Garmin may soon warn Waze drivers when a cyclist is on the road ahead

Garmin is reportedly working on a feature that would share a cyclist's live location with Waze so that nearby drivers can see riders on the road, according to an APK teardown of the Garmin Connect app by Gadgets & Wearables. The strings, found in version 5.31 of the Android app, point to an optional tool built on top of Garmin's LiveTrack service.

The teardown found three labels for the feature: "Share Location with Waze," "Share your rides with Waze," and "Waze Location Sharing." A separate string tells cyclists that drivers using Waze will be able to see their location. The code also contains a dedicated consent flow and onboarding material, which suggests riders would need to opt in before Garmin passes any data to Waze.

Based on the strings, Garmin would send a rider's LiveTrack position to Waze while a cycling activity is running. Waze would then show nearby motorists that a cyclist is ahead, including on narrow roads, around bends and in poor visibility. Drivers would not need a Garmin device, because the rider's position would appear inside the Waze app itself.

LiveTrack already lets friends and family follow a Garmin user's activity in real time through a shared link, showing their position and, depending on settings, some activity data. Garmin's paid Connect+ tier, launched in March 2025 at $6.99 a month, adds expanded LiveTrack options such as text alerts to chosen contacts when an activity starts. The Waze integration would take that location data beyond invited contacts and put it in front of motorists on the same roads.

Waze is Google's crowdsourced navigation app, built around live driver reports of crashes, stopped vehicles, road closures, and other hazards. This year it began rolling out advance warnings for speed bumps, sharp curves, toll booths, and emergency vehicles. Users on the app's suggestion forum have also asked for cyclists to appear on the map, with audible or on-screen warnings when a driver closes in on a rider.

Garmin already tackles the same problem from the rider's side with its Varia rear-view radar, which warns cyclists of vehicles approaching from behind. The code does not reveal which Garmin watches or Edge bike computers would support Waze sharing, whether it would require a Connect+ subscription, or whether it would launch in a limited set of countries first.

It also gives no detail on how riders would appear to drivers, whether as a cyclist icon, a rider-ahead warning, or a continuously updating position. Features found in app code can stay in development for months or never ship, and neither Garmin nor Waze has announced the integration.