Waze has become the best alternative to Google Maps for a specific quality: being a community of drivers who share all kinds of information of great value to the one who takes the wheel in their hands and goes to a specific destination with your vehicle.
An app that over time has gained in complexity has even been accompanied with Waze Carpool, and we can squeeze all its juice if we follow any of the tricks and tips for Waze you will find below to save you more than a few minutes to reach that destination that awaits you on the other side of the city.
Waze: What is it?
Before going directly to the tips and tricks of Waze, it is necessary to clarify that we are before an app that focuses on the navigation shift in turn, and that uses of its social network in which the drivers are sharing in real time all the Information that competes on the road such as accidents, traffic agents, radars and all that sort of problems that one can find on the road.
I think one of the best examples of its great utility is this video of a user of Waze that, thanks to the app can anticipate an object that is in the same way …
1. Clear the map interface to make it clearer
We are not accustomed to entering the adjustments of the applications and many times allow us to optimize the experience of use that they offer. A clear example is Waze …
- Go to Settings> Advanced Settings> View and Map> “Show on Map”
- You can remove the “Wazers” (other users like you), radars, chats, police and much more to clear the map
It is recommended that wazers and chats remove them from the map interface. The rest is optional, since even if they are not present visually, Waze will remind you all by voice.
2. Send your current status or ETA to a contact
Waze has many virtues and peculiarities, and one of them is the ability to share in real time the exact place in which we find ourselves. The best thing about this function is that the contact that will receive our status in real time, you do not need to have the app installed …
- Click on the blue button at the bottom right to open the tour information screen
- Now is the time to click on the green button “Send ETA”
- You will have to allow access to the contacts
- You have two options, or look for someone you already have in Waze, or use the “More” button that opens the Android sharing options
- Select the particular app and choose the contact
As you can see, the message has two links, one to follow the path in real time for those who do not have the app installed and use the web, and the second, which will prompt the user to install Waze if it does not have it phone.
3. The shortest or fastest route?
One of the peculiarities of Waze is that it is able to take you along a route a little “crazy” to save you going through a traffic jam or that you arrive a minute earlier to your destination.
This can be modified from the settings …
- Go to “Settings from the side navigation panel”
- Now to “Navigation”
- We move to almost the last of the options: “Type of route”
- Choose “The shortest”
Now Waze will show you the route with the shortest distance between the start point and destination point. Best of all, even if you have this type of route enabled, Waze will be able to avoid jams and certain road complications.
4. Have the “Home” and “Work”
Properly configured Waze is vital to get all the performance possible. By having the “Home” and “Work” shortcuts on the side navigation panel, you can navigate directly to those destinations with a few simple keystrokes …
- Access the side navigation panel and click on the three vertical dots icon next to “Home” or “Work”
- Select “Edit house”
- Find the address and mark it to have it always ready
5. Find a parking place
Google Maps has been updated these days with the ability to save the last place we park. Waze has it, but the best thing is that it can even tell you where to park when you are about to arrive.
This can be done visually through the map with the parking indicators, or, much better, before going in route from the main screen …
- Click on “Parking” and select “Parking”
- Waze will tell us the nearby car parks to address them, instead of the same destination, which means that we do not waste so much time
You have the option to see the car parks also from the preparation of the route with ‘Nearest Parking’ or ‘View Parking’.
6. Make Waze only let you know about the alerts
Do you know how to get to your destination without Waze’s help for the turns? Use it only to indicate the traffic alerts through the sound button in the route options …
- Click on the sound icon in ETA
- Select ‘Alerts only’
7. Plan a trip to save you all the traffic
Tell Waze where you want to go and when you will be at your destination through your planned trips. It will notify you at the best time to start the route with a notification.
You have two ways of doing this, one would be this …
- Go to the navigation panel lateral to “Planned Trips”
- You can see a red button at the bottom that allows you to create a planned trip (here will also appear the ones you have created from now)
- Enter destination
- You will now see a traffic graph on the right side and the different departure times you can choose
- Scroll through the hours to choose the time you want to arrive and Waze will be in charge of notifying you at the right time by clicking on “Save”
You can access travel planning in another way …
- Try searching for a destination and give “After” from the route creation screen
- The trip planning panel appears with a series of graphs and the different times for you to select one
- Give her to save to receive a notice
At any time you can edit the planned trip from the main programmed trips screen …
- Click on the icon of three vertical points next to the scheduled trip
- You can edit the arrival time, view information, find parking or make some changes to the settings such as: calendar synchronization or reminder type
8. Add a stop to the route
You can assign a stop to that trip that you are going to start to some of the coastal zones in our country. For example, a gas station where you usually stop to eat …
- Go to the ETA bar at the bottom and touch ‘On the way’
- You can choose an already saved favorite or find the stop address you want to add
- Once this is done, choose “Go Now”
- The stop will be added to the predefined route
Keep in mind that when you select a stop in route, the path to the route in pink will appear, and in purple the final destination.
