Focus Fanatics Forum banner

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.
 
#1,558 ·
Yep it is, my wife was in a market for a new crossover with 3rd row seating. After my fiasco with the Focus we decided to scratch all Ford cars off, didn't even bother with the Explorer since any featured model that we wanted came with the stupid MFT.

Now it's time to look for another car to buy instead of the Mustang. Good thing I still got 11 years until I pop money down for a sports car.
 
#1,555 ·
Biggerboat,
I used my Garmin with my last two vehicles. Its a good system, but IMHO, the navigation sytem in the MFT is far superior in its visuals. Plus, the MFT system has the ability to download driving instructions from 'points' entered through Syncmyride and directions sent from GoogleMaps. I really like those features. Its so much better than having to use the awkward keyboard on the Garmin to enter addresses and such.

Overall though, I really like the GoogleMaps on my Android. I wish that Ford could enter into some kind of agreement with Google to use their system in their cars. GoogleMaps is very nice, and is updated regularly (unlike Garmin or most car-based Nav systems).

Rich
 
#1,557 ·
Altis,

It's obvious that a lot of what we are discussing comes down to opinions. I don't think either of us are going to convince the other since neither of us are wrong. It's just personal preference.

I'm sorry you are so unhappy with the MFT system. Personally, I am still very excited about it. I've never had a car that can do as much as my Focus, especially at this price point (and that includes a Jaguar, Acura, GMC, Dodge and Mini Cooper).

Rich
 
#1,559 ·
I don't mean to imply that you shouldn't like MFT. If yours works well and you like the looks and function, power to you!

It certainly is a feature-packed and well appointed car... my coworker traded a Lexus SUV for a Focus Titanium and loves the interior quality, design, and way it drives. It's in a class beyond.
 
#1,561 ·
"Software without bugs does not exist", sure. But MFT glitches on many of its functions on a daily basis. I've driven those Chrysler/Dodge vehicles for months now, and they have never once missed a beat, or even taken longer than 0.5 seconds to respond.

MFT wasn't a cluster#$% before, I don't think. MFT3 has tons of empty, unused screen space. It wouldn't be so bad to show the full RDS data in the huge empty space that is FM, would it? Or to show the phone's battery life in the yellow bar?

As for "UI experts", the closest I know are a couple recent Graphic Design and Computer Science grads. They don't see MFT3 as any sort of improvement, but rather a sneaky way to improve performance by getting rid of complex graphics. There's no excuse for the grey block on the Inputs panel that's empty when you scroll down to page 2 (which you now have to for BT Audio, because AM gets its own block). There's no reason for the incredibly huge pause/seek buttons in BT audio.

There's also no reason I can think of to reduce the vibrance of the colours. I can't fathom how that would have been an issue to anyone, so why make it appear more grey rather than colourful?

I'm not saying they should make it look as complex as the Chrysler system... which really isn't that difficult to use. But they made it way too simple, to the point where it still looks like a project, a work in progress. Too many blocks with no polish. Too much empty space. There's no point in having such a big screen if most of it is completely empty.

And again, why not make the handicap accessibility sized icons and fonts an option? (For those who bought something then decided it's too complicated). Everyone keeps trying to slam those who don't like the new MFT design, but we bought something and then it was changed on us. How about those people who bought it and complained to Ford that it's too complicated?
 
#1,562 ·
I don't have my Focus yet but I can understand both sides of the argument.

The real issue is this, Ford outsourced the initial design of MFT and those outsourced programmers screwed the pooch. Ford was forced to bring design in-house and essentially start from the ground up ripping out major portions of the MFT program and rebuilding them. This isn't an easy or short process.

I certainly don't think MFT v3 is the last update we will see on the Focus. Waiting for updated software sucks but Ford's options were limited. Either release an update that stabilizes MFT but may remove some functionality for the time being, or wait and have customers suffering for longer further damaging the MFT image in the media.

They made their decision and now we have to wait for the rest of the update since this one is obviously only half complete from what I have seen.

