After announcing that it would come t in CES and show us a beta version in late January, Ford is finally implementing the integration of Waze with its SYNC 3 infotainment system. IOS users with a car equipped with SYNC 3 can now "project" or "reflect" Waze in the infotainment system, giving them full access to the Waze maps, as well as all the collective information about traffic, dangers and police alerts that the application is known.
In order to work, users need the Waze application and they must have version 3.0 (or higher) of SYNC 3, with their iOS 11.3 (or later) phones. As expected, it does not run through CarPlay; Apple still wants you to use Apple Maps there. Instead, it runs on SYNC 3 through Ford's AppLink, which is something like Ford's own version of CarPlay.
As with, say, CarPlay, the Waze application will continue to run on your phone in this situation. But the mirrored version that appears on the infotainment screen does not feel worse because of this (at least based on what I saw when it was running in beta earlier this year). The only problem I had when I played with Waze back then was that the experience was a little problematic, which is not surprising for a beta version.
Otherwise, the icons are large and colorful, the interface is simple to navigate, and even works with voice controls. Bringing Waze to the largest screen for iOS users, something that Android Auto users have enjoyed for a while, helps add more options to the mix. It is also another small part of Ford's effort to try to elevate its image of advanced technology. The company also announced a deeper integration with Amazon's Alexa earlier this year. On the driving side, he recently unveiled his driver assistance package, which will debut on the SUV 2019 Edge.