Hey Look, Waze Finally Has A Dedicated App For Android Auto But Only On These Cars
In what must be simultaneously one of the most exciting, yet biggest in-car navigation let-down news, Israel-based (and Google-owned) Waze navigation app has announced that it is launching a dedicated app for select Renault vehicles.
The debate is still hot about which navigation app is better–Google Maps or Waze. Fans of the latter have come to appreciate the supposedly superior traffic alerts and information (e.g. police locator), routing speed, and the amount of customization on their phones, but now owners of Renault Austral Hybrid and Renault Megane E-Tech electric can enjoy Waze's unique mapping philosophy on the car's bigger display.
Waze has been around since 2006 and was acquired by Google in 2013. The free (ad-supported) navigation service is widely regarded, as well as criticized, for its crowd-sourced travel and route detail capabilities. Since being acquired by Google, there have been questions about whether Waze would continue to operated as-is with cross-pollination of features between its and Google's platforms, or if it would be eventually absorbed as part of Google Maps. A very strong global user-base and integration with popular services are probably why Waze seems to be thriving.
In fact, Waze's partnership with Renault is due in part to the service being the most popular navigation app in France. There seems to be plans to roll the app out globally to more Renaults and hopefully other brands as well. Aron Di Castro, Director, Marketing and Partnerships at Waze stated that the they're "looking forward to bringing this excellent driving experience to more users across the globe in 2023.”
If you're an owner of one the abovementioned cars, you can download the Waze app either from Google Play in your Renault vehicle, or from the My Renault mobile app.
