My Samsung fold is a bigger screen and it gives me more options. It is much safer to have the map and waze on my phone than on my smaller car screen. Also makes switching between android auto apps easier and in some cases not necessary. This is a huge miss and needs to be fixed

Agreed. please allow the app to show the map on the phone even when connected to antroid auto.

Allow Waze to run on the phone screen while Android Auto is active!

Waze used to be perfect on my phone’s display. Since connecting through Android Auto, however, the app is forcibly locked to the car screen and refuses to run on the phone at all. This restriction removes flexibility and creates unnecessary distraction: drivers who want Waze on the phone while using another app (music, messages, or calls) on the car display are denied that choice. Other navigation apps such as Mapy.cz or Sygic allow this, so it is clearly possible without compromising safety.

Please add a setting that lets the user decide where Waze should run — on the phone, on the car display, or on both. Giving drivers this choice would restore Waze’s usefulness and reduce the need for unsafe workarounds.

- Current restrictions paradoxically increase risk, as drivers are forced into awkward workarounds or distracted by switching devices.
- Waze lacks the flexibility offered by competing apps, making it less reliable and less user‑friendly.
- If not addressed, Android Auto combined with Waze becomes a hazard rather than a safety feature, potentially contributing to accidents instead of preventing them.

Struggling with this issue in the last weeks. It's very annoying. My phone screen much closer to the roader than the navigation.

It's about safety since my phone is in my line of sight while driving

I strongly support maintaining Waze's ability to display the map on mobile devices while connected to Android Auto. This isn't about redundancy - it's about safety and usability.

My setup uses Android Auto for media controls because of its simplified interface, but I rely on my phone's display for navigation. My phone is positioned in a cradle that's directly in my line of sight, requiring minimal eye movement to check. In contrast, glancing down at the Android Auto screen requires me to look much further away from the road, creating a genuine safety hazard.

Different drivers have different setups and sight lines. For many of us, the phone's position is actually the safer option for quick navigation glances. Forcing all navigation to the Android Auto display would make driving less safe, not more. Please preserve this flexibility - it serves real safety needs for drivers who have optimized their phone placement for minimal distraction.

It was working until a few days ago, now I only get turn by turn written instructions if connected to Android Auto, very disappointing.

It was perfect to have the waze maps on my phone screen whilst connected to Android Auto.

Then a few months ago you couldn't access Waze at all anymore on your phone when your phone (auto) connected to AA.
The workaround for me was starting Waze before AA connected.
Now since 3 days I only get directions, no map anymore.
Why this change??
It's less safe like this and who is reading directions or notifications??
We really need the map back.
For now, I'll need to change to alternative navigation apps (Tom Tom Amigo, Google Maps).

The screen in my van is a long way from the driver. It's much more useful to have the map on my phone screen

Can't search on route.
Idiots!!

When running Android Auto with Waze I cannot open up the Waze application on my phone. It says to go to my Android Auto and use it from there. The problem is if I need to view the route turns or want to just be able to enter the address to where I'm going I'm forced to only use my car display. I don't understand why this was locked....Google Maps and other apps allow you to use both simultaneously as well as CarPlay has this feature available.

I am experiencing the same experience as you. I don't understand why it is not allowing to open Waze on the phone while using Android Auto. Google Maps allows you to open while AA is running. This would really help the annoyance of not being able to view the route list (turn by turn) and just having the ability to enter the address on the phone without forcing you to use the car screen to enter an address. This should really be enabled!

Yes, agreed.
It is important for me to have map displayed on phone screen rather than only AA only. It is not convenient.

We need the ability to access Waze app on the mobile phone when connected to Android Auto. Most of the settings are not available on the AA screen but is only available on the phone and it's of no use when connected.

What's the point of connecting it to the AA screen on our car when we can't access most settings on it and also being blocked on the app? I could just get a phone mount instead.

We'd also love the ability to type the destination via mobile app like Google Maps does. It's easier to type on the phone than the screen and we can also have the passenger type it in for us on the phone rather than the screen for further safety and better time efficiency.

To restrict full access to settings and access to the mobile app is just devious and is a safety hazard.

Google maps allows us to use both the mobile app and the AA screen simultaneously and sends destination to the screen when typed in to the mobile.

Please allow access to the app when connected to Android Auto

When I connected to Android Auto the map is shown on my car screen.

But my phone screen is black telling me to see the car screen. It doesn't show a map or turn by turn directions

How do I get it to show turn by turn in my phone while showing the map in my car screen.

2019 Volkswagen Golf
Pixel 8 Pro XL

A workaround was available in the previous version: Don't have Waze enabled on the Android Auto screen before connecting the smartphone, and if necessary, force-stop the app in the smartphone's app settings and then restart it.

Following the addition of a new feature, the smartphone now displays route directions.
However, with Android Auto, even when Waze isn't in use on the vehicle's screen, the smartphone continues to display only the route indications (unlike Apple CarPlay). A new idea suggests that this should only be displayed when the app is active on Android Auto. Please, vote for this one : https://waze.uservoice.com/forums/59223-waze-suggestion-box/suggestions/50096700-use-waze-on-phone-while-android-auto-is-connected

Please add this feature for Android. It currently works on Waze when used with Apple car play.

I just wanted to add another anecdote around why this matters.

I am using currently using Waze mostly on a vehicle that does not have a touch screen (it's a Honda Goldwing motorcycle). While parked, I want to use my phone and the touch screen to do things like set the next destination, search for it, or switch to google maps and share a location to waze.

The fact that waze on the phone is essentially entirely disabled while android auto is active makes this quite annoying. The only work-around is, prior to initially activating android auto, is to set the destination while not connected to the bike and then answer the 'yes' question for whether to continue the ride after Waze switches into android auto mote. But this is infuriating when you're already on the bike, with Android Auto enabled, and you just want to stop and change the destination.

The fact that Waze has a motorcycle mode that actually does adjust ETAs and routing is *awesome*, but the lack of this support makes the overall experience much less useful than it otherwise would be - to the point where I'm often not even bothering to use Android Auto, with the penalty that I can't see the screen easily without taking my eyes off the road.

The way Google Maps handles this is pretty much perfect. The app is fully functional on the phone while Android Auto is enabled.

Downgrade to version 5.6 (April 2025) and you would have the old behaviour back

Just began to experience this as well. Very frustrating to not have the phone displaying the map, speed limit etc, when that has been the default for years.

It might be some policy or restriction, but really I get more distracted when having to look into a screen in the middle of the car, instead of a small dashboard (my phone), just to the right of my speedometer.

Hello Waze team,

I’d like to suggest an important improvement for how Waze works with Android Auto.

When I connect my phone to my car and Android Auto is active, I don’t want to use Waze on my car’s screen — I prefer to keep using Waze normally on my phone screen.

Even when I disable Waze in Android Auto, the app still blocks the map display on my phone, forcing me to use it only on the car screen. This makes it impossible to choose where I want to see my route.

Please consider allowing Waze to work normally on the phone while Android Auto is connected, if the user doesn’t want to use Waze on the car’s display.

Thank you for listening to user feedback