SYNC System Thread

[FordIVTteam]

Originally Posted by TiPilot

Why the button on the steering wheel you hit to activate Sync, of course.

I never heard anyone call it that before, thanks for clarifying. :)

Jaclyn

[Power Surge]

I have a few disappointments as well, however they are not so much technical ones.

I found my car using the Ford dealer search. The car showed at my local dealer, but was in fact not there, as it was in transit so I could not see it in person.

So my "goodies" list on this car was solely based off the downloadable window sticker. Now all this SYNC and MFT stuff is new to me. I spent some time on Ford's site seeing what it was all about. On my window sticker, it reads "MYFORD & SYNC PACKAGE" and right under that it also reads "MYFORDTECH/6SPKR/SIRIUS". My impression from how this is written, was that this car had the touch screen deal. "Myford", "myfordtouch", "myfordtech"....could they make it any more confusing? It's like when you watch a movie where two of the main characters actors look very alike and you have trouble following who's who. So my car comes in and I have no big screen in the dash and I ask why and they say my car didn't have that option. I felt a little slighted on the advertising.

Another advertising beef is that I don't recall in any of the SYNC commercials that Ford makes it clear that SYNC goes through your smartphone. After the dealer spent a half hour explaining all the cool things it does, I finally ask "does this all go through my phone?". And they say yeah, you need a smart phone. I was thinking from all the commercials that this was like an OnStar type deal. What if I didn't have a smartphone? I'd have been pissed.

And the last thing, which may be my own issue because I'm not really a technofile, is that all this voice command stuff just seems WAY more complicated than just using my damn phone and ipod separately. I can plug my ipod into the aux port and choose a song on the ipod itself in about 5 seconds. Trying to do it through the USB port and using voice commands, I couldn't even get it to switch tracks in 5 minutes of trying.

I'm sure all the SYNC features are neat, and I WANT to start using them and take advantage of the system, but it just irks me that my phone does all the same stuff and yet I have to use the phone as a middleman for another system to now do it.

[estoyloco]

It will work with any phone.

Sync is the voice system.
MyFord is the entertainment system
MyFord Touch is the entertainment system with the touch screen.

Hope you have good luck with your MFT.

Originally Posted by Power Surge

I have a few disappointments as well, however they are not so much technical ones.

I found my car using the Ford dealer search. The car showed at my local dealer, but was in fact not there, as it was in transit so I could not see it in person.

So my "goodies" list on this car was solely based off the downloadable window sticker. Now all this SYNC and MFT stuff is new to me. I spent some time on Ford's site seeing what it was all about. On my window sticker, it reads "MYFORD & SYNC PACKAGE" and right under that it also reads "MYFORDTECH/6SPKR/SIRIUS". My impression from how this is written, was that this car had the touch screen deal. "Myford", "myfordtouch", "myfordtech"....could they make it any more confusing? It's like when you watch a movie where two of the main characters actors look very alike and you have trouble following who's who. So my car comes in and I have no big screen in the dash and I ask why and they say my car didn't have that option. I felt a little slighted on the advertising.

Another advertising beef is that I don't recall in any of the SYNC commercials that Ford makes it clear that SYNC goes through your smartphone. After the dealer spent a half hour explaining all the cool things it does, I finally ask "does this all go through my phone?". And they say yeah, you need a smart phone. I was thinking from all the commercials that this was like an OnStar type deal. What if I didn't have a smartphone? I'd have been pissed.

And the last thing, which may be my own issue because I'm not really a technofile, is that all this voice command stuff just seems WAY more complicated than just using my damn phone and ipod separately. I can plug my ipod into the aux port and choose a song on the ipod itself in about 5 seconds. Trying to do it through the USB port and using voice commands, I couldn't even get it to switch tracks in 5 minutes of trying.

I'm sure all the SYNC features are neat, and I WANT to start using them and take advantage of the system, but it just irks me that my phone does all the same stuff and yet I have to use the phone as a middleman for another system to now do it.

[FordIVTteam]

Originally Posted by estoyloco

It will work with any phone.
Sync is the voice system.
MyFord is the entertainment system
MyFord Touch is the entertainment system with the touch screen.
Hope you have good luck with your MFT.

Originally Posted by Power Surge

Another advertising beef is that I don't recall in any of the SYNC commercials that Ford makes it clear that SYNC goes through your smartphone. After the dealer spent a half hour explaining all the cool things it does, I finally ask "does this all go through my phone?". And they say yeah, you need a smart phone. I was thinking from all the commercials that this was like an OnStar type deal. What if I didn't have a smartphone? I'd have been pissed.

And the last thing, which may be my own issue because I'm not really a technofile, is that all this voice command stuff just seems WAY more complicated than just using my damn phone and ipod separately. I can plug my ipod into the aux port and choose a song on the ipod itself in about 5 seconds. Trying to do it through the USB port and using voice commands, I couldn't even get it to switch tracks in 5 minutes of trying.

