I am a fan of Waze, have been for years.  I use it for vacation trips and other long drives.  But for the every day driving around town, to school, work, etc… I now prefer Android Auto and Google Maps navigation.  Maybe some day Google will add support for Waze in Android Auto for the mobile device.

Android Auto can be configured to launch upon connecting to your vehicles BlueTooth device.  Set your phone in the car dock and it can be configured to always be on.  Android Auto limits what you can tap with your finger on your phone while driving, it only allows you to choose navigation software, phone, and music.  And voice commands work with all of it, including messaging.

It’s nice to have the important things right at your finger tips, and that bottom menu, Home, Maps, Phone, and Music is always there.

Waze is good when you know where you want to go and it is a long drive and re-routing assistance is handy for traffic issues.  But if you want to go somewhere and now sure what or where them Maps is your friend.  You can search on topic, name, restaurants, gas stations, etc… choose your destination and go.  With Android Auto, you can have the Navigation take up most the screen, or go to the Home screen and have it report how far till the next turn and your arrival time.

The phone screen by default shows tiles for recent phone calls and conversations.  Easy to tap with a finger.  There is a button to get a phone dial pad with big numbers that are easy to tap.  Of course, there are always voice commands to use… “Call Joe Smith on Cell” and you don’t have to look at or touch the screen.  TXT messaging can work the same, “Send message to Joe Smith, I’m running late, be there soon”.

• Route to your next destination using Google Maps with real-time GPS navigation and traffic alerts
• Make calls using voice actions and answer incoming calls with just a tap.
• Listen to your favorite media apps including Google Play Music, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Deezer, Slacker, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Audible. Many more music, radio, news, sports news, audiobook, and podcast apps are also supported.
• Send and receive messages through voice actions using SMS, Hangouts, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Telegram, WeChat, Kik, Google Allo, and many more messaging apps.