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This Help file describes the waze touch screen version. There may be slight differences between the versions for different phones, but most features will look and work the same.
Starting waze and creating an account
To open the program – press the waze icon on the phone desktop.
If you are a new user, you will get a welcome message and a request to accept waze's terms of use. Click the Accept button to continue to use waze, or the Decline button to exit the program.
If you have accepted the terms of use, you will next get a form to create your account.
You are asked to provide a username and password, an email address, and optionally to choose a waze nickname, which is used to identify you on the map and in reports you send, should you choose to be identified. (You define how far you want to be identified in your Profile – see the Settings section).
Tap the first line of the form (Username). A virtual keyboard display will come up.
Enter the username you'd like. Then tap the Next button to be prompted for the next line of the form (password).
After you have proceeded to fill in all the form in this way, waze will display the filled-in form (your password will be displayed as five stars no matter how long it actually is).
If the information is the way you want it, tap Create to create your account. If not, tap the line you want to change.
After creating your account you will be asked to sign in. You only have to do this once: your phone will thereafter be logged in automatically. You will only have to log in again if:
The required user name is already taken.
You are using the user name and password you created on a different phone, and you made a mistake when logging in. Then you'll get a "wrong login" message and will be returned to the screen displaying your username (and hidden password) so that you can change them as necessary. (Note: to change your username you should first log in to the waze.com site and change it there, then update your phone).
Someone else using another phone is logged in to your account. In this case you will not get an error message; your internet connection will keep going on and off. (We suggest you avoid giving your login details to friends – they can create their own accounts.)
Once you have an account that you've previously logged in to, starting waze will bring you directly to the main screen.
To save battery consumption, it's a good idea to close waze when you leave your car and to minimize it or shut off the display whenever you don't need it.
Overview: What do you See?
The Waze screen has the following main sections:
A top status bar
the main screen where the map is displayed
Map Controls with 2 icons: zoom in / out buttons , a compass and a map edit icon
Text buttons at the bottom of the screen for the four main waze functions:
Me on Map (displays where you are right now). On some versions, you will see only a bulls-eye icon with no text
Drive to (choose a location to start a route - enter address, search local businesses with Google or access your favorites and marked locations)
Live info (view live reports of events in your area). The number in parentheses represents the number of events in your area right now.
Report (enter your own reports and events)
Initially the main screen displays "me on map" - a map showing your location and an icon for your car on it. You can only see the map if you have full GPS connectivity. If you're in an area where GPS reception is partial, you will see a map with a big cursor displaying your approximate location (based on cell ID). If you don’t have any GPS reception at all, a map of your last known location will be displayed with no identifier of your current location.
Using Waze
The main screen displays a map, usually for your current location
Move the map by dragging the screen (or using your phone's wheel/trackball/arrow buttons)
Tap and hold on a road to highlight it and bring up the #Location Menu
Planning a route - Drive to=
Select the Drive to button at the bottom of the screen to find your best route. You will see a screen with six sections:
Search address or Place
You may enter a street, an address, a place name or keywords. Waze is smart and will show you a list of matches in order based on the closest and importance of the place. If there are few matches, a Google Local Search will be used. So you can search for "toy shop" or "gas station" and Waze will let you select from the closest matches.
You don’t have to enter a city but if your destination is not in your current city, you might want to enter a city as well.
If Waze does not know the house numbers on your destination road, or you don't enter a house number, Waze will choose the middle of the road.
If you choose the destination from the result of a Google Local Search, Waze will use the exact location of the destination, as provided by Google.
Common places
Your most frequently, recently chosen destinations will be listed for a quick selection. You can choose to include Home and Work here as two special destinations. To do this, add them to #My favorites with the name of Home and Work in your language. Use a capital for the first letter only.
My favorites
This is a list of #Saved locations that you chose to #Add to favorites. You can select any location here as your destination. Select the right arrow next to a favorite location to bring up the menu
Drive
Select as your destination. The same as selecting the name of the favorite location
Show on map
Centers the map display on the location
Delete
Deletes the location from your list of favorites
This list is sorted based on how recently and frequently you selected the favorite as a destination.
