Products · Product
Waze
Raised as a usability problem by 70 people on Hacker News over 14 years (2013–2026), in 43 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Ad pop-up covers the map while drivingUnreviewed
20132026- Ads overlay the map while the user is driving, distracting from navigation2023-12-13
- Ad pop-up can't be swiped away, must hit a small X while driving2022-02-02
- Ads take up most of the screen on a small phone, ruining navigation2019-05-15
Constant alerts require driver responses while drivingUnreviewed
20132026- Forces extra clicks past warnings and confirmation popups when closing, distracting drivers2022-12-09
- Warning popup for typing while moving is easily bypassed by pressing the passenger button2016-09-25
- Constant pop-up alerts the driver must respond to, distracting them while driving2016-04-21
Routes drivers through neighborhood side streets to save minutesUnreviewed
20132026- Routes through confusing intersections to save seconds of driving time2021-03-16
- Routes drivers through neighborhood side streets to save minutes2020-01-30
- Routes keep sending driver across several lanes for tiny back-road detours2014-12-23
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Doesn't say the freeway number and direction, forcing drivers to rely on signs2026-06-17
- Constant unwanted modal popups and prompts add friction to using the app2026-06-17
- Map alert covers the map with no clear way to dismiss it2025-12-08
- Ad requiring a dismiss tap while driving distracted the user into a crash2025-10-26
- Required action hidden in a slide-out panel, impossible to discover without being shown2024-08-20
- Ads overlay the map while the user is driving, distracting from navigation2023-12-13
- Map randomly snaps back while zooming out and dragging2023-11-07
- Turning off crash warnings takes multiple taps and clicking a small icon is hard2023-11-07
- Auto-zoom misbehaves and manual zoom fails when viewing precise directions to new places2023-11-07
- Voice search returns irrelevant distant results, forcing scrolling to find the local place2023-08-07
- Auto zoom is bad, so the user must keep zooming in and out manually2023-06-21
- Adding stops is not friendly to use, especially on mobile2023-06-21
- Route selection doesn't respond or explain why HOV route can't be chosen2023-04-15
- Crash-history alerts cannot be turned off, and they interrupt long drives2022-12-29
- Decline button doesn't stick, so the route change prompt keeps reappearing and forcing repeated dismissals2022-12-29
- Alerts require tapping a small touch screen region while driving or the map is replaced2022-12-29
- Forces extra clicks past warnings and confirmation popups when closing, distracting drivers2022-12-09
- Account signup throws errors and gives impossible instructions; finding gas stations is a pain2022-12-09
- Starred address list reorders while the user is interacting, shifting items under their finger2022-03-25
- Ad pop-up can't be swiped away, must hit a small X while driving2022-02-02
- Google Maps and Apple Maps UI and navigation seem worse than Waze2021-07-10
- Voice commands misunderstood and house numbers read incorrectly, forcing repeated corrections2021-03-26
- Routes through confusing intersections to save seconds of driving time2021-03-16
- Waze on the car screen sits low in the dash, forcing looking away from the road2020-09-09
- On slow connections, route loading times out after seconds and shows an error, making the app useless2020-08-29
- Waze becomes unusable for a few minutes after leaving home wifi2020-04-22
- Routes drivers through neighborhood side streets to save minutes2020-01-30
- Waze UX has degraded since Google acquisition, so contributors stopped reporting2019-11-01
- Ads take up most of the screen on a small phone, ruining navigation2019-05-15
- Ad popups persist when driving starts, forcing the driver to close them2019-05-15
- Ads block the view of the route ahead when the user looks at the screen2018-03-28
- Reporting a hazard takes too many clicks2018-02-28
- Permanent Carpool button and ad prompts push users into unwanted detours2018-02-21
- Later releases changed the UI, making it less convenient and more aggravating2018-02-21
- Reporting road hazards takes about five taps while driving, with no voice option2018-02-21
- Ad dialog covers half the screen with no obvious way to dismiss it while driving2018-02-21
- Permanent Waze Carpool ad button in the main interface is intrusive2018-02-21
- Confusing turn and exit instructions at weirdly shaped intersections and ramps2018-02-21
- Horrible UI makes it hard to see road state, events, junctions and lane guidance2018-02-21
- Missing service roads and turn restrictions made navigation unusable in large Italian cities2018-02-17
- Routes through gated community and rejects townhouse entrance, forcing wrong detours2018-02-16
- Separate driver and rider apps make the carpool setup confusing2018-01-26
- Can't find the Android version; the listing found is unreleased and stale2018-01-25
- Ads pop up while stopped and slide up as you drive, causing distraction and anxiety2018-01-25
- Choosing an alternative route requires clicking through several screens, impractical while driving2018-01-25
- Scrolling the page is sluggish and janky, making it nearly unusable2018-01-25
- Interface is hard to read while driving and its aggressive routing can suggest illogical turns2017-07-26
- Suggests dangerous left turns from the right lane, forcing illegal, risky manoeuvres2017-07-26
- Too much cluttered on-screen information distracts from driving and is hard to ignore2017-07-26
- Can't mute alerts while keeping turn-by-turn voice directions audible2017-07-26