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My Ford Touch Thread

2M views 4K replies 396 participants last post by  Teamlosi23 
#1 ·
A member mentioned about having a sticky for the MFT sytem and I thought it was a good idea. Here's the thread for owners to discuss the MFT system, talk about and share issues they are having and to even share solutions. I know there are several MFT threads already out there, but we gotta start somewhere. Please keep this clean as it's going to be for everyone's benefit.

For everyone's information:
http://owner.ford.com/servlet/Conte...wnerGuidePage&year=2012&make=Ford&model=Focus

Enjoy.
 
#3,123 ·
Interesting car tech article on Computer World today:

Here's why new car tech is four years out of date
Think you can upgrade your car's hardware? Not anytime soon.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...years_out_of_date?taxonomyId=128&pageNumber=1

I say again, we don't need proprietary infotainment solutions in our vehicles, the smartphone can do it all. The car just needs to provide a mechanism to process input, display data, and amplify sound from the phone.

Upgrading should be as simple as buying a new phone.
 
#3,126 ·
Has there been any talk of a class action against Ford for MFT? It seems like we should be able to prove that they have been selling these systems knowing that they barely (if at all) work for a large chunk of people. We all paid a decent chunk of money to either have MFT as a preincluded feature, or as part of feature packages we bought (not to mention the extra $800 MSRP for Nav)


(For instance, since I put on 3.5.1, my GPS keeps randomly freezing, and will now take forever to acquire signal)
 
#3,133 ·
Only issues I have in my 2013 is the stupid map that doesn't understand half the time the difference on being on an access rd or the actual highway.
Maybe we should compare to see if everyone has the latest updates. I don't have reboot problems, don't lose camera lines. But, I don't use an iPod or iPhone. I have an android phone.

Here are my updates:

SYNC Version
Gen2 - V3.5.1
DA5T-14D546-BB
DA5T-14D546-DB
DA5T-14F496-AH
DA5T-14F497-AJ
DA5T-14F657-AK
 
#3,135 ·
Only issues I have in my 2013 is the stupid map that doesn't understand half the time the difference on being on an access rd or the actual highway.
Maybe we should compare to see if everyone has the latest updates. I don't have reboot problems, don't lose camera lines. But, I don't use an iPod or iPhone. I have an android phone.
Some tests for you:

Go into your car and start it. Immediately put the car into reverse (before MFT is finished booting.) The camera guidelines likely won't show up (and you'll have to reset that setting.) Ford knows about this. (There are other cases when the guidelines disappear, but I can't repeat them on demand.)

Once back to the MFT "home" screen, tap the time on the top center. Set the option for it to auto-determine the timezone, and then tap the option to reset the clock to the GPS. Is the time correct? (Most likely, it'll be off by one hour - unless you live in an area that doesn't use DST.)

While the engine is still running, on the A/C panel below the MFT screen, press and hold to "AUTO" button for 5 seconds (to ensure automatic mode is enabled and dual mode is disabled.) Set the temp to 72 degrees using the left-side dial. If the display for that lower section says "A/C On", go ahead and tap the A/C button on that lower control so the display says "A/C off." Now turn off the car and open the car door. Wait for MFT to shutdown. Now restart the engine and wait for MFT to reboot. Look at the lower climate control display again and you'll likely see that same "A/C off." Once MFT is done booting, tap the lower right corner (for the climate control in MFT.) Look at the "A/C" soft button in the MFT climate control. Does it indicate that A/C is on (with the yellow "light" inside the button?) It SHOULD indicate the same as the lower control, but when repeating this test, it doesn't. (If you aren't sure about the MFT soft button, tap it to toggle it on and off so you can see the difference.)

These are three different things that I can reliably repeat 100% of the time in any 2013 vehicle equipped with MFT and the 3.5.1 firmware -- without using ipod's, without pairing any phones, etc.

There are other issues that I either can't reliably repeat, or require an iPod (5th generation which is supposedly fully supported) or a specific android phone model with outdated firmware.
 
#3,136 · (Edited)
I wait for it to boot, so no issue. Why rush it. Get in, start car, put on seat belt, look around area for traffic, by then it's done booting. I did try not waiting, lines did show up and never went away. Restarted, tried again, still there.

If time is correct, then why worry about messing with it? Unless your saying when traveling to new time zone or when DST ends? I did try reset to GPS and time was off an hour. I didn't wait to see if it would update. I'll try that later.