I'm sure all the SYNC features are neat, and I WANT to start using them and take advantage of the system, but it just irks me that my phone does all the same stuff and yet I have to use the phone as a middleman for another system to now do it.

estoyloco's descriptions were spot-on! To clarify, a phone is required to use SYNC, but it does not have to be a smart phone. For example, my mom uses a pay as you go phone in her Mountaineer. She's able to make hands free calls, but it will not accept incoming text messages. All the features of SYNC are phone-dependent. For more info, check out our list of tested devices:

http://cot.ag/rXqavf

Which phone do you have and who's the carrier?

Jaclyn

[FocusOnMeNow]

I figured out how to use Google Maps through bluetooth. It's a function called "bluetooth audio" that is needed. It streams media. Problem solved.

[Zillon]

I've been having an issue with my 1st gen iPod touch and SYNC.

The two will cooperate fully for several hours until it freezes while playing a track. SYNC then proceeds to eject the iPod, and will not reconnect or recognize that it's even plugged into the USB port unless I reset the system (pulling fuse #67). I've tried resetting the iPod, using a different iPod cable, and I run SyncMyiTunes weekly. Nothing seems to work short of pulling the main fuse for the SYNC computer.

Any insight into this? iPod integration one of the main reasons I went with the 203A package, and this has been an extremely frustrating issue, especially on long roadtrips.

[TiPilot]

So I've run into a new issue that has existed only since I updated to MFT 3.0. Yes, I know this is the Sync thread but it's Phonebook related, which I think falls under the Sync umbrella.

Anyway, two times now the system has selectively deleted part of my phonebook. I only notice because I use a voice command to dial someone and it dials completely the wrong person (i.e. I say "Call Anne" and I hear "Calling Jennifer" back from the system) and, after much head-scratching, I finally checked the Phonebook and saw that 80% of my entries were missing. The system was on Auto Download, so I disabled that in case it was causing issues, deleted the entire phonebook, and attempted to re-download it. It didn't do so when I clicked the button, so I turned Auto Download back to On and eventually (at some point the next day while driving in the car) it re-downloaded everything. At that point, I turned Auto Download back to Off in order to prevent the system from messing with the Phonebook any more.

Fast-forward to today... I try to use voice commands to call my wife and it totally screw it up and starts dialing some random person. Check the Phonebook and magically almost all my contacts are gone - less than 10 out of 200 or so remain. It still has Auto Download set to Off. I deleted everything and, as of right now, have been unable to get it to add any contacts back to the system.

<rant>
Ignoring the fact that I'd like to smash the system into a brick wall at 70 MPH at this point (because seriously, what's the point of all this technology that's supposed to enhance safety while driving when you have to keep fiddling with it just to make a damn phone call?!?) what else can I do? The dealer just replaced the whole APIM less than a month ago for a different problem and I really shouldn't have to do yet another Master Reset. I'm getting sick and tired of none of this stuff working correctly... for a $28K car, this is ridiculous!
</rant>

Sooo... has anyone else run into problems like this?

My phone is a Moto Droid 2 Global running Android 2.3. And, again, it worked just fine for 2+ months prior to the MFT 3.0 upgrade.

[norco]

I've only had my 2012 Focus (Sedan) for 2 days and am already having issues with Sync (non MFT).

I had my phone and ipod synced up and everything was working great day 1, unfortunatly day 2 when I push the sync button on the wheel, or the phone and aux button on the center channel nothing is happening.

I am not getting the voice to make a command or the phone.aux menus when i select them.

Since I cannot access the menus, I am unable to do a master reset of the Ford Sync, so I tried unplugging the Sync Fuse in the Fuse box. I did this twice and it did not resolve my problem.

Other then taking it to the dealer, is there any way to fix this? Is it possible i screwed up some of my settings somehow or am I already going to have to make a trip to get service?

Thanks,

Norco

[TboneZX3]

Originally Posted by norco

Other then taking it to the dealer, is there any way to fix this?

You could try a SYNC master reset, outlined here: http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/s...64&postcount=8

[FordIVTteam]

Originally Posted by norco

I've only had my 2012 Focus (Sedan) for 2 days and am already having issues with Sync (non MFT).
I had my phone and ipod synced up and everything was working great day 1, unfortunatly day 2 when I push the sync button on the wheel, or the phone and aux button on the center channel nothing is happening.
I am not getting the voice to make a command or the phone.aux menus when i select them.
Since I cannot access the menus, I am unable to do a master reset of the Ford Sync, so I tried unplugging the Sync Fuse in the Fuse box. I did this twice and it did not resolve my problem.
Other then taking it to the dealer, is there any way to fix this? Is it possible i screwed up some of my settings somehow or am I already going to have to make a trip to get service?
Thanks,
Norco

Congrats on your new Focus, Norco! However, I'm disappointed to hear that you're experiencing concerns. I'd like to see if there's a software update available for your vehicle. Please PM me your VIN so I can do so.

In regards to pulling the SYNC fuse, how long did you leave it out for? We recommend at least 3 minutes.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Jaclyn