Tesla Waze alternative for Model3

[sc123]

Hi all-

I'm soon going to be trading in my X (lease end) for a Model 3. I've been using Tesla Waze (via browser) on my lower split-screen along with the nav on the top for a while - and I like having both set of information (nav for driving, and waze for "stuff on the road" that I should be aware of). Going to the Model 3 there's no split screen option (and is there even a browser on the Model3 now?) ... so what are people doing as an alternative in the 3? I tried using the Waze app on my iPhone, and it's loaded with ads, etc, and there's no way that I found to just get the basic map display with my location and driving related alerts (as opposed to sponsored businesses taking up most of the screen). Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

 

[Runt8]

There's currently no way to get Waze or an alternative on the main screen - like you said, there's no browser in the Model 3 (although I believe I heard that Waze in the browser was going away anyway). Tesla provides some traffic data but I don't know how it compares to Waze.

I find Waze on the iPhone to be very usable - ads are only displayed some of the time on half the screen when the vehicle is stopped. When I get my Model 3 I plan on continuing to use Waze on my phone in the phone dock in the very likely event that the Tesla navigation doesn't stack up.

 

[fseir]

There’s no browser for the model 3, at least not yet.

If you really can’t tolerate the intermittent ads on the waze app, and prefer the functionality of the waze website you were using in your X, why not just load that website onto the browser of your phone? Of course, the downside to this, is that you’d have to turn off auto-lock, to keep your phone from sleeping, and you’d need to keep your phone connected to power for long trips.

The ads in waze are really only there when you’re stopped. As soon as you start moving, they go away, so I don’t find them intrusive at all.

 

[sc123]

There's currently no way to get Waze or an alternative on the main screen - like you said, there's no browser in the Model 3 (although I believe I heard that Waze in the browser was going away anyway). Tesla provides some traffic data but I don't know how it compares to Waze.

I find Waze on the iPhone to be very usable - ads are only displayed some of the time on half the screen when the vehicle is stopped. When I get my Model 3 I plan on continuing to use Waze on my phone in the phone dock in the very likely event that the Tesla navigation doesn't stack up.

Tesla Waze had an issue with Google Maps (Google started charging a lot for Maps API access apparently), but they've since switched to a different underlying mapping platform (OpenStreets I think?). It's been a bit flaky lately, but will load eventually - so I don't think it's going away...

When you use Waze on your phone, do you "navigate" to a destination? Or just show the overall map view that tracks your location as you drive? I like the view that TeslaWaze gives (basically a top view of the map that tracks as you move, with BIG icons for road hazards, cops, etc so you can get a high level view of what's out there). Do you get a view like that? Or is it just a temporary popup for notifications?

And maybe another option is bringing up TeslaWaze in a phone browser ... although the display is pretty small ... :-/

 

[lairdb]

Continue to use Tesla nav. Launch Waze nav on your phone with "Alerts only" and "Sound output: play as bluetooth phone call". Choose destination on Waze for slightly smarter alerts, or don't bother and you'll still get the alerts mostly, and then turn the phone screen off.

You won't see the alerts, but you'll hear the relevant ones.

ETA: If you're on Android, set for Waze to launch automatically in the background whenever Bluetooth connects to your car; never think about it again. If you're on iPhone, something similar should be do-able in iOS 12.

 

[fseir]

There's currently no way to get Waze or an alternative on the main screen - like you said, there's no browser in the Model 3 (although I believe I heard that Waze in the browser was going away anyway). Tesla provides some traffic data but I don't know how it compares to Waze.

I find Waze on the iPhone to be very usable - ads are only displayed some of the time on half the screen when the vehicle is stopped. When I get my Model 3 I plan on continuing to use Waze on my phone in the phone dock in the very likely event that the Tesla navigation doesn't stack up.

+1, I never use Tesla navigation. Waze is just so much better, other than having to use it on a smaller screen. Since I use it all the time, I didn’t like having it way down in the phone dock, so I magnetically mounted it up in my line of sight. This allows me to just pop the phone onto the charger and go:

Review: Magnetic Power 2 XVIDA Qi Charger - The perfect Model 3 mount?

 

[dhrivnak]

Hi all-

I'm soon going to be trading in my X (lease end) for a Model 3. I've been using Tesla Waze (via browser) on my lower split-screen along with the nav on the top for a while - and I like having both set of information (nav for driving, and waze for "stuff on the road" that I should be aware of). Going to the Model 3 there's no split screen option (and is there even a browser on the Model3 now?) ... so what are people doing as an alternative in the 3? I tried using the Waze app on my iPhone, and it's loaded with ads, etc, and there's no way that I found to just get the basic map display with my location and driving related alerts (as opposed to sponsored businesses taking up most of the screen). Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance....

No browser on the 3 or a split screen option. I find the embedded navigation to be quite good and it can show traffic so I am quite pleased with base functionality.

 

[sc123]

I guess by "ads" I really meant the icons on the map for dunkin donuts, gas stations, etc. which seem to always be there polluting my map view as opposed to popup ads. There doesn't seem to be a way to disable that stuff (I'd be happy to pay them for an ad-free option, but there doesn't seem to be a way to do that). And those "sponsored" map markers are BIG, and the interesting markers (hazards, cops, etc) are just little dots - so it's not easy to see what they are or if I care about them by glancing at the screen. So it's not really very useful using it that way (i.e. just bringing up the map view) ... unless I'm missing a way to change that view.

I'll try out the suggestion above with the audible alerts - that might work out well.

And using the phone browser would work .... except that the screen locks. I don't know of an easy way around that (would be nice if I could create a home screen icon to launch the site and disable screen lock).