A/c did do as you mentioned.

I will agree about the sales pitch. Bought my car two weeks ago. A 13 titanium, salesman was telling me about app link and how neat it was. I asked him to show me. He couldn't get it to work, said I had to register on sync my ride first then it would. Couldn't get it to send txt and same response. I bought car and said come back to meet sync guru to learn how. I show up next day, after I read in manual that MFT doesn't work with it. I didn't say anything. Let sync guru go at it for 30 mins trying to figure out how to get pandora to work. I couldn't take it anymore and pointed to page in book. He replies, oh no wonder it won't work. I asked if I was the only one asking about it and said they don't sell to many MFT and ppl haven't asked about that feature. I then told salesman, they both looked surprised and said that is what they have been taught in classes ( push app link).

Razr HD does sync just fine, and stream very well. (No data of course). In regards to text, I can receive with picture of contact. If I use a third party txt app, no send. If I use just the stock txt app, it puts the canned response in the txt app, but won't send. If I manually send a "." Then it pushes out the msg from car. But, this is a Bluetooth issue with android Jellybean.
 
#3,139 ·
In regards to text, I can receive with picture of contact. If I use a third party txt app, no send. If I use just the stock txt app, it puts the canned response in the txt app, but won't send. If I manually send a "." Then it pushes out the msg from car. But, this is a Bluetooth issue with android Jellybean.
Really? Can you confirm that, with your Razr HD paired, you are able to use the following voice commands (without getting an error response):

"Messages"

"Listen to text messages" (not "listen to message 1")

"Reply to Message"

"Forward message"

My reason for asking is that I've gone through a stack of android phones (including two that are on the so-called compatibility list) and each one of them gives a verbal error in response to the above voice commands. The verbal error will state the phone isn't compatible with text messaging (even though text messaging works fine with the touch interface and with the verbal command "listen to message 1" works fine.)

IF your phone works, I'm starting to have very strong suspicions why it's not working for the other phones. Motorola is one of the very few companies that supports the old "AT" style commands for manipulating text messages. It's possible that some of the voice commands are using that older interface. (Of course, its also possible it's just looking at the phone model and ignoring other phones...)

Take care
Gary
 
#3,145 · (Edited)
Not if they continue on the same path. Every new release introduces a whole new set of issues, their current development and validation methods aren't working.

I am a validation engineer by trade, we call these issues test escapes. They usually occur due to holes in the test plans (if they even have any), or lack of training. There's also the chance that they're releasing updates knowing full well that some features are broken, these would be considered showstoppers. All software has bugs, they shouldn't be so critical.

This late in the game I think they would do well to adopt a code change based testing model, or just let the open source community handle it.
 
#3,144 ·
I've read in various places that Ford extended the warranty for MFT from 3 to 5 years for all 2011-2013 vehicles. However, is this a FACT or just a rumor? Searching google, all I can find are various "news" websites saying that someone else said that Ford will extend the warranty...

However, I can't find anything directly from Ford stating this. There's no mention of this extension in any of the warranty documentation I have, and the most recent warranty's (as published on the support.ford.com website) for the 2012 and 2013 ford focus vehicles doesn't show this.

So - what, exactly, IS the warranty for the MFT on my 2013 Ford Focus? 3 years or 5 years?

Thanks
Gary
 
#3,157 ·
So now my "MyFord Touch" complaints with Ford have moved into the "game playing" stage. I'm told I have to talk to a specific customer service manager who just happens to NEVER be at their desk, and NEVER returns their phone calls.

I've seen this game before with other companies, and it's usually an intentional strategy to string the customer out long enough for them to get frustrated and go away.

What Ford doesn't seem to understand is that, as I get frustrated, I'm not going to go away. Instead, I'm going to get louder, more vocal, and start calling OTHER resources instead of Ford Motor Corp. Resources like my state Attorney General, a private lawyer, the reporters for my local news channels, news papers, consumer reports, car review websites, etc. Perhaps I'll stand in front of my local dealership and exercise my "right to assembly" with a sign saying "FORD LIES TO CUSTOMERS ABOUT SYNC!"

The local news channels will be the most fun. I'm sure they'll LOVE the story of a single poor customer being abused by the Giant Behemoth known as Ford. I'm sure having them show, on television, all the flaws in MyFord touch will just do wonderful things for Ford's sales numbers.

