How To Set Waze As Your Default Navigation App On Android

Waze is one of the most popular Google Maps alternatives out there, featuring real-time, user-submitted hazard reports and several hidden features that give it an edge over other navigation apps. If you find yourself preferring the app over the default Google Maps app on Android devices, you can set Waze as the default map app instead.

Setting Waze as your default navigation app is easy.  Inside your phone’s Settings, navigate to Apps or App Manager and locate Waze (or search for it using the magnifying glass icon on the top right of your screen). Then, tap Set as default, ensure the Open supported links option is turned on, and then tap Supported web addresses, which will show what kinds of links get opened in Waze. You’ll notice that there’s no option to toggle on Waze-specific addresses, as they’re already turned on by default and cannot be toggled off. Toggle on every link type that you want opened in Waze. The most important of these are “maps.google.com” for opening Google Maps links and “www.google.com” to open locations from Google results inside Waze. It’s also worth turning on “assistant-maps.google.com” if you rely on the AI assistant, as well as “*.gcp.wazestg.com.” With this done, every map link you tap on will open in Waze. 

You can also do this by actively stopping Google Maps from opening links. Do this by opening Google Maps from the app list and selecting Set as default, then turning off Open supported links. Alternatively, you can simply tap Disable on the app info page to effectively remove the Google Maps app. The next time you open any navigation link, you’ll be asked to choose what app to open it with. Select Waze here, and then tap Always.

Following the steps above ensures that all navigation links on your phone are opened through Waze, but it doesn’t guarantee the same for Android Auto, even if you’re using the same phone. Android Auto uses your phone’s default map app if the phone is running an older version of Android, but this isn’t the case with smartphones on newer versions.

There’s no option to directly choose Waze over Google Maps as the default navigation app on Android Auto. However, Android Auto uses the last opened navigation app to open links. Simply opening Waze once is usually all it takes to have it function as the default navigation app until you open Google Maps. If you can’t find the Waze icon on your Android Auto screen to open it, you can visit your phone’s Settings app, navigate to Connected Devices, and then tap Android Auto. Here, ensure Waze is toggled on. You can also reposition the items to have Waze on top and move Google Maps to the bottom, though there’s no way to completely disable or remove the Google Maps app here.