As far as Tesla nav, it used to be terrible - I would use it only because it would accurately estimate my charge at destination, but would *never* trust it to route me somewhere or estimate my ETA (always ran my phone nav on the side). However since they did the major overhaul a few months ago it's been spot-on. Always within a minute or 2 of google maps and picks the same route. I use it exclusively now and I've stopped bothering to nav on my phone in parallel.

 

[insaneoctane]

I have been less than impressed by Tesla navigation wrt real time traffic. It is beautiful but I still use WAZE on my phone. Seems kind of ridiculous that Tesla won't offer any route choices. Shame.

 

[sc123]

I have been less than impressed by Tesla navigation wrt real time traffic. It is beautiful but I still use WAZE on my phone. Seems kind of ridiculous that Tesla won't offer any route choices. Shame.

Maybe it's worse where you are, but real time traffic around Boston has been fine for me - as far as picking the best route and accurately estimating the arrival time. I will concede that the features are lacking - no waypoints, no option to say "I want to arrive with X% charge" or "make sure I can get there and have enough charge to return home", etc. But at least it can do a good job of getting me to a destination now - before the upgrade it was horrible at choosing a path, and way off on the ETA in most cases. I'll take what I can get!

 

[fseir]

Thanks for that link. I currently have a ProClip mount in my X which I love because it puts my phone right up there in the line of sight like you mentioned, and something like this might be a good option. I'm always wary of suction cup mounts like this- I've had them in the past and they always seem to fall off eventually ... does that truly hold up for you (through extreme temps inside the car, etc)?

I’ve only had it a couple weeks, but it hasn’t fallen off at all, during that time. That said, it never gets excessively hot here, despite lots of sun, so I can’t vouch for it in more extreme climates.

 

[smak]

Continue to use Tesla nav. Launch Waze nav on your phone with "Alerts only" and "Sound output: play as bluetooth phone call". Choose destination on Waze for slightly smarter alerts, or don't bother and you'll still get the alerts mostly, and then turn the phone screen off.

You won't see the alerts, but you'll hear the relevant ones.

ETA: If you're on Android, set for Waze to launch automatically in the background whenever Bluetooth connects to your car; never think about it again. If you're on iPhone, something similar should be do-able in iOS 12.

This is why Waze needs to add an Apple Watch, so i can see alerts on my watch.

 

[Flowcell]

Agreed with Apple Watch alerts! This might be an ideal solution for some although a pricey! I would love to have Waze on a bigger screen and have been tempted to get this.

Tesla Model 3 iConsole

 

[dendenyc]

Would be somewhat cool if Elon gave us at least AirPlay or Cast so we can display whatever we like on the big screen.

 

[John Lamoureux]

Maybe it's worse where you are, but real time traffic around Boston has been fine for me - as far as picking the best route and accurately estimating the arrival time. I will concede that the features are lacking - no waypoints, no option to say "I want to arrive with X% charge" or "make sure I can get there and have enough charge to return home", etc. But at least it can do a good job of getting me to a destination now - before the upgrade it was horrible at choosing a path, and way off on the ETA in most cases. I'll take what I can get!

This. No issues for me here in NE. I guess the biggest gap is the lack of waypoints for me.

 

[insaneoctane]

I have a 110 mile (round-trip) commute. Every day both coming and going to work I use both Tesla navigation and Waze. I initially started this behavior when I first got my Model 3 and wasn't sure what to expect from the Tesla navigation system. 3 months later and I haven’t stopped using Waze.

For my commute I have 3 major route choices and an unlimited amount of surface street detour options. I like to evaluate the route choices and decide which to take. It's not always as simple as the quickest. For example, if taking PCH adds an additional 3 minutes, I still will generally pick it anyway because I would rather stare at the beach vs cars and cement. Also with Waze, I can get carpool lane timings.

If I'm just local, I am fine with Tesla's navigation though

 

[kgclark]

Tesla Waze had an issue with Google Maps (Google started charging a lot for Maps API access apparently), but they've since switched to a different underlying mapping platform (OpenStreets I think?). It:-/

Google owns Waze, so that doesn’t make much sense.

 

[lairdb]

Google owns Waze, so that doesn’t make much sense.

Teslawaze is not Waze. AFAIK, Teslawaze is just sumdood, unaffiliated with Tesla or Waze.

 

[SpudLime]

Couple things. Teslawaze was recently updated to work with the new APIs and it works great on the S/X browser.

I am a senior beta leader for waze. I know all the key employees and meet with them once a year and have many video calls with them periodically since they live and work in Israel.

Any issues I see across different forums I always pass on to them to be addressed.

The Apple watch is a sore spot for me. I had the original Apple Watch and brought it to their attention back then. I ride a motorcycle on occasion and wanted waze to work on my watch for directions while riding. They purchased 2 watches for development but didn’t go anywhere as other things were priority.

I have the latest Apple Watch and brought it to the attention of their senior VP AGAIN last February at our meeting in San Francisco. He said the watch development kit would need dedicated staff and he didn’t have the resources and didn’t think it was worth the cost to hire more for such a small base of users. I just shook my head.

The devs all know me because I bring up the watch so often they make fun of me for it.

That being said, I have been trying for years, but still a no go. So sorry.

Any time I see waze comments pop up, I usually make sure they are addressed.

 

[lairdb]

I am a senior beta leader for waze. I know all the key employees and meet with them once a year and have many video calls with them periodically since they live and work in Israel.

Any issues I see across different forums I always pass on to them to be addressed.

I figure it must be conscious and purposeful, so I won’t ask for a change; just insight: why not offer a paid no-ads option? One-time, annual, recurring...?

(Also, is there any way to accurately report the... hazard... I passed about 3 blocks back, but couldn’t get to the button right then?)