larryo108

iTrader: (1)

Yeah. According to that my SYNC is up to date. I will have to check the version when I go for lunch today.

Crank Bait

For all of the incredible engineering in my new F150, the quiet and comfortable ride, great handling, power and more, it seems silly the Sync technology included with the radio seems so 'stupid' and buggy despite it's great potential. Furthermore, this issue and the sense that nobody seems to care about it at Ford or at my dealer is one reason I may never buy a new Ford vehicle in the future. It does seems silly that the 'radio' (human interface) is the issue that would cause me to stop being a Ford customer but it seems to have had more impact on my ownership experience than most other things. Sync bothers me even more than when the spark plug shot out of the head on my 2003 Triton V8. At least I got years of service from the truck before that happened. Sync was broken before I drove off the lot.

I am using the most current version of the Sync software available for my vehicle according to SyncMyRide.com. It is not the phone. The same phone works and auto-connects in other vehicles (Ford, Toyota and Audi). It resumes playing where it left off as desired. The Bluetooth indicator comes on when I start the truck and phone functions work. The issue is the head unit reverts to line-in each time I exit the truck. I have to say "Bluetooth Audio" every time I re-enter the vehicle. Annoying and easily fixed.

I agree with temposs:
"While I appreciate the response, it seems the best "fix" would have been making this behavior configurable in the menu somewhere? Something like "Remember my last source input" or something like that which could be set to on or off, or allowing users to pick a "Default source input". That said, being able to say "Bluetooth Audio" is simple enough, when SYNC actually recognizes what I'm saying. As it stands currently, people like myself and the OP get a crappy user experience from our entertainment systems."

1)The menus in Sync with MyFord (not Touch or Nav) have dead ends. As I've explored the settings looking for a solution to a bluetooth issue, the system gets stuck. When I've gotten to a certain point in the menu tree, I cannot go forward or back or make any selection without first cycling the power on the head unit (a reboot). It's buggy and needs attention.

2) I cannot tune the radio or Sirius using voice commands. For this, I need to purchase the more expensive Nav or Touch system. I don't want Nav. I have better and less costly Nav options via my smartphone or a Garmin. I just want to tune the radio without looking away from the road. Since the voice commands are supposed to be about safety and convenience, the current design leaves much to be desired. The plain, old radio in my 2003 was safer because the 'UI' was intuitive. Now I have to press a series of buttons and confirm my selections on a small screen which takes my eyes off the road. It's poor design which sacrifices safety.

If the idea was to hobble the base unit to create more revenue by up-selling, it's backfired. Now I'm simply dissatisfied because I know the electronics I purchased with my vehicle are technically capable; there is a processor, voice interface, FM radio and Sirius radio. It seems that someone at Ford has decided not to include the code to enable that functionality except in the more expensive head unit.

3) I cannot default the Sync system to Bluetooth audio. It reverts to Line-In every time I start the ignition. I drove a 2010 Ford Fusion that was able to remember I was streaming audio from my Bluetooth device when I left the vehicle to get fuel (for example). It would reconnect and start playing automatically when I returned to the vehicle. It seems I can't get Sync do this in my new 2013 truck. The Bluetooth reconnects to the phone functions but the audio source on the head unit defaults back to 'Line-In' if Sync Media Source was selected when I turned off the vehicle. Yet, it can remember when I use FM or Sirius and remains tuned to the last station I listened to. Why can't Sync remember this? Calls to support simply restate what we already know, "It won't do that."

Antonio: I appreciate your response but it is not satisfactory. I hope you have a way to share this information with product managers who can release better implementations of the software. Nothing starts my day better than yelling at my truck first thing every morning. Sync could be a marvelous thing but, so far, it is the only thing about my new Ford that really makes me unhappy.

BlueOvalLove

Agreed...

jgohlke

Antonio - Thanks for the clarification. It was helpful.

Crank Bait - I hear ya. Well said.

Ford knows their Sync/MFT system isn't that great. They also know it has hurt their customer satisfaction for several years running. Ford has taken a beating about it in the surveys for several years now.

I delayed replacing my '03 FX4 until 2013 primarily because of what I read about Sync and MFT. Within 2 weeks of purchasing the new truck, I was wishing for "*****" back.

For what it is worth, "tech in the car" is difficult. Nobody (maybe Tesla) is doing it well. Even Mercedes has issues with their tech. Imagine spending 3 times the amount you spent for your truck and getting car tech that had similar problems. Ouch! Still just because everybody else is doing it poorly isn't a good excuse.