I realize there are a few Ford customer service employees that keep an eye around here... hopefully one of them can step in and help.
 
#3,158 ·
You sound like a younger me..:) I fought Ford over my 1996 Mustang Cobra, and won. You have to be tenacious and willing to go the distance. I wish you good luck. If you can get the story on the National wire, your local affiliates will influence buyers locally, but to hurt Ford where it counts, it has to be National News.
 
#3,164 ·
A SW fix using the existing hardware would be cheaper than new hardware. With the new hardware you have the same cost as the SW fixes plus the cost of the hardware plus the cost of the original validation that was done with the first hardware set.

Their best bet is to dump Microsoft and go with Android, at least for the future, that gets them a stable base and access to all the support that's already in place for apps/etc.
 
#3,171 ·
Their best bet is to dump Microsoft and go with Android
People keep posting stuff like this. What makes you all so sure that Android has been ported to the platform? That drivers exist for all the other hardware in the environment? And so on... If you have to get past any of that, the job just got bigger and the risk got bigger as well.

You also have to have a basic aptitude for developing for this kind of environment and, to date, Ford has not exhibited this aptitude.

I'm also not sure we have evidence that Microsoft WinAuto is more than tangentially part of the problem here. Owners with basic Sync don't seem to be having problems like MFT owners have. It's hard to imagine how the OS causes problems like not being able to key non-numeric WiFi keys into the 3.5.1 UI--when it worked in all prior versions, or not being able to remember after a one minute shutdown what audio source was playing before the shutdown, or changing the setting for the backup guidelines for who knows what reason, or the design choice to just sit and pout after a connected phone disconnects or...

(We may, however, have evidence that lots of folks have an involuntary anti-Microsoft reaction. But crap appware can make any platform look bad.)
 
#3,168 ·
<sarcasm>If you call Ford and tell them that, they'll tell you it's not a defect. They'd tell you that the car is perfectly aware of what current day is: The current day is the one before tomorrow and the one after yesterday.

They'll then tell you that you'll need to drive the car another 50,000 miles to break-in the clock, after which today will only be a memory so it doesn't really matter anymore.
</sarcasm>
 
#3,167 ·
Of the possible ways to resolve this, a software fix is the least amount of cost and effort. The issue here is likely that the code was put together without adhering to something called TDD (Test Driven Development).

This being a Microsoft product, I don't know whether this style of development is even plausible without resorting to writing a testing framework. My guess is one doesn't already exist.

If I had to guess the code for this is written the same way I wrote my first PHP application, No Framework, No Testing. Did it work in the end? Yes. Did it work well? It worked better than MFT! Bwahahaha!!!

I don't even know how you start developing for this platform? Is there an SDK somewhere? Is the problem that the framework itself is buggy therefore whatever is relegated to it is also buggy?

Either way, I believe I can help coding this baby into shape if the source was Open Sourced.
 
#3,169 ·
#3,172 ·
It's not about the platform or even about MS vs Android, etc. While I'm not sure what platform MFT is based on (I've heard people claim its flash based, and now someone saying it's MS embedded), it really doesn't matter.

An unstable platform would present itself as total crashes, reboots, and freezes. Those are, fortunately, rare in MFT when compared to the frequency of other issues.

The fact is that the majority of the MFT issues reflect poor development practices (which includes the entire pipeline... from concept design, project management, software engineering, testing/QA, etc.) If only one or two of those parts of the pipeline were broken, the remaining aspects would have still caught the bugs.

In my 25+ years as a developer, I have never seen such a poor software product - and the only times I've seen it come close, it was the DIRECT result of an unbroken chain of extremely bad decisions by upper management types. The quality of work in MFT isn't even worthy of being called an "alpha testing" release in my opinion - and I don't know a single developer who wouldn't be ashamed at having such a poor product released. I didn't even write it, and I'm embarrassed if any of my peers find out that I have the system in my car. It's really THAT bad.

I can't even imagine the series of incredibly poor decisions that must have been made to get something of such a low quality released. Horrible hiring choices, lousy planning, rushed (and obviously untested) development, no meaningful QA - and the entire thing was probably being managed by "the bosses son" who just got an associates degree in Home Economics. Even then, I STILL can't figure out how so many bugs were released.

