Waze is the favorite car navigation application for many people (among which I include myself), but the day you least expect it can give you problems in Android Auto: it does not offer data, it does not update information, it disappears from the application menu, that it does not open, that it freezes… these are just some of the mishaps that can happen to you. If Waze isn’t working on Android Auto, here’s what you can try to fix it.
Watch out for connectivity
To connect your phone to the car console there are two options: wired or wireless. If you choose this second option, make sure that you have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on your phone activatedare already the connections that both devices use to understand each other.
It is worth remembering how to do it: from the main screen of your phone, swipe from top to bottom and make sure that both connections are turned on. Likewise, you can also activate them from the Settings.
And the mobile data?
To offer you its services, Waze uses GPS and data connection, so that it shows you both maps and traffic information in real time. What does this mean? That you need a sufficient data plan for its use and that mobile data must be active for communication with its servers to be established.
Check the above also from the quick settings screen (that the ‘Mobile Data’ icon is on) or from your phone’s Settings.
The classic: have you tried turning it off and on again?
It cannot be missing from the lists of possible solutions because although it is old advice, it is effective and should always be one of our first attempts: Turning the phone off and back on can fix minor issuessince the device closes processes and reopens them again from scratch, eliminating small execution failures to allow them to be carried out successfully.
In the same way, take advantage of those seconds of impasse between turning off and turning on to reset your car’s infotainment system. You can do this either by turning off the ‘Start’ of your car (in an older car like mine, removing the key) or also directly, using the button on the console itself.
Check out the Waze servers
The problem with Waze may not be with your devices and the software installed on them, but with the operation of the service itself. You can check the status of the Waze servers on websites like Down Detector. If you detect that the problem is with Waze, then you will have to wait for them to solve it, in which case you can use alternative navigation applications compatible with Android Auto in the meantime.
Is everything up to date?
An outdated version of an application can cause (some of) its functions to not run properly or simply, that a specific version gives some kind of problem and therefore the development team has already released a new version to correct it. And this could happen to you both with Waze (if only this application gives you problems) or with Android Auto.
So when in doubt, check that Waze is updated on your phone. You just have to go to the Google Play Store, tap on your profile photo (icon in the upper right corner) to bring up a menu and in it, select ‘Manage apps and device’. Here you have two options: in the ‘Summary’ tab, tap on ‘Available updates’ and see if Waze appears in the list, in which case you will have to click on ‘Update’. The other way is to enter ‘Manage’ and there click on ‘Available updates’, where Waze could appear with a pending update.
Perhaps what is not updated is Android Auto and the procedure to follow would be exactly the same.
clear cache
The cache stores temporary files so that applications run faster, but it can happen that any of these data are corrupted or have errorsso you can fix it by clearing the app’s cache and data.
To clear the cache enter the ‘Settings‘ of your phone and in ‘Applications‘ You will see the list with all installed apps. Search for Waze (you can also do the same in Android Auto if you detect that the error is widespread on the console) and once inside, go to ‘Storage‘. At the bottom you will see the options for ‘Clear data’ and ‘clear cache‘.
Enable Waze in Android Auto
Has Waze disappeared from the Android Auto screen? In that case, the Waze shortcut may have been disabled within your phone’s Android Auto settings.
On your phone, enter the ‘Settings‘ >’ connected devices‘ > ‘Android Auto‘. Once inside, go to ‘Customize app menu‘ and there it verifies that Waze is checked. If it is not the case, mark it.
The latest version gives me problems
The opposite case can also happen: that Waze in Android Auto was fine for you before and that after updating, it doesn’t work. There are several options here: go back to the latest version that Google Play has approved, or find and install a previous version. There is the option that the failure is generalized and where you want to go back is in Android Auto.
The first thing is to uninstall the app. How to do it? In ‘Settings‘ >’Applications‘, search for ‘Waze’ and once inside, scroll down to find the ‘ iconuninstall‘. Now you can install it again by searching for it from the Google Play Store in case that last approved version is worth it. If this is not the case, you will have to resort to APK repositories such as APK Mirror or UpToDown to find an old version.
Android Auto is installed by default on your phone and when you go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Applications’ > ‘Android Auto’, you will not be able to uninstall it, but what you can do is uninstall your updates, so that it returns to the initial version that came installed. In this case you will have to disable automatic updates.
Home | Montage with photo by Eva Rodríguez de Luis and image by OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay
In Xataka Android | Android Auto not working: main problems and solutions
