Yahoo Finance Google's Waze launches navigation app for car dashboards
Waze is bringing its navigation and traffic monitoring app to more than 100 models of car as it expands its satnav software beyond smartphones.
The app will be available in cars that use Android Auto, Google's dashboard software, including models from BMW, Vauxhall, Renault, Ford and Volkswagen made in 2015 or after.
Waze, which is owned by Google and has 85 million users worldwide, offers route guidance using map data, travel times and traffic information. It can also advise drivers of incidents on the road and provide the latest fuel prices.
Unlike traditional satnavs, which require large map downloads to operate offline, Waze updates in real time through smartphone data connections. It works with voice control and sends audio and visual traffic alerts.
The in-car version of the app, which is available for free, was the most requested new software for Google's Android Auto service, according to Waze. Cars can be connected to Android Auto using a smartphone, which then runs the car dashboard.
Waze relies on its network of users to keep its maps up to date. Users can alert the wider community of Waze users if there is a traffic or a road closure, while the app updates its road maps if users drive on new roads.
Waze product lead Jens Baron told the Telegraph: "People are using Waze even if they have a car satnav system. What is special on Waze is we are the only navigation app to outsource the app.
"The map is drawn by Waze editors and is updated 24 hours a day worldwide. Everyone who is using contributes with new information, it’s a social network of drivers."
The update for Android Auto will come to the UK and 30 other countries today. The app will is not yet compatible with Apple's rival CarPlay on-board assistant.
Waze was founded in Israel in 2006 before it was acquired by Google in 2013 for an estimated £837m after a bidding war with Apple.
The web giant has since developed new uses for the Waze community, launching a carpooling service last year in Tel Aviv and California. Bloomberg reports the carpooling app is set for a global launch later this year.