Recent searches
A list of recent locations you selected after using #Search address or Place or selecting a destination using the #Location Menu. The most recent search is at the top. Note that a place found by a search (eg "toy shop") or by selecting a location on a map will show as an address.
A list of locations saved using the #Locations Menu. You can select any location here as your destination. Select the right arrow next to a saved location to bring up the menu
Drive
Select as your destination. The same as selecting the name of the saved location
Show on map
Centers the map display on the location
Delete
Deletes the location from your list of saved locations
Add to favorites
You have the choice of entering a name for the favorite. If you select Done this, it will be added to the end of your #My favorites list and removed from the Saved locations list
The most recently saved location is at the top of the list of Saved locations.
Contacts
Select a contact and then choose the address of a contact. This address is used to #Search address or Place and you may select a destination from the results of that search.
Location Menu
Set as destination
Waze will calculate a route from your starting point to the highlighted street
Set as departure
Waze will use this as your starting point for new routes. The default starting point is your current location
Save location
You have the choice of entering a name for the location. If you save this location, it will be added to the top of your #Saved locations list
Properties
The street name is displayed and if you select it then the city name is also displayed. If you then select the city name, the road type is displayed. You can change all three entries. If you save your changes it will take some time before the map shows your changes.
Cancel
Exits from the Location Menu
=Saving Home and Work Locations
Tap and hold on the street
Select Save location and then Save
Select Drive to button and select Save locations
Select the arrow next to the top entry
Select Add to favorites
Enter Home or Work and select Done
Language options include
Home
בית Casa Thuis Maison Hem Doma Zuhause Hjem Otthon Дом Domov Dom البيت Koti
Work
עבודה Trabajo Werk Travail Arbete Lavoro Zaměstnání Arbeit Arbejde Munkahely Работа Práca Praca العمل Työ Trabalho
The Map Controls give you easy access to the functions you use most while you're driving. By default, the map controls are displayed on the map. You can change the setting so only a tap on the map will bring them up
To change the display of the map controls (always display / display on tap only), go to settings >> general and change the 'display map option'.
The Compass Icon - lets you toggle between two possible map displays:
The default display: the compass arrow swings as you drive, and the map rotates, so that you always see the map in the direction you're driving. The arrow always points to the north.
Clicking this icon will change the display: the compass icon changes to an arrow and the letter N . The map is fixed (North is always up) and does not rotate.
The zoom in / out icons - for zooming in and out on the map. On the iPhone you can also do this on the touch screen in the usual way. The Edit Map icon lets you update the map. Tap the map icon to display a menu of possible actions:
Record a New Road - if the road you’re driving on isn't on the map yet, you can add it to the map just by driving it. Select this option to start recording the route as you travel it; select again to turn recording off. (For best results, start recording from a point that's already on the map, e.g. where the new road intersects with a road already on the map) You will get a message that recording is now on (or off); press OK to confirm.
Update House Numbers – the number of the house you are next to (or if you're moving, the house you were next to when you made the selection) is displayed with up/down arrows to change it. When the correct number is displayed, press OK.
Report map problem – gives you a sub-menu for reporting the most common mistakes on the map.
Select the appropriate mistake
Optional: if you want to add any text, select "more details"
Press Send to send the report, or Cancel to exit the report
Map problem categories are:
Incorrect turn - the map shows that you can make a turn at that point which in fact isn't allowed
Incorrect address – the name of the street is incorrect
Incorrect route – the navigation instructions here are incorrect
Missing Roundabout
General Map Error - here you'll usually want to use the virtual keyboard to key in the details before you press Send.After you press Send you get a message that the report was sent correctly.
The Command Buttons (bottom)
The buttons at the bottom of the screen give you access to all waze functions:
Me on Map
displays the map of your current location, with an icon representing your car (you can change the icon for your car via the Settings > Profile menu). This is the default state of waze's main screen provided you have GPS connectivity in your current location (green or orange GPS icon on the status bar). Whenever the car icon isn't displayed, just press "Me on Map" to update the map to your current location. If you don't have a good enough GPS connection (grey GPS icon with an X on it), the "me on map" button isn't highlighted and you can't use it, because if you don't have a GPS connection, waze can't determine even an approximate location for you.
