After years of being relegated to your phone, a dedicated Waze app is finally starting to roll out to cars. On Tuesday, Google announced that Waze is now available in Renault’s Austral Hybrid and Megane E-Tech electric vehicles in Europe. The dedicated Waze car app includes the same real-time routing, navigation, alerts, settings, preferences, and saved places as the mobile app, but it has been designed for the larger navigation displays of modern vehicles.
This is the first time that Waze has been available in vehicles without having to connect a phone via USB or Bluetooth. As The Verge notes, it won’t be the last, as Polestar, General Motors, Chevrolet, and Volvo all offer Google integration with Android Automotive OS as well. It’s only a matter of time before the Waze app reaches more vehicle brands.
“As more Waze users engage with us on in-car platforms and we see advancements in in-car technologies, it’s important that we bring the best driving experiences to our users, which is why we are thrilled to announce our partnership with Renault,” says Aron Di Castro, Director, Marketing and Partnerships at Waze. “Having Waze’s real-time navigation, routing and alerts built into the display of Renault’s vehicles, makes for a simplified and seamless driving experience. We’re looking forward to bringing this excellent driving experience to more users across the globe in 2023.”
Presumably, the app should make its way to some US cars next year as well.
In order to access Waze in a supported Renault vehicle, you can either download the app directly from Google Play on the openR link multimedia system in the car or from the My Renault mobile app. Once you download the app, you can create a new account or log in to an existing Waze account to restore all of your preferences and saved places.
