Waze And Ford Team Up To Launch SYNC AppLink Compatibility
CES 2018 has had its share of interesting announcements, but one that might take some by surprise is the reveal of a new Ford and Waze team up. The two companies announced their new partnership today, and it will see Waze becoming accessible through Ford's SYNC AppLink platform. This is great news for Waze adherents, as it should make the app much easier to use when you're on the road.
AppLink, as many Ford owners already know, allows you to run apps from your phone through Sync, putting them up on the screen embedded in your dashboard. With Waze, which for the uninitiated is a crowd-sourced GPS app, this kind of functionality will be particularly handy. Most importantly, it means no more windshield mounts or glancing at your phone just so you can use the navigation app you prefer.
In today's announcement, Ford and Waze note that all of the features of the Waze app will be available when used through AppLink. This means support for features that were just recently rolled out, including support for high occupancy vehicle routes and the ability to navigate the app via voice commands.
To use Waze through AppLink, you'll only need to connect your phone to your car's USB port. Once you do, you'll be able to pull up Waze on your SYNC's display, thereby routing the readout of your directions through your vehicle's sound system. If voice commands aren't really your thing, you'll be able to use SYNC's touch screen to interact with Waze as well.
Waze and Ford say that this functionality will be available in the coming weeks. Any 2018 Ford vehicle running SYNC 3 version 3.0 or later will be able to use Waze with AppLink right away, while other SYNC 3 cars can apply an update either over the air or via USB the enable Waze support. Ford promises that more AppLink partners will be coming online soon, with upcoming support for iHeartRadio specifically announced. We'll keep an eye out for more news about incoming AppLink partners, but for now, head on over to our CES 2018 hub for all of our coverage from the show!