Ford is most certainly kicking themselves for outsourcing the initial design. I have a friend who runs his own IT consulting firm including software development. He outsourced a portion of an app recently and when the code came back he spent more time fixing it than he would have just writing it himself. This is what Ford is dealing with.


EDIT: I do wish they would be more open with us and tell us how things are going. Release dates are tough, but general information is reasonable to expect I think.
 
#1,568 ·
Look what I found...

Freescale i.MX51 SOC:
Core CPU: ARM Cortex A8 @ 600 mHz
2D/3D graphics controller
512MB RAM
2GB NAND flash memory

I wonder if this is the current iteration of hardware in the 2012s. If so that is just painful. Essentially 3 year old tech in a brand new vehicle. Shouldn't we be using Cortex A9 based stuff by now?

Tegra3 or OMAP5 is where Ford needs to look. I would even be willing to pay some money for an upgraded MFT hardware/software bundle in the future. Nothing astronomical mind you but $200-$300 would be reasonable. It would be akin to upgrading your smartphone every few years.
 
#1,569 ·
Yikes, no wonder they were looking for speed improvements!! With that, poor programming wouldn't be tolerated, hence the crashes! We always operated under the 65% rule, no more than that for the CPU duty cycle at full load. That left enough headroom to handle temporary problem areas without going belly up. I'll bet that system is running closer to 90% duty cycle.
 
#1,571 ·
The specs are only 256MB more memory than regular SYNC without MFT. The processor is more powerful, not sure exactly what is in SYNC but it is ARM-based running at 400MHz.

The current hardware is obviously a bit substandard considering my original Droid was equivalent 3 years ago.
 
#1,573 ·
You'd think, except that they are using Flash Lite which is atrocious and uses "vector graphics." Vector graphics can also be known as "Need moar megahertz graphics." The old GPU attached to the Cortex A8s wasn't to great either.

http://cache.freescale.com/files/dsp/doc/data_sheet/IMX51AEC.pdf

That is the data sheet for the processor used in MFT I believe. While the GPU is designed for 2D vector graphics, the performance isn't exactly stellar either.

Edit: This is where Ford is most certainly headed for future hardware improvements. http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/overview.jsp?code=IMX6X_SERIES
 
#1,574 ·
I Dunno if this the right place to say this, but I had another bug/quirk with MFT this morning...or was it the radio...anyways: I was not able to turn the radio ''On'' using the MFT or the dash mounted on/off button...was only able to turn radio on using voice commands.

I did a search using the keyword ''radio'' and it came up with 50 plus pages...So, I'm posting this here. I have done ther V3.0 update myself a couple weeks ago and all was fine, beside the auto climate settings changing by themself a couple times a week and now the radio freeze...
 
#1,576 ·
Figured it would be a good FYI to remind everyone what has transpired since the announcement of v.3 MFT. Q&A from Ford document with my comments in line.

See the petition that was created by another member here if you would like to share your voice : https://www.change.org/petitions/ford-motor-company-fix-myford-touch#


How is the system faster? The response time of the touchscreen and the voice button is at least twice as fast as the current system. As well, the transition time between screens is significantly improved.

Not sure it's twice as fast, but it should because it has to deal with lower end graphics now.


How is the new upgrade simpler? We have re-designed the graphics of the touchscreen by removing low priority information, using larger and bolder fonts, clearly identifying buttons, simplifying the home screen, and using a consistent grid-based lay-out for all four corners (navigation, phone, entertainment, and climate).

In my opinion it's taken a step backwards in this regard. They also determined "simpler" means taking away our outside temperature display in the MFT screen, and for Focus owners eliminated the steering wheel shortcut buttons without prior consent or notice.


How has voice recognition experience been enhanced? We’ve improved the software to help ensure a better voice recognition experience. For instance, the response time when pressing the voice button is quicker, so drivers won’t experience a delay when conducting a voice request. Also, we’ve removed some command requirements, such as the need to state a street direction (i.e. “North” Telegraph Road) and extraneous artist information (i.e. Justin Bieber “[featuring Usher]”), making it easier to get what you want. And, we’ve added new features such as SIRIUS Game Finder, which allows you to simply say “Tune to the Lions game” and it will find which station is broadcasting the game. In addition, we have improved the online training materials available to customers.