Route calculations (Needs updating)
To calculate the best route to one of the displayed locations, touch its name/address (text). Waze will find the route, and display the map together with the distance to destination and the expected time to drive there. You might get a message that waze has insufficient data to calculate the route. This doesn't mean that waze can't calculate any route, only that waze isn't sure it's been able to find the optimal route. In this case you have two options:
Try Route - to get navigation guidance for the route that waze knows.
Teach waze - if you yourself know the route, you can teach waze the best route just by driving it.
To do anything else, touch the arrow button next to the name. This brings up a menu where you can choose to:
Navigate – calculate the best route as above
Show location on map – waze displays the location (and you can zoom in and out) but does not calculate the best route to it.
Events
Simply by driving around with waze running on their smartphones, drivers share real-time information that waze translates into road and traffic conditions. You can also actively report to the community on traffic, accidents and incidents, speed cameras, police traps, blocked roads and more. These are called "events". This information about events is collected and analyzed in real time to provide all wazers with the optimal route to their destination at any given moment.
The Events button displays a menu, organized by type of event, of the real-time live reports by wazers about problems in your area:
All - gives you a list of all events reported in your area, listed by distance
Police - displays only reports of police cars/traps , listed by distance
Traffic - displays only reports of traffic loads in your area (light / moderate / heavy / standstill) listed by distance
Accidents - displays only reports of accidents in your area.
Other - any reports of events that aren't in one of the above 3 categories.
From the list of displayed events, you can:
Touch an event to display its location on the map together with the full text of the report. To add your own comment to the report of this event (where allowed): touch the Comment button that appears under the text of the report. You'll get a virtual keyboard: type in your comment and press Done. Your comment will also be sent directly to the wazer who reported the event originally. If he or she replies, you'll get a message on your screen: "responding to you" with his or her reply.
Touch the arrow beside an event to bring up a menu of possible actions:
Display it on the map (the same option as touching the report of the event rather than the arrow beside it)
Report irrelevant – if you're in that location and the event reported no longer exists there
Add comment – brings up the virtual keyboard; type in your comment and then press Done.
Sort by recency - if you would rather see results by chronological order (latest first).
Report
This is where you yourself report an event. Tapping the Report button displays a menu of several different types of events: reporting can be as simple as choosing the type of event and pressing Send. The event will be marked at the location you were in when you chose the type of event.
The types are:
Police - . Other users will see it pinned on the map with this icon
Traffic - . On the map
Accident - . On the map
Hazard - . On the map
Speed Cam - . On the map
Chit Chat - . On the map
Check in with Foursquare - let's you check in to a foursquare location nearby. See the profile section for more details.
After choosing a type of event you get a screen were you can indicate:
A text description of the event (disabled while car is moving)
Whether it's on your side of the road (default) or the other side. Click once to change.
A smiley to show how you feel about the event – happy , sad , mad , bored , and so on.
A photo of the event – choose the "Add image" icon and your phone switches to camera mode; point and shoot, and the picture appears instead of the "Add image" icon
At the bottom of ‘report event’ page you will notice three options:
You can choose to ‘hide’ the event description. This will take you back to a map with a pin in it, representing where your report will be shown. To go back and approve the event, hit the small icon on the right side of the map.
When the report is the way you want it, choose Send; or to back out without sending it, choose Cancel.
If you've input your Twitter account details and chosen to send your reports as tweets to your followers, the report will also appear as a status update in your Twitter account.
The Top Status Bar
The waze logo click to see the about screen, including the version number.
GPS Connectivity: The satellite icon
shows you have GPS connectivity and its strength. means you have good connectivity and your location is known. means a low-power connection, until it improves only your rough location is known. means your GPS connection is bad or non-existent, and your location is unknown. To improve it, try to give your phone a clear line of sight to the sky and wait a few minutes.
