Unlike Google Maps, Waze needs an internet connection to download and upload traffic information. If you drive in an area without any cellular connectivity, the app will not provide you with updated traffic reports or suggest alternative routes. That seems pretty easy to understand. No internet, no updated traffic, no alternative routes. But per autoevolution, Waze users have noticed a new message appearing on the screen that says “Using offline maps.” There is only one problem. Waze doesn’t have offline maps.”
Besides that discrepancy, the message appears to show up even when the Waze app is connected to the internet via a strong cellular signal. Some users have been complaining that many times the message does not go away even when Waze is at first knocked offline and then reconnects to a cellular signal. Keep in mind that whenever the message appears, the app cannot upload traffic data, even if the device is connected to the internet.
Waze users are seeing a wildly inaccurate ‘Use offline maps’ message
If you are a Waze user and are seeing the “Using offline maps” message and are certain that your phone is connected to a cellular signal, you can quickly enable and then disable Airplane mode which hopefully will remove the message and get Waze working again. Or you can force close the Waze app by getting to the recent apps carousel and swipe Waze off of the screen. Re-open the app to see if the message is gone. It is unknown whether Waze is working on a fix for the issue.
On the Waze support page, users have been complaining about this issue for weeks with some threatening to leave Waze for Google Maps. With both apps owned by Google, the latter does offer support for offline maps and can work without an internet connection. While Google Maps is great for those who need directions to get quickly and safely from point “A” to point “B” and want suggestions about where to eat, where to stay, and where to be entertained when they arrive at “B”, Waze is all about the journey. Using crowdsourced data, Waze takes a different approach to navigation than Google Maps.
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