Personally, I don't think Microsoft is the right company to provide the vision for future car tech. They are unimaginative, sloppy and way too willing to ship software that is just down right crappy. It's too bad that Ford is sticking with them. I think there are much better choices. In 10 years, I think Ford will look back on this time and think, "We zigged when we should have zagged."

tractor man

Like everyone else, I have the same problem with it switching to line in every time I leave the truck and come back in. I've learned to deal with it even though it's very annoying. For me it seems sync is getting worse for some reason. Not sure if it's the ios7 update I just did for my iphone5, but now the forward and reverse track buttons on the steering wheel don't work. I have to manually change the song on my phone if I want to skip songs. At first I thought the steering wheel controls just quit working but I'm able to switch radio stations on fm/am with no issues.

Also, when switching to Bluetooth audio either manually or by voice it won't play music. Most of the time even after saying "play" it still plays nothing. More often than not I have to turn off Bluetooth on my phone then turn it back on, say Bluetooth audio, then play, and on a few occasions repeat the same cycle. I've all but given up and just settling with listening to fm radio while driving. Really frustrating especially because my experience up to now hasn't been too bad with sync considering. Now it's almost to the point that I want to turn sync off and get a separate car Bluetooth receiver. Who knows, that might work better. I'm kind of hoping that it's more of a phone issue with the new ios7 update. Anyone else having issues with the forward and reverse steering controls not working?

Sorry for my rant, I just was just on the verge of punching my steering wheel on the way home form work last night when I couldn't skip the Taylor Swift song on Pandora. Lol.

Watt-maker

I'm running iOS7 on my iphone 4s. So far it works about the same as previous ios versions when used with SYNC. I still have the same issue of reverting back to line-in once the truck is shut off.

Man, Taylor Swift? I would've punched something if I couldn't skip her music. Probably would've jabbed my hunting knife through my ears.

Bdukes55

iTrader: (4)

What I don't get is sync has all these useless menus and such that I never use but doesn't have the one little menu I need to select which input to default too? I just don't see how that could be so horrible and hard to add into the software and would save lots and lots of people a whole lot of frustration which has been expressed in this thread and many others around the forum.

schizbomb

I just find it hilarious that my mother's 2008 Explorer has SYNC that works perfectly. It reads texts, answers calls, auto-connects bluetooth, all perfectly.

My 2012 F-150 cannot read or notify about texts, kills my phones speakers while connected, won't auto-connect to bluetooth.

It's a cluster**** and Ford just simply does not care, they have moved on to MFT.

FordIVTteam

Crank Bait,

The feedback has certainly been documented. Thanks for sticking with us, we're committed to providing the best products for our customers.

Hi schizbomb,

Our utmost concern is keeping in touch with passionate customers such as yourself to ensure the service we provide is world-class. The texting feature is phone dependent, meaning your phone must be compatible with it in order to work: http://support.ford.com/sync-technol...c-myford-touch

In reference to your phone speakers, the audio will be rerouted via SYNC when connected. In order to listen to your usual phone sounds/notifications you will have to be in the Bluetooth Audio channel. If this advisement isn't really on target, please provide more details about the issue.

Whenever a device doesn't auto-connect upon entering the vehicle, this might be indicative of a communication error. Perform a soft reset on your phone by removing the battery for about a minute. After restoring the phone, I also recommend removing SYNC from your Bluetooth options so a new pairing relationship can be created. On a side note: if you're using a Samsung phone, or a similar Android device, double check for any permissions you need to grant SYNC after making a fresh connection. The notification will only alert you once upon first pairing the device.

Hello tractor man,

It appears other Apple device owners are experiencing the same lack of response when trying to navigate their music via the steering wheel controls. Our team is currently monitoring this behavior in response to the recent iOS7 release. There's not enough information at this time to speculate on a workaround, but we'll do our best to spread the word if one does become available.

The first step in troubleshooting your connection issue is to perform a soft reset, then create a new pairing after removing SYNC from your iPhone. You will find this option under your Bluetooth settings menu, then by tapping on the arrow next to SYNC - the option you're looking for says FORGET THIS DEVICE. If this doesn't improve functionality, master reset the system: http://support.ford.com/sync-technol...ter-reset-sync

Antonio

tractor man

Thanks Antonio. I reset my phone and re paired it to sync. That seemed to solve the problem of the steering wheel controls not working. It also plays music right away after switching to bluetooth audio.