Mood icon The smiley shows the mood you're in at the moment. If you've chosen to be visible to other wazers (green privacy icon), your mood is also displayed to them; and if you've chosen to tweet your reports to your Twitter followers, they'll see your current mood as part of the tweet. You can change it via the Settings > Profile menu. Current options are: - you’re happy – other wazers will see your avatar on the map as - you’re sad – and your avatar - you’re tired – and your avatar - you’re mad – and your avatar - you’re bored – and your avatar - you’re starving – and your avatar
More moods coming soon!!
Stars and points Ticker
This icon, on the right-hand side of the main screen below the status bar, allows you to view the number of points you have accumulated and your current rank.
To open the ticker, tap on the little green arrow and the ticker will slide out.
To close the ticker – tap the green arrow again.
If you accumulate points while driving (by sending reports or driving on roads that are dotted), the green ticker will automatically slide out, and your new points will be shown under “gained points.” The ticker will slide back in after a few seconds.
If you don't want to display the points ticker icon on your screen, you turn it off (or on again) via Settings > General > 'Show points ticker' and choosing "on" or "off".
No Internet Connectivity icon
This only appears if your phone has no connection to the Internet. Note that you might see this icon when launching waze as it could take a few seconds for waze to connect.
Without internet connectivity (active data), you'll be able to continue driving along routes that have already been downloaded to your phone; you will not be able to see reports or new sections of the map. For instance: if you've requested a "best route" and it's been downloaded to your phone, you can continue to drive along it, but if you decide to turn off from it along the way, you won't get that new section of the map without Internet connectivity.
The Live Reports icon
This is an exclamation point together with a small number representing the number of events that have been reported in your area. As long as you have Internet connectivity this number is constantly updated.
To view details of these reports, tap the Events button at the bottom of the screen.
If you've stopped, the reports will also be displayed in rotation on the main screen, on your map.
No Sound icon
You can choose whether you want to hear voice instructions on your route. When this option is "on", no icon is displayed on the status bar. When it's "off", you will see this icon of a speaker with an X on it. You turn it on or off via Settings > Navigation guidance.
The settings Button
Takes you to the settings screen where you can modify and personalize waze. See all settings in the next section of this guide.
The Power Button
This lets you set how waze runs and therefore how much power it's consuming. Tap it to display the available options. They are:
Resume manually - minimize waze but keep it running in the background. To switch back to waze, click on the waze icon on your phone's desktop, and you'll be back in it right away.
Resume in 30 seconds - Waze will be minimized for 30 seconds and then automatically come back up.
Exit – turn off the application completely.
Cancel – go back to Waze main screen without taking any of the above options.
Settings
The settings allow you to view and personalize your waze experience. Tap it to enter the Settings menu. Here you define:
Navigation guidance (on/off) – whether you want voice instructions in addition to the map display when following a route
Display – to display the map in either 2D (default) or 3D.
Light – whether the screen lighting should be adjusted for day or night viewing. By default, the display will automatically switch to night mode when it gets dark. You can choose to keep this option manual by setting "automatic night mode" to Off from the General settings menu.
General Settings
This menu lets you set:
The backlighting (on/off): by default it's "on", and the backlight will remain on as long as waze is running.
Speaker volume - to choose the volume level for voice directions
Auto zoom of maps (on/off) – by default it's "on", so the map will zoom in and out while you're navigating, based on the distance to your next decision point (e.g. place where you have to turn). You can disable this feature by selecting "off".
Whether to display the points ticker ("on" to display it, "off" to hide it)
Automatic night mode (on/off) – the default is "on": waze switches between day and night mode automatically. To disable this automatic switching, choose "off". You can still switch manually between day and night modes from the main Settings screen.
The measurement system - you can choose to display distances in miles or in kilometers.
Profile Menu
Displays your account details: username, five stars representing your password (no matter how long your password is) and nickname; and lets you change your nickname. To change your username and password, first go to the waze.com site, log in, and make the changes, and only then update it on your phone.
Displays a car icon which will represent your car on the map you see. You can choose from a large number of cars of different types and colors (more cars coming soon!!)
Displays the icon for your current mood – you can change it to one of the others.
