Over the weekend I found myself saying, “I’m done with you, Google Maps!” It was a straw-man-the-camel-back situation: the app didn’t work as expected, didn’t start navigation, and the ever-growing klunkiness of the interface was really getting to me.
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There were other issues involving the name of a lake, but we won’t get into that. After the proverbial last straw fell, I immediately installed Waze on my Pixel 9 Pro. I used to use Waze on previous Pixel phones, but for some reason I stopped. Now I was determined to make it my default map application.
Little did I know how frustrating that would be.
In its infinite wisdom, Google has decided that it will not allow users to simply set another app as the default mapping tool on the Pixel. It used to be very simple: Install the new app, navigate to default apps, and set it as such. That is no longer the case after the August Android Update. Go to Default Apps, and you won’t even find a way to set another mapping app as default.
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Sure, you can locate Waze on the default page and then choose how to open web links for the app, but that doesn’t really do anything to make it your default, because it still doesn’t allow apps like Calendar to open it by default.
Set Waze as the default mapping app
The trick is simple. The first thing to do is install Waze via the Google Play Store. Once you’ve done that, when you open Waze, you won’t be prompted to set it as default, and you won’t find a way to do so in the Waze settings.
Instead, you need to disable Google Maps first.
1. Open apps
Open the Settings app and then tap the Apps entry.
2. Expansion of the app performances
You probably won’t see Google Maps listed at the top unless you’ve opened it recently. If not, tap See all apps to expand the list.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET3. Open the card entry
Scroll down until you find the Maps entry and tap it.
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4. Disable cards
On the resulting page, you’ll see a button labeled Deactivate. Tap on this entry so that it then changes to Enabled.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET5. Set Waze as default
At this point, the only map app that Android is aware of is Waze. You can test this by opening an address from a calendar appointment. Waze should open automatically. You may also be prompted to set Waze as your default; if so, do it.
6. Add Waze to Android Auto
To use Waze with Android Auto, you need to add its icon to the launcher. To do that, go to Settings > Connected Devices > Connection Preferences > Android Auto > “Customize launcher” and make sure Waze is checked. Once added, you can then move it up the list so it’s easier to access.
Jack Wallen/ZDNETAnd that’s all there is to setting another mapping app as the default.
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