Waze is now available on Apple CarPlay with iOS 12 and includes features like the ability to use daytime maps during night, change how a car appears on the map
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac :
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple opened CarPlay to third-party navigation with iOS 12 — announced at WWDC as an end to Apple Maps exclusivity — and Google Maps landed first, just days before this release. Waze's arrival completes that opening: both of Google's navigation apps now run where only Apple Maps could before.
The timing matters for Waze specifically because it has been building out features ahead of the platform shift, from carpool-lane routing, motorcycle mode, and hands-free voice commands last year to the new daytime-map-at-night option and customizable car icon shipping here.
First-order effects
- Waze users with iOS 12 can now run the app on their car's screen instead of propping up a phone, gaining crowdsourced routing and the new display options directly through CarPlay.
Second-order effects
- Apple Maps loses its captive audience on its own platform, forcing it to compete on data quality against two Google-owned apps; Google, meanwhile, gets two shots at the dashboard instead of one.
Third-order effects
- CarPlay is evolving from a mirrored phone screen into a platform Apple curates — a trajectory that continues through the redesigned iOS 13 dashboard and toward Apple's later push into in-dash commerce like buying gas from the dashboard, raising the question of how much control Apple keeps over which apps reach drivers.
The trend: Car dashboards are shifting from single-vendor lock-in to curated app platforms, with Apple deciding access while Google and others compete inside it.