given the behavior has become widespread, a patch could be included in the next Waze update. A new version should start rolling out in the coming days, as Waze typically releases a new update every month.
In the meantime, users must stick with the manual workaround detailed above, as going back to a previous Waze version is not allowed on iPhones unless users restore a complete phone backup from iTunes.
Google News