Navigation street address is just as frustrating as before, not sure where the improvement is here. Have not tested other areas of VR.

Will this software Performance Upgrade solve your quality issues reported by JD Power and Consumer Reports? This software Performance Upgrade is the result of listening, learning and responding to our customers. Therefore we’re confident the ownership experience will be significantly improved, and the resulting third party quality testing will reflect this improvement.

If they were listing to customers, I wonder who they were, and the third party testers didn't seem to do their job.

Will the system still have black screens or reboots while driving? No, we do not expect customers will experience these issues anymore.

False, multiple reboots reported.


How do you know that these issues won’t happen again? We are confident in our testing process.

False, still has reboots, blanked out buttons, clock doesn't keep time as before, and still exibits the same "drumming" audio problem as before. All documented with pictures and video.
 
#1,578 ·
How has voice recognition experience been enhanced? We’ve improved the software to help ensure a better voice recognition experience. For instance, the response time when pressing the voice button is quicker, so drivers won’t experience a delay when conducting a voice request. Also, we’ve removed some command requirements, such as the need to state a street direction (i.e. “North” Telegraph Road) and extraneous artist information (i.e. Justin Bieber “[featuring Usher]”), making it easier to get what you want. And, we’ve added new features such as SIRIUS Game Finder, which allows you to simply say “Tune to the Lions game” and it will find which station is broadcasting the game. In addition, we have improved the online training materials available to customers.

Navigation street address is just as frustrating as before, not sure where the improvement is here. Have not tested other areas of VR.
I can speak to the Ent portion of VR from my experience. Mine is significantly worse. It can now be a nightmare for me to play a song by voice. A few days ago I told it to play a song. It went through 13 screens of choices and me saying "None of those" before it got to the 14th screen that had the song listed. This, by way of disclosure, is my worst-case scenario. It is typically 5-6 screens. These are also songs that I have had in the car since before the update and have played by voice before, and they used to work fine, first try without even bringing up one "please choose" list so I know it is a new post-update occurence.

Unlike a lot of others, I never, with v2.11, had any major troubles with voice, including Nav so for me at least, the VR for the other three categories appears the same, no better, no worse.

Will the system still have black screens or reboots while driving? No, we do not expect customers will experience these issues anymore.

False, multiple reboots reported.
I've had two BSOD/reboots so far and had to do one master reset because it was getting so twitchy.

How do you know that these issues won’t happen again? We are confident in our testing process.
Nothing to add here other than "Man, that is funny!"
 
#1,577 ·
New one - hopped in the car to run to an appointment this afternoon and my quadrants were missing.

My Home screen displayed, sans quadrants, as did the map in Nav. I had to use voice commands ("Show Map") to get to the map, since there was no green Navigation area in the top-right to select it. Couldn't access Phone, Entertainment, or Climate functions since there's no voice way to bring those up to their main screens - at least not that I'm aware of.

Home screen without any quadrants:


Map in Nav mode, sans quadrants:


Remained like this for the entire drive. When I got back in the car later and started it up, all was normal. [dunno]

I just had my APIM replaced a month ago and this thing's still as squirrely as ever.
 
#1,579 ·
New one - hopped in the car to run to an appointment this afternoon and my quadrants were missing.

My Home screen displayed, sans quadrants, as did the map in Nav. I had to use voice commands ("Show Map") to get to the map, since there was no green Navigation area in the top-right to select it. Couldn't access Phone, Entertainment, or Climate functions since there's no voice way to bring those up to their main screens - at least not that I'm aware of.
I also notice your location is missing from below the compass. I have had this on several occasions and the only way for me to get it back is to set a route, drive for a couple of minutes, and then cancel the route (don't have to finish it). After doing this, my location is always back under the compass.
 
#1,589 ·
What is the point of including pedestrian paths to the sat nav in a car? Look at the mess of spaghetti noodles this road looks like... Everything in the red circle that isn't the yellow road is a bike or pedestrian path. How in the world do I disable this? It's confusing as hell, makes it very distracting while driving... Then there's the next photo...





