Is Waze truly dead?

[p1800nut]

I know that Waze hasn't been updated on Windows phones since 2014 or so, but I've found that even with the limited functionality it meets my needs on my Lumia 640. But as of last night, it has stopped working entirely. The splash screen comes up but it never seems to connect, and eventually closes on its own. Has the End finally come?

 

[Kerry2112]

Not yet (at least, not for me). I used it today as every other day, with no problems, on my 950XL DS.

If it (or CloudMuzik) ever die on W10M, that'll be it for me. Both absolutely indispensable for me.

 

[camaroz1985]

Hasn't worked on W10M for me in some time. It never connects, and that has been on several different devices, so I can't blame it on one. It was one of the final straws for me.

 

[p1800nut]

Interesting split opinions, which is also what I found with more general Googling. I'm not sure if that reflects different definitions of "working" (mine was already hobbled, but I considered it workable), different devices, or some sort of rolling shutdown.

Whatever it is, it looks like my L640 is headed to retirement. Oddly, I can't get GMaps to work either--also freezes on the opening page--though since the native Maps works, it's not a problem with my GPS radio. I wonder if an API changed, rendering other sat nav programs useless....

 

[fatclue_98]

It may just be a regional thing. Has anyone uninstalled it and then re-installed?

 

[p1800nut]

I tried installing and reinstalling with no luck,

HOWEVER, I did have success when I did a hard reset and reloaded the backup. Obviously I had to reset some of my settings, but it was a pretty painless way to get Waze back. (Interestingly, GMaps is working too, though I don't think I'll be using it with Waze working.)

Granted, it's still a bit funky. For example, it seems to get stuck in a recalculating loop, but all I need to do is use the back arrow (like I was exiting the app), and then choose Cancel and it turns out that it has actually completed the recalculation. Somewhat annoyng, but I can live with it.

 

[camaroz1985]

Didn't work for me after uninstall/reinstall or hard reset/restore. For me it is truly dead.

 

[sneaky7642]

p1800nut,

I contacted WAZE Support November 2017, and I've attached their response below. I'm using the WAZE app on my 950XL phone with occasional GPS issues. But, I hadn't had any problems this past week. I guess from there response, all the Windows Phone users will need to uninstall and re-install the WAZE app monthly for them to provide us with updates and support. I love my Windows 10 Phone, but it's getting frustrating not having the app support. I'm giving Microsoft to the end of this year to get this resolved or I will move to another device.

--

From: waze.cases@google.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2017 9:23 AM
To: sneaky7642
Subject: RE: [2-6367000020057] My location isn't shown on the map

Hi Christopher,
Thank you for contacting Waze Support.
New versions of the Waze app are not currently optimized for the Windows Phone platform, since the vast majority of Waze users are on iOS or Android devices. We are monitoring the Windows Phone install rate and will certainly reconsider if there is significant uptake.
Thanks,
The Waze Support Team
--

 

[fatclue_98]

We are monitoring the Windows Phone install rate and will certainly reconsider if there is significant uptake.

A very polite way of saying "you outta gas, dog".

 

[anthonyng]

Installed it!

 

[dacarter77]

it's working for me.

 

[gmfeld]

Today I replaced my L950 with a new L950. When I set it up I did a clean install of all apps. I downloaded Waze, but now it just says "No Network Connection" every time I launch it. It was working fine yesterday on my previous 950. Did I lose the ability to use Waze in the change to the new phone?

 

[efi hoffman]

For me WAZE stopped working about a month ago, until then WAZE worked superbly. I checked my old phone LUMIA 920 on WIN 8.1 where it still works. My feeling is that the WAZE management is disconnecting us from the servers, so the version of WIN10 has stopped working

 

[p1800nut]

11 months later and I've concluded that Waze for Windows Phone is finally dead. I got by since my post last year by tapping the close button, then cancelling and the spinning wheel would generally go away.

But since last week, the app opens, seems to work for a few seconds, and then closes. As another poster noted, I can avoid that by using airplane mode, but of course then the app is pretty much useless.

After digging through lots of forums, I noticed that Android users complained of various problems due to an upgrade that dropped about the same time that I started noticing these problems. My guess is that when they did the Android update they also did something--either intentionally or not--that killed the Windows app.

Oh well, it was a good run (and nice that the Windows app didn't have the update that resulted in ads at every stop--a big complaint with the Android version). I've moved on to NavMii, which seems to be compatible. It has live traffic and is supposed to have crowd-sourced information, though in the last couple days I haven't noticed many notifications. We'll see how it goes--I hope I don't have to entirely give up my L640 and go Android or iOS.

 

[arie12345]

WAZE also worked for me until a week ago and then after open close immediately.
This means I can no longer use WAZE.
Without WAZE there is no point in holding a smart phone.
Microsoft still has enough leverage to run on Google so they do not stop serving WM users even if their share among mobile users does not exceed 3%.
Does anyone know where the best place to address Microsoft to deal with the problem?

 

[skald89]

Im not sure what happened either. All of a sudden it stopped opening. If I do get it to open it will work. Ive reached out to Waze.

If they say that they need more downloads that will never happen. Sad that they can't keep it alive with no real improvements.

 

[Kerry2112]

I've moved on to NavMii, which seems to be compatible. It has live traffic and is supposed to have crowd-sourced information, though in the last couple days I haven't noticed many notifications. We'll see how it goes--I hope I don't have to entirely give up my L640 and go Android or iOS.

Hmmm. I just tried installing NavMii but it tells me the server is unavailable when I try to download any maps, so I'm blocked before I start. Hopefully just a temporary problem (as you seem to be using it fine and your post is fairly recent).

No CloudMuzik and no Waze - the two apps I used in concert on my commute every day with my Lumia 950XL

 

[p1800nut]

Kerry, I've been using NavMii for over a week now and while it does work, I pretty much hate it. I guess it uses crowdsourced data, because I've been thanked (by the app) for some sightings i've made, but I've gotten zero alerts. Construction zones show up as incredibly tiny icons in the distance, and the color-coded speeds don't seem up-to-date. On top of all that, the controls are incredibly non-intuitive. It's (barely) OK as a pure mapping app, but it's no Waze. Not happy, not one little bit. :-(

 

[Kerry2112]

Kerry, I've been using NavMii for over a week now and while it does work, I pretty much hate it. I guess it uses crowdsourced data, because I've been thanked (by the app) for some sightings i've made, but I've gotten zero alerts. Construction zones show up as incredibly tiny icons in the distance, and the color-coded speeds don't seem up-to-date. On top of all that, the controls are incredibly non-intuitive. It's (barely) OK as a pure mapping app, but it's no Waze. Not happy, not one little bit. :-(

Yeah, I got it working finally and I agree; it's no Waze.

 

[RockieWP]

Same for me. Waze worked fine for 5 years since the last update, but now it's dead. It's the only app in my country with traffic updates, so now I'll have to move to Android.