Three Waze settings that make driving with Android Auto less annoying

Waze can be a lot to live with on a car screen. A writer at Android Police says he left it on default settings at first, then found three changes that made daily driving with Android Auto calmer. One of them, he says, cut at least 10 to 15 minutes off each commute.

Quieter voice directions

Waze gives spoken alerts from its driver community, and not all of them need to be read aloud. The Less Chatty option keeps alerts short and limits them to the important ones. Turn instructions, hazard alerts and lane guidance still come through. The repeated "in 500 feet… in 300 feet… turn right" reminders go away.

To find it, open Menu > Settings > Voice & sound, tap Spoken directions or Voice directions, and pick Less Chatty. The writer uses it on road trips and unfamiliar highways, not on his daily route. It also keeps music and podcasts from being interrupted.

A cleaner map

Waze can feel like a social network as much as a map. The writer turned off the setting that shows other Waze users nearby. The colorful driver avatars disappear, and the map focuses on the route, traffic and relevant alerts. That helps on the smaller screens found in some cars.

• Go to Settings > Map Display and turn off Show Wazers.
• The same menu lets you hide other non-essential icons.
• He also turned off report types he did not need, such as extra construction markers and gas prices.
• He kept Show Traffic Flow on, which shows live traffic in red, yellow and green.

Toll and HOV passes

By default, Waze reroutes aggressively and avoids tolls and HOV lanes unless pass details are entered. HOV lanes are carpool lanes. That can send drivers down slower, obscure roads. The writer says he learned about the fix from another Waze user.

After he added his pass, Waze offered routes that used HOV lanes and toll roads suited to that pass. He says ETAs became more accurate, and the app showed faster options with accurate pricing. Open Settings > Toll and HOV passes and add yours. Then, in Settings > Navigation, turn off Avoid toll roads if that helps your commute.

What to keep in mind

Full HOV and toll-pass routing is limited in some regions, so check whether your area is supported. The time savings are one driver's experience, not a guarantee. The writer still changes some settings on highways or in unfamiliar areas, so these are starting points, not fixed rules.