Same thing... everything in the red circle that's grey is a pedestrian path. At a glance, it looks like you can cross the freeway through those roads... but no.. you can't even get from Maritime Way to Gray Cres without going on Campeau. Why do I need to know where paths are, and why do they have to look the same as roads? This is a car! [hatchet]






Please tell me we can disable this somehow...
 
#1,590 ·
What is the point of including pedestrian paths to the sat nav in a car? Why do I need to know where paths are, and why do they have to look the same as roads? This is a car!
HAHA! Have you ever seen that bumper sticker "If you don't like the way I drive, then stay off the sidewalk!" Well, maybe when Navteq provided Ford with the map data, they had that in mind. JK! [thankyou]
 
#1,591 ·
I have that GPS problem too. Sometimes the street displays under the compass for a few days, and other times its gone for a few days. No explanation. I hate it.

But my real frustration is that radio station nubmers and name do not display on the screen for me after the MFT update. Once in a while they do, but usually no. I can't tell from looking at the screen what station I am on. Is that fixable? Seems like basic feature of a radio in a car.

Also, if I am listening to radio, switch to USB and listen to some music, and then switch back to radio, the station has changed! To what I have no idea, since the radio station is not displayed on the screen anywhere. Massivley frustrating.

I tried to search the forum for this problem, but was bewildered by this 130 page MFT read first thread.
 
#1,601 ·
...But my real frustration is that radio station nubmers and name do not display on the screen for me after the MFT update. Once in a while they do, but usually no. I can't tell from looking at the screen what station I am on. Is that fixable? Seems like basic feature of a radio in a car.
I get this problem intermittently. I can sometime get it to come back by changing to other screens and coming back, but usually not. It typically comes back the next time I start the car after it has been off. There are other graphics bug for me like disappearing preset labels on FM and Sirius. I REALLY hope Ford is working on an update.

When this flakiness is on the rise, I do are hard reboot which improve things for a while. To hard reboot MFT, turn off the car, pull fuses 67 AND 79 from the panel underneath the glove box. Leave them out for at least a min or two until the capacitors discharge to make sure the power-down is complete. When you replace the fuses and start the car again, you will have a black screen for a min or two (seem like forever) followed by the "performing system maintenance" screen, then it should start and behave itself very well, ...for a while.

I have also download a routine to a USB stick that is supposed to initiate a reboot but I am not recommending it up here until I have tried it myself (haven't yet)
 
#1,593 ·
There used to be a way to do it with a thumb press (star 1 or star 2, your choice, ent and nav for me personally), you didn't even need to hit the voice paddle. You paid extra to have that feature taken away from you but hey, now you can get to the home screen and Sync services really easily which is the choice Ford made for you because that is what you like best. Ford knows!
 
#1,596 ·
Since the upgrade....I can hear an incoming phone call ring over the speakers, but I don't get the caller ID notification on the My Touch. So I have to answer the phone on the handset. Any ideas???

Also, if I am listening to AM radio before making a phone call, the radio will switch to FM once I hang up a call. ?????????
 
#1,597 ·
Glad you managed to fix it, TiPilot!

Since the upgrade....I can hear an incoming phone call ring over the speakers, but I don't get the caller ID notification on the My Touch. So I have to answer the phone on the handset. Any ideas???
The only thing I can really think of is perhaps making sure your phone book is downloaded to MFT... you can do this in Phone Settings. There may even be a caller ID function in there, I haven't had to look thus far.

You should be able to still take calls by pressing the accept call button on the steering wheel, or I think you can press it on the screen too.
 
#1,599 ·
You guys with problems that have shown up out of no where like the buttons without labels, incoming call issues, text notification stops working, many nav issues etc. Need to get the delayedreboot.cab(google it) this fixes most of the issues when they arise. It's not a perfect solution but it works for me and takes only a minute to do it.
 
#1,602 ·
My preset numbers and radio station haven't shown up since the day after I got the upgrade.

