Despite being acquired by Google in 2013, Waze hasn’t always received the same love from Google as Google Maps, with new features often arriving much later. In a better-late-than-never move, Waze is taking a cue from Google’s other navigation app and picking up a useful feature: the ability to use the mobile app while running Android Auto.
Google rolled out the ability to use Google Maps on your phone while running Android Auto a couple of years ago. While this might seem like a minor feature, it made it easier to use the Maps app on your phone to select the place you want to navigate to quickly.
Now, it’s extending the same functionality to Waze. The feature has been in beta testing for months, but it seems Google is finally rolling it out to the public. A Reddit user even shared a screenshot of the in-app announcement confirming the change.
With Android Auto connected and running, you can use the Waze app on your phone to look up places and set a location to navigate to. It’s also handy to have on cars that don’t have a touchscreen infotainment system.
Some actions, such as looking up places or entering an address to navigate to, are far easier and quicker on mobile than on Android Auto. Once you set a destination, the directions will appear in Android Auto on your car’s infotainment system.
If you can’t get Waze to work on your phone with Android Auto connected, update the app to the latest build, and then try again. Some users on Reddit also report that force-stopping the app did the trick for them.
Google needs to show Waze more love
While Google has been adding new features to Waze in recent months, there’s still a significant gap between it and Google Maps.
Waze still doesn’t work with Android 16’s Live Updates feature, and there’s no indication of when — if ever — Gemini might make its way to the app.
Given that real-time live traffic updates are one of Waze’s biggest strengths, it should have been among the first apps in Google’s roster to gain support for Live Updates.
