Waze Deep Links

Waze supports an API that enables developers to open the Waze client application or web page through an external URL. The URL can be accessed from within another mobile application or a mobile web page.

Base URL for Waze Deep Links

The base URL to use Waze Deep Links is `https://waze.com/ul`. The Waze application can then locate an address, mark an address on the map, or start a navigation session to an address or destination, based on which parameters you pass to this URL.

How Deep Links Work?

Whether Waze opens as a client app or a web page depends on the user's system configuration:

• Desktop: Waze opens as a web page.
• Mobile device (and the Waze app is installed): The Waze app opens.
• Mobile device (and Waze isn’t installed): Waze opens as a web page.

If you're sure that the Waze app is installed, you can use the URL "waze://" for app-to-app communication without the web experience. This is in place of the base URL described above. Only use this option if you’re sure that your users have Waze installed; otherwise, if users tap the link, nothing happens.

Using Waze Deep Links

You can use the following URL to launch Waze with parameters from a third-party app, email, SMS, web page link, or other source.

Waze Deep Links uses the following URL: https://waze.com/ul?param_name=value[&param_name=value]

Common Waze Deep Links Tasks

• Navigate to Location: To navigate to a specific location, open the Waze Live Map and search for your location. Either type in the search box or zoom in and click on a specific segment of the map. Click the share icon in the bottom-right corner of the map. A dialog appears. Click Share driving directions, then copy and paste the link. Note: The zoom level of your view on the Live Map is reflected in the embed code. You can modify the zoom level with the zoom parameter. For more information, see URL parameters. Example: The following example centers the map on Times Square in New York: https://www.waze.com/ul?ll=40.75889500%2C-73.98513100&navigate=yes&zoom=17

• Navigate to Favorite: You can navigate to the following favorites saved in the Waze app: work, home. Use the following URL to navigate to a specified favorite: https://waze.com/ul?favorite=favorite&navigate=yes Example: The following example sets the destination to work: https://waze.com/ul?favorite=work&navigate=yes

• Search: Search for an address with the following syntax: https://waze.com/ul?q=search_terms. Values that you pass for the parameters must be URL-encoded. For example, you must replace spaces with %20.     Example: The following example searches for "66 Acacia Avenue": https://waze.com/ul?q=66%20Acacia%20Avenue

• Show on Map: Use the following syntax to set the map's magnification level (or zoom) of the Waze map view: https://waze.com/ul?z=magnification_level. The minimum value for magnification_level is 6 (closest, or most magnification). The maximum value for magnification_level is 8192 (farthest, or least magnification). Example: The following example sets the magnification level to 8: https://waze.com/ul?z=8

• Combine Parameters: You can use the parameters together in the same URL by separating the name-value pairs with an "&". 

    Examples: 

• To center the map on Maryhill and zoom to 10: https://waze.com/ul?ll=45.6906304,-120.810983&z=10
• To search for an address and then navigate to that address: https://waze.com/ul?q=66%20Acacia%20Avenue&ll=45.6906304,-120.810983&navigate=yes
• Include utm_source: If you include a utm_source in your implementation, we can associate usage with particular partners. If an issue occurs that impacts the integration, the utm_source lets us follow up with the partner and provide them with a better partner experience. For more details, see the iOS example.

Examples of Using the Waze Deep Links API

Android Example

The following code snippet example launches Waze to look for the specified location, if Waze is installed. If Waze isn't installed, it opens the Waze page in Google Play:

Java

try {
  // Launch Waze to look for Hawaii:
  String url = "https://waze.com/ul?q=Hawaii";
  Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse(url));
  startActivity(intent);
} catch (ActivityNotFoundException ex) {
  // If Waze is not installed, open it in Google Play:
  Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("market://details?id=com.waze"));
  startActivity(intent);
}

iOS Example

The following code snippet example navigates to lat/lon if Waze is installed; otherwise, it launches the App Store to install Waze:

Sure, here is a Rust snippet:

objective-c

- (void) navigateToLatitude:(double)latitude longitude:(double)longitude
{
  if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication]
    canOpenURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"waze://"]]) {
      NSString *bundleIdentifier = NSBundle.mainBundle.bundleIdentifier;
      // Waze is installed. Launch Waze and start navigation
      NSString *urlStr =
        [NSString stringWithFormat:@"https://waze.com/ul?ll=%f,%f&navigate=yes&utm_source=%s",
        latitude, longitude, bundleIdentifier];
      [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:urlStr]];
  } else {
    // Waze is not installed. Launch AppStore to install Waze app
    [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL
      URLWithString:@"http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id323229106"]];
  }
}

When you compile with iOS SDK 9.0 and later, you must update your application's property list file with the following to include Waze:

XML

<key>LSApplicationQueriesSchemes</key>
<array>
  <string>waze</string>
</array>