I would pull the fuses, but I want Ford to be aware of MFT issues, so I'm bringing it in. Ford has no way of knowing that people are pulling fuses, using software from the internet to perform delayed reboots, servicing the car themselves... etc. and we shouldn't have to. What if I was some technologically declined person who had no idea how to do any of this? It's not exactly normal maintenance...
 
#1,613 · (Edited)
Ford is posting a poll on facebook:

For those who have installed the recent MyFord Touch Performance Upgrade, how satisfied have you been with the improvement?
Objection, your honour! Counsel is assuming facts not in evidence!

I took my Focus in to the dealer to get my summer wheels and tires swapped, and got an involuntary downgrade to MFT3 in the process. [mad] It's even more of a dog's breakfast in actuality than I had feared from the reports and screenshots I saw here. Now I get to figure out how much time I allow Ford to fix this before I start car-shopping.
 
#1,609 ·
Keep meaning to ask this of those with Nav but also keep forgetting. This is one that has been happening to me since the update (well, since I got my new Nav card a week and half after I updated). Haven't really seen anyone report it on here but it is possible I just missed it.

When I switch from the map screen to any of the other three screens (home screen not included) my street location is not in the Nav tab. Compass heading is there but no street location. I initally thought it was only going from map to Ent quad but further playing around showed me it happens whether I go to Ent, Climate, or Phone from the map screen. If I then go to either of the two remaining screens street location is back in the Nav tab (and I can hop right back to the screen I initally went to after map and it is there, unlike when I initally entered that screen from the map screen).

While my randomly disappearing street location under the compass on the home screen is exactly that, random and sporadic, this one is 100% repeatable, completely consistent in its behavior. Again, I don't remember seeing this one brought up by anyone else but that doesn't mean it wasn't. Wondering if others with Nav have this quirk or if I am just "lucky".
 
#1,611 ·
I posted the exact same thing a few days ago......MFT customer service is "clueless" as they told me that the street location should "not" be displayed there when you are on the home/4-quad screen. Duh, I said, it was there for days and then randomly it disappeared. I figured out that if I set a destination in the Nav system then it would show up again. This whole MFT fiasco is "so Mickey Mouse" and entry level at best!
 
#1,614 ·
Welcome to the club Hillbilly. I feel your pain! It would be an easier pill to swallow if it even came close to being this "magic bullet" that Ford made it sound like it would be but at this point all I can keep telling myself is:

"It may still be broken, but at least it is ugly (and less functional)!"
 
#1,618 ·
That's how I felt, too, noahsfocus... for me, BT completely stopped working, and no amount of fuse pulling or battery disconnecting seemed to revive it.

Of course, the first thing they do to resolve anything MFT related is update it... otherwise, they won't try to fix it.

Now that I'm on the god-forsaken MFT 3, I plan on taking it in whenever it's all messed up so that Ford is at least aware of these problems... They have no idea how many people are pulling fuses and performing delayed reboots from the internet.
 
#1,619 ·
Hello Altis ... yea thats a bummer BT quit working completelty. I guess if MFT3 fixed that for you then it had to be done. I realize I am extremely lucky to have a good working MFT v2 system (for now, fingers crossed) and maybe one of the few who hasn't had many problems with it. I kept my original v2.10 and never upgraded to the v2.11 so maybe that has something to do with it. Sure it's slow to boot up and sometimes doesn't pair with my phone (always fixes itself by rebooting MFT and sometimes cycling BT on/off on both devices) but overall has never given me any headaches or needed any fuse pulls or delayed reboots.
In the last year it has frozen up only twice leaving me with only volume control but each time it fixed itself with a "performing system maintenance" session. BT, Nav, USB audio, and Voice control always worked (pretty much) flawlessly. Along with having an appealing UI with relevant important info and features including favorite buttons that work is worth keeping for me. If I had to be forced to get this MFT3 update or no more warranty service I probably would just void my warranty service rather then screw up MFT. I guess if it finally breaks down completely like in your case then and only then would I do this horrible MFT3 install.
Goodluck with your system and definitely keep complaining to Ford about all the bugs that plague the MFT3 system. I bet Ford dealers are getting so fed up with MFT!!! LOL
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top