Waze on Android: what Google Play reviewers complain about
We classified the 300 newest English-language Google Play reviews of Waze Navigation & Live Traffic (by Waze) in the US store, dated 14 October 2026 to 20 October 2026. Average rating in this sample: 3.99★. Its all-time Google Play rating is 4.4★ from 8.9M ratings. 64 reviews (21%) contained a complaint; the biggest theme was bugs (81% of complaining reviews).
Star ratings in this sample
| Stars | Reviews | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 5★ | 190 | 63% |
| 4★ | 32 | 11% |
| 3★ | 14 | 5% |
| 2★ | 12 | 4% |
| 1★ | 52 | 17% |
Complaint themes
| Theme | Reviews | Share of complaints | Avg severity (0–3) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bugs | 52 | 81% | 2.2 |
| Feature requests | 31 | 48% | 1.9 |
| UX / design | 18 | 28% | 2.1 |
| Performance | 11 | 17% | 2.4 |
| Crashes / freezes | 8 | 12% | 2.6 |
| Pricing / subscription | 1 | 2% | 1.1 |
| Ads | 1 | 2% | 3.0 |
A review can count in several themes, so shares add up to more than 100%.
Top issues, ranked by reviews × severity
- Improve content quality: 23 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.1/3. What to do: Review the content areas users name; add a "report a problem" button on content.
“The app took me to the wrong location the first time I used it.” (1★, v?, 2026-10-17) - Soften the redesign backlash: 13 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.2/3. What to do: Explain the change in-app, restore the most-missed option, or offer a setting for the old behaviour.
“randomly makes new routes and adds on 20 minutes to long drives. random u turns. compared to other maps this is garbage. severe decrease in quality” (1★, v5.25.0.1, 2026-10-17) - Ship the most requested feature: 12 complaining reviews, avg severity 1.8/3. What to do: Read the quotes below for the exact request; consider a public roadmap.
“Not sure what the developers are doing or the agenda, too much addition and tweaks have made this almost useless. I drive at night and this app used to be a lifesaver. I send update about road closure, waze is unresponsive, keeps trying to bring me back to sam…” (1★, v5.25.0.1, 2026-10-15) - Fix notifications: 11 complaining reviews, avg severity 1.9/3. What to do: Check notification delivery and let users control frequency in settings.
“why does my Waze app not alert me to police and speed camera. the app is set for all notifications. I am receiving directions and notifications of speed humps near by” (1★, v5.25.0.1, 2026-10-16) - Fix in-use crashes and freezes: 8 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.7/3. What to do: Match quoted actions to crash reports; ship a hotfix for the top stack trace.
“Used to ❤️ this app, was the best navigation app that also told you where crashes, police , road hazards etc were I am now getting constant trip freezing & drop outs during use, you can be driving to a destination & it drops out & then asks you if you want to…” (1★, v5.25.0.1, 2026-10-14)
Google Play vs App Store
| Google Play (Android) | App Store (iOS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews in sample | 300 | 300 |
| Dates | 2026-10-14 – 2026-10-20 | 2026-09-03 – 2026-10-22 |
| Avg stars in sample | 3.99★ | 3.67★ |
| Reviews with a complaint | 21% | 24% |
| Biggest complaint theme | Bugs | Bugs |
Both samples use the same AI classifier. The iOS sample comes from Apple's public review feed across several storefronts and can cover a longer period, so compare themes rather than exact percentages.
Waze App Store complaints (iOS)
Rating by app version
| Version | Reviews | Avg stars | Share with a complaint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.25.5.0 | 25 | 4.4 | 20% |
| 5.25.0.1 | 187 | 4.0 | 24% |
| 5.24.5.0 | 18 | 4.8 | 0% |
Versions with fewer than 5 reviews in the sample are left out.
The same report for your Android app
Up to 600 recent Google Play reviews in up to 10 languages, classified into 7 themes and 18 specific issues, with severity, version trend, real quotes and 10 ranked fixes. PDF by email within 24–48 h.
Google Play report – €19 €9 iOS + Android bundle – €29 €15 Free check
Launch prices until 30 Nov 2026 or the first 20 orders (then €19 / €29 bundle).
Method and limits
Reviews were collected once from the public Google Play listing (newest first, US store, English) with the open-source google-play-scraper library, then each review was classified by an AI model into 7 themes and 18 specific issues with a severity of 0–3; individual labels can be wrong, so check the quotes. Big apps get hundreds of reviews a day, so this is a snapshot of a few days, not the app's full history. Generated 24 October 2026. Not affiliated with Waze or Google.
More Google Play complaint reports
- Uber on Android (20% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- DeepSeek on Android (32% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Snapchat on Android (17% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Uber Eats on Android (44% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- SHEIN on Android (13% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Pinterest on Android (28% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Samsung Health on Android (63% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Amazon Shopping on Android (47% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
All Google Play reports · All app complaint reports
FAQ
What do Android users complain about most in Waze?
In the 300 newest US Google Play reviews (2026-10-14 to 2026-10-20), the most common complaint theme was bugs (81% of complaining reviews), and the top specific issue was “improve content quality” (23 reviews).
How many Waze Google Play reviews are negative?
64 of 300 recent reviews (21%) contained a complaint. Average rating in this sample: 3.99★.
Do iPhone or Android users complain more about Waze?
In our samples, 21% of recent Google Play reviews and 24% of recent App Store reviews contained a complaint. The samples cover different periods, so the gap is a signal, not a precise measurement.