Google’s social maps application, Waze, has finally made it to its in-car Android Auto platform as a beta release. With the release being in the beta phase, Google is limiting what devices can run Waze and is limiting the app's functionality.
In an email sent out to beta testers Google wrote:
“If you’re driving an Audi or Mercedes-Benz vehicle, you can stop reading here as Waze on Android Auto is not yet available for these cars … Ensure that you have an Android Auto compatible car; note: this isn’t the same as an in-car Android device.”
As we can see from that quote, the Waze app for Android Auto can only be run on certain cars; Android phones, Audis, and Mercs are excluded for the time being. Aside from these restrictions, Google also lists a plethora of ‘Known Issues’ in the email, they are:
- Voice commands: Custom Waze voice actions, like “Report Accident”, “Send ETA”, “Stop Navigation” are not yet supported.
- Waze voice prompts are not muted while Android Auto speaks.
- Auto zoom issues on high resolution screens.
- Noticeable lag when triggering an Android Auto voice command when Waze is not opened on the head unit yet.
- Waze terms need to be accepted on the phone after each new install (need notice on car screen instead of crash).
- In some cases of car camera turning on (reverse, etc..) Waze closes and needs to be reopened again.
This private beta release seems exceptionally buggy and very restricted. To be fair to Google it is still working on the Android Auto implementation, but hopefully, it won’t take long to work out these kinks.
Source: Android Police via Engadget
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