For example, they took out options for manually changing DST. So, they KNOW that daylight savings calculations are going to be a concern. How could it possibly have slipped through the cracks that DST wasn't working?! If you're building a car and decide to change from a 6 speed to a 4 speed, one of the FIRST things you're going to check is that the gear transitions work properly with the reduced number of gears, right?

I really just can't understand how a company like Ford managed to get so many things wrong in a single 8 inch screen. It also scares the hell out of me that this same company is selling large trucks and SUVs that could easily kill thousands of people if the rest of the car is implemented half as poorly as the "MFT" system within.
 
#3,175 ·
#3,182 ·
Should have named it My Ford Trash & Microsoft Stink

It shuts down unexpectedly. I counted 9 times in one day. Wont connect to my phone at times. Also connection problems on another 2013 Ford with MFT I have. Im taking it in for a second time next Friday. My other Ford has had a under tightened ac clamp blow out and discharge freon, this at only having 3000 miles. Come on Ford. Take care of the customers.
 
#3,183 ·
It shuts down unexpectedly. I counted 9 times in one day. Wont connect to my phone at times. Also connection problems on another 2013 Ford with MFT I have. Im taking it in for a second time next Friday. My other Ford has had a under tightened ac clamp blow out and discharge freon, this at only having 3000 miles. Come on Ford. Take care of the customers.
I've never had a shut down on mine. Did you buy yours with all the latest updates or were they done after you bought it? Reason asking, I've heard some updates weren't flashed properly and they have to redo it.
 
#3,195 ·
I had 1 update done about 4 months ago at the dealer on my Focus, not on my Explorer, Guessing I will need to take the Explorer in also as this is a wide spread issue with MFT.
Stations would change on their own when streaming pandora when MFT wanted to play nice and connect to my phone. Other times I get into drive and the stereo will not come on at all. I will update everyone after the 17th when I take it in to the dealer for service.
 
#3,196 ·
I had the system reset on me again sometime between last night and this morning. Got into the car, started it up, and noticed the following 4 symptoms:

ipod is indexing (this happens often without the other items)

rear camera guidelines are turned off (this also happens under other circumstances)

Nav map reverted from "3D" view to "2D (heading up)" (this only seems to happen with the MFT resets)

Pressing the "I" (or "2") button on the steering wheel no longer going to sirius link page. (Yes, after reading about that on here, I set that as well to better detect the resets.) (this also only seems to happen with the resets.)

So, at least there's a consistent way to detect the resets, and it's pretty obvious that they are some form of reset or reboot. In fact, it's very similar to what happens when I choose the options for doing a master reset (which doesn't clear my presets or anything - it just does what I described above.)

What I'd like is a consistent way to repeat them. Of course, it doesn't really matter if I can repeat it or not - it's not like Ford gives a damn about resolving the issues.
 
#3,198 ·
Pressing the "I" (or "2") button on the steering wheel no longer going to sirius link page. (Yes, after reading about that on here, I set that as well to better detect the resets.) (this also only seems to happen with the resets.)
Yep, like I said in an earlier post, that is the one that is 100% reliable for me to indicate a reboot. The others are iffy at best as they are not consistent.

So, at least there's a consistent way to detect the resets, and it's pretty obvious that they are some form of reset or reboot. In fact, it's very similar to what happens when I choose the options for doing a master reset (which doesn't clear my presets or anything - it just does what I described above.)
It is a reboot, not a reset. Resets will wipe not only the stereo presets you mentioned above but also wipe your phone from MFT, wipe your nav favorites/previous destinations (if you have nav), and any saved wallpapers if you use those.

What I'd like is a consistent way to repeat them. Of course, it doesn't really matter if I can repeat it or not - it's not like Ford gives a damn about resolving the issues.
Are you saying you want to repeat them on purpose? If so, see here for the delayed reboot app:

http://outofmytouch.com/reboot.html

With this you can cause a reboot whenever you want (delayed reboot, after installing the app it will not reboot until the next time the car is shut down).
 
#3,197 ·
I called last night after the attempt to update left me with an unusable system, it was locked in a loop where it wanted to update but failed, and even after shutting down the car and removing the USB it still wouldn't come back. I reformatted my USB drive as FAT instead of FAT32, downloaded again, and today it worked, but not until after I blew up at the poor tech guy about how I'm tired of this system. I also called the dealer and asked them to buy my car back, to which they agreed, so we'll see what they offer me for it.
 
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