Twitter – lets you choose whether to tweet your waze reports to your twitter followers; if you choose to do so, enter your Twitter username and password. Your current mood will be included in the tweet. You can disable and re-enable tweeting at any time without affecting your Twitter credentials.
FourSquare - lets you set up your foursquare account to use with waze, and set tweets about your foursquare activity.
What is Foursquare? It's a cool way to discover and promote cool places in your city and be rewarded for doing so. You can check foursquare and check in to locations around you using waze.
First thing you'll need is to create an account on foursquare - this can be done on http://www.foursquare.com
Then, make sure you are logged in to waze (with your waze user name) and go to settings >> profile. Under 'Foursquare' enter your foursquare user name and password. Hit back or enter (depending on phone) and wait for the message confirming that you were able to connect to your foursquare account. Note that sometimes it takes a few times before it is able to connect.
Once connected, you can use waze and at any given point - when you position is known (GPS icon is green) - you can check in to locations on foursquare. Go to "report" - where you would usually report traffic jams, accidents, etc. - the last option is to check in with foursquare. Choosing this option will bring up a list of all the foursquare locations around you. Click on one to check in to it. Then visit http://www.foursquare.com to see the full details of this check in.
Routing Menu
Here you tell waze how to calculate the optimal route for you. The options are:
Route preference – you prefer the calculation to choose either the shortest route, or the fastest taking into account current event reports along that route. The default is "fastest".
Dirt roads – you can choose to allow their inclusion in your route, to forbid it, or to allow short ones but avoid long ones where possible.
Minimize turns (on/off) – if this is "on", waze calculates a route that will require you to turn from one street into another as few times as possible.
Avoid highways (on/off) – the default is "off". If you prefer to spend as little time on highways as possible, choose "on". (It isn't always possible, of course, to avoid highways altogether, but waze will do its best, taking into account your other routing preferences).
Privacy Menu
This menu displays a screen headed "Display my location on mobile and web" with the options "when driving" and "when reporting". Waze always respects your privacy, and your location will never be shared against your will. This is where you define the degree of privacy you'd like:
When driving - choose between:
Anonymous: your location is shown but not your identity (neither username nor nickname): you appear as an "anonymous user". This is the default. The top Status bar shows this by displaying your avatar in blue with a question mark on it.
Nickname and avatar: other wazers will see your location on the map, and your avatar will display your current mood (as described regarding the Status bar avatar, above). If you've chosen this option, your status bar displays a green avatar.
Don't show me: your location won't be shown at all – you're there but invisible, like a ghost! The top Status bar shows this displaying a ghost avatar.
When reporting - choose between:
Using my nickname: your reports are identified by your nickname
Anonymous: your reports are sent anonymously, no information identifying their sender is displayed
About - this displays information about the waze program, including which version you're currently running.
Driving with Waze
Speed Cameras
Voice alerts are only given if you are speeding when approaching a speed camera
, a compass 
and a map edit icon 
with no text
You can only see the map if you have full GPS connectivity. If you're in an area where GPS reception is partial, you will see a map with a big cursor displaying your approximate location (based on cell ID). 
. The map is fixed (North is always up) and does not rotate. 
/ out 
icons - for zooming in and out on the map. On the iPhone you can also do this on the touch screen in the usual way. 
lets you update the map. Tap the map icon to display a menu of possible actions:
- gives you a list of all events reported in your area, listed by distance
- displays only reports of police cars/traps , listed by distance
- displays only reports of traffic loads in your area (light / moderate / heavy / standstill) listed by distance
- displays only reports of accidents in your area.
- any reports of events that aren't in one of the above 3 categories.
. On the map 
. On the map 
. On the map 
, sad 
, mad 
, bored 
, and so on.
means a low-power connection, until it improves only your rough location is known. 
means your GPS connection is bad or non-existent, and your location is unknown. To improve it, try to give your phone a clear line of sight to the sky and wait a few minutes. 
- you’re sad – and your avatar 
- you’re tired – and your avatar 
- you’re mad – and your avatar 
- you’re bored – and your avatar 
- you’re starving – and your avatar 
which will represent your car on the map you see. You can choose from a large number of cars of different types and colors (more cars coming soon!!)