9. Bring the speedometer to the limit
We have in our possession when the speed limit alert should be displayed …
- From Settings> Speedometer, select “When to show alert”
- We can put it by percentage or km / h above and so the alert will jump at that moment
You even have the option to reproduce an alert sound or always show the speed limit of the route so that we are cautious before possible radars.
10. Take advantage of voice commands
Each time we get used to using the voice, but still shame, and Waze is provided with several commands that are very useful and work very well. You have to activate them like this …
- Go to Settings> Voice Commands> and activate
- You can configure them with a three-finger touch at a time, three fingers and pass the hand near the screen or three fingers and two passes near the screen
Here is the list of voice commands …
- Navigate to your home or work: “Driving Home” or “Driving to Work”
- Reporting: “Alert Dense Traffic” or “Alert”
- Cancel a command: “Cancel”
- Stop navigation: “Stop”
- Go back one level: “Back”
It is important that you test the operation of the commands outside the car, because when you get used to them, it makes things much easier. When using ‘Alert’, it will be Waze that shows you the different options you have, so that you dictate some or at any time, you can go back as the same command.
You may also like to read another article on YellowTube: How to use Android in the car while driving without touching the phone?
11. Set up gasoline price information
Although gas price information at nearby stations depends on the community itself, and sometimes is not as accurate, you always have the option to change how the information is displayed when you are looking for a gas station …
- We go to “Settings”> “Gas stations”
- Change the gas station to a specific one, for example Repsol or Cepsa
- Put the gasoline you use and order information according to distance, price or brand
If you are accustomed to filling the fuel tank with a particular brand, it is of great help.
12. Look for gasoline at the best price
Waze has the option of being able to look for a specific type of commercial establishment such as a gas station. The best of all is that you can have the information updated thanks to the community of users, but depends on how active this is in your area to keep it up to date …
- When we have specified the route, we can press the option “On the way”
- Now select the gas station icon
- You will see a list of nearby gas stations with the price
You can know when it was the last time the information was updated from the same gas station card with a quick glance.
Apart from looking for gas stations, from the ‘On the way’ option, you have access to parking lots, food, coffee shops and much more, so that you can better devise the route and the stops you will make until you reach your destination.
13. Synchronize your events calendar with Waze
With Waze, you can receive an alert or notification based on calendar events. The only thing we have to make sure is that the created event has a valid location in your Calendar …
- From “Settings”, go to “Planned Trips”
- Touch “Sync calendar” to activate it
Keep in mind that when you have the calendar synchronized, you can choose which of the Google accounts will be synchronized if you have several connected on your smartphone.
Try clicking on “Calendar” and turn off Google accounts with which you do not want to sync Waze.
14. Disable Spotify quick access in Waze
Recently, Waze has incorporated Spotify with a shortcut and a space that opens at the top that allows the user to select playlists and more.
If you are uncomfortable with the shortcut button , you can disable it …
- Go to Settings> General> “Disable Spotify”
15. Use a voice that dictates the names of the streets
One of the qualities of Waze is that sometimes it offers extra voices in advertising campaigns as happened with C3PO and “Amo Luck”, with which we could have fun of the beautiful to be taken to our destination by the friendly robot protagonist in Star Wars.
The only problem with these voices is that they do not indicate the name of the streets, a detail to take into account so that you do not have to be looking at the screen of the smartphone or the one on board the car …
- Go to “Settings”> “Sound and voice”> “Voice instructions” and select “English – Penelope”
- This voice includes the names of streets as in Latin America we have “Ariane”
You can also access to change the voice from Settings> “Voice instructions”, although here does not show the information of “including street names” so that you can select one that offers you more information through the voice.
16. Leave Waze open without using a navigation path
This option is the counterpart to the previous one, since although it makes greater use of the battery; it allows us to know the complications that can be found in road like they are traffic jams, accidents or the police presence.
The funny thing is that if we leave Waze open without introducing a destination, it will warn you of all the problems that you can find in the route or surroundings.
17. Find a destination with the GPS coordinates
One of the curiosities of Waze is that it allows searching for a location with GPS coordinates. If someone shares with you the GPS coordinates, you can use them in the search bar to find the exact location.
All you need is a decimal format: 2.79748 – 101.77219
18. Turn your “car” into a Ferrari or F1 car
For those who are tired of being represented on the map with an arrow, you can change it for a car and other types of more fun or amusement …
- Go to Settings> Display and map> “Car on the map”
- Choose between arrow, bus, cars of different colors or a car apart from many others
19. Dale to your SUV or 4×4 with ‘Roads of land’
Not all of us have a car that offers resistance to the irregularities of the road and with which you can enjoy going for more difficult roads such as those of land.
Waze has a feature that prevents us from traversing or directing them, although if we want a little fun and cross country, we can take advantage of it …
- Go to Settings> Navigation> “Roads”
- We activate “Allow” and we will be ready to give a little bit of those 4×4 or SUV