Google’s other big navigation app, Waze, is coming to Android Automotive. Today, the company announced it on the Waze blog, stating: “The new Waze car app brings real-time navigation, directions and Waze alerts to the car display. When you drive, you experience safer and more comfortable rides. saving you the hassle of using your smartphone.”
The situation with applications on Android Automotive is complex. Automotive infotainment systems are so heavily regulated for safety reasons that every app and interface is subject to scrutiny by regulators around the world. It is difficult, expensive and time consuming for app developers, which is the main reason why Android Automotive currently only has 37 apps. You can view the full list here. AAOS only allows media and navigation apps, and even media apps don’t have custom interfaces – you just plug your own branding and audio streams into Google’s interface, which eases the regulatory burden but limits the app’s functionality.
The Waze car app is very similar to the phone app, but bigger, with an important report button and lots of icons detailing when users report police, construction, and other traffic hazards. The screenshot even shows a “Does it still exist?” prompt prompting the user to confirm that the previously reported danger still exists.
Despite building an app for Google’s automotive operating system, Waze currently limits its deployment to certain vehicles. The app is exclusive to “the new Renault Austral Hybrid and Renault Megane E-Tech electric vehicles in Europe,” the company said in a statement. The strange launch could have something to do with all the regulatory challenges automotive apps have to face, and Waze says the new app will be available to “more users around the world” in 2023.
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Post time: Feb-01-2023