How to use Waze: Tutorial, tips and tricks

Waze has a lot going on, from color-coded traffic patterns and real-time reports to those cute little icons traversing the map. Here’s a basic tutorial and some tips and tricks for using Waze and levelling your impact on the community-based navigation app.

How to use Waze

Waze is designed to get you where you’re going as fast as possible by utilizing real-time reports and driving history from local users. It’s one of the best alternatives to Google Maps if time is of the essence. For quick directions, you can enter your destination in the search bar where it says Where to?

To adjust how much Waze talks to you and in what voice, follow these steps:

• Go to the three-line icon on the top left.
• Choose Settings.

• Tap Voice and sound. Now you can adjust your Waze voice here.
  •  Sound On means Waze will announce every directional step, Alerts only means Waze will only speak to warn you of reported hazards and Sound Off means Waze won’t speak at all.
  • Tap Waze voice for a list of audio options in various languages, from Christina Aguilera to Master Chief, to Headspace’s calm and soothing tone. Switching the voice on Waze is easy if you don’t like your choice.

Plan a route

• Tap the three-line icon and select Plan a drive to plan an upcoming route. This feature lets you see when roads are busy to plan your trip better.

• Tap Plan a drive and enter an address. You can also choose to sync Waze with your calendar from here to remind you when to leave on time.
• You can then see how long your ride should take, depending on when you leave. Tap Save to remember the route and departure time.

• Once saved, you can tap the three-dot icon beside your route to edit or find relevant information, such as parking.
• You can edit your route at any point along your journey by opening the drop-down menu from the bottom of the screen.
• Add any pitstops quickly by tapping Add a stop. You can also tap the food and gas icons for suggested stops along the way.

How to report on Waze

One of the benefits of Waze is that users help each other by reporting incidents along their route. Waze will then alert other users as they approach and ask them to confirm if they are still there. You can report traffic congestion, car crashes, road hazards, police vehicles, and more.

• Tap the yellow sign in the bottom right corner of the screen to bring up the report’s selection.
• Each report option has details to add to improve map accuracy. For example, you can report traffic as moderate, heavy, or at a standstill, or whether police are visible or hidden. You can also add photos or comments to your report if it’s safe to do so.
• Say, for instance, you Report a hazard on the road. You can then specify the hazard, such as a pothole or a broken traffic light.
• You could even report unsafe weather conditions such as icy, unplowed, or flooded roads. When your report is finalized, click Send.

Note that you will not be able to send reports if you go invisible. Going invisible is a privacy setting that will hide your username and mood icon from other drivers.

Earn points for reporting

The more you help other drivers by reporting issues on the road, the more contributions you earn as a Wazer. Contributions let you level up to indicate how helpful your contributions are to the Waze community.

• Tap View profile > Achievements to view your current standing.

How to avoid tolls and highways on Waze

Avoiding tolls and highways is a feature some might find familiar from Google Maps, and luckily the same ability is here in planning your trip.

• Go to Settings.
• Select Navigation, tap Vehicle type from the bottom of the screen to select your current vehicle and enable Avoid toll roads.
• You can also choose Toll & HOV passes to let Waze know which types of gates or lanes you are okay traversing.
• You can also decide to avoid ferries, freeways, unpaved roads, and difficult interactions.

How to close the Waze app

To end navigation, pull up the menu from the bottom of the screen and tap the big red button labelled Stop.

This will pause any directions. Tap Resume to continue your navigation or exit the app if you no longer need Waze.

Keep Waze on-screen during phone calls

You can still see the map and navigate while speaking on the phone.

• To enable this feature, navigate to the Settings menu and tap General.
• From there, toggle the option that says Prevent auto-lock and adjust the required permissions settings on your phone.

FAQs