Stupidest change in v3? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Stupidest change in v3?

sdm9465

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City, State
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Year, Model & Trim Level
2011 Limited & 2009 EB
I finally got my dealer to do the upgrade to v3 for me yesterday. (I was one of the early builds that had to go to the dealer.) The upgrade to v3 went smoothly and I had no trouble getting an SD card for my navigation system. So far everything is working well but there are a couple of real stupid (in my opinion) changes.

What do you think the stupidest changes in v3 are? My nominations are:

1) Removing the outside temperature. (I know it's on the right hand instrument panel display, but WTF?)

2) The miniaturized volume scale display that only updates ever second time you push the volume up / down buttons.
 



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What I find most irritating about the volume, other than what you said, is how it gets too loud too quickly, and not linearly. That should be an easy software fix, but for some reason it wasn't addressed in the update.
 






I have decided to turn off my 911 assist. Every time I start the Explorer it asks me if I want to enable it. And yes I have gone into the menus to turn off the notification reminding me if I want to turn it on. Doesn't matter it still asks.
 






Moving the BT Streaming button to page 2 of the audio choices annoys me.
 






Whats annoying is that when you have the ipod plugged in and playing, and turn up the volume, the volume bars write over the song title in the bottom corner....the programmers couldnt figure out a better way?
 






Just had the update this morning.....didn't even notice the temperature change but that is kind of dumb.

The thing I don't like is if you're on the "Media" page listeninng to music so you've got that display up and if you go to use the panel below to adjust the fan on the climate control you no longer see it displayed in the bottom right hand corner on the climate control "tab". You used to be able to see at what "strength" you had the fan and if you clicked it up you could see roughly where you had it set.




The other thing......my climate system is completely screwed now. UGH!!! :(
 






Ford didn't listen well because people asked to have the option of choosing whether or not they have the temperature display up in the middle of the MFT screen next to the clock. I think the knew GUI is uglier. If they utilized they split the processing for graphics separate from the main processor in the beginning, there would have probably been no performance issues with the previous versions. I just think the programmers at Ford are kind of lacking in their coding ways, they should definitely be able to code very efficiently to speed up the processes.

For BETA testing, Ford should have definitely given it to current Explorer owners.

This is why I'm sticking to V2.11 which has been flawless so far except for that one time in winter where everything went haywire and the car blew cold air in everyone's faces and wouldn't listen to a single command and some issues with the phone. I'm going to wait until the near end of my factory warranty to get something done hoping there's a better version to come out.

Ford didn't send me a USB so I have no time to go to the dealer. Some owners not getting a USB while some do kind of ticks me off as it seems like some customers are more appreciated more than others.

Summary of what I don't like after my friend updated his Edge:
1. Temperature display is gone from the MFT screen
2. Volume doesn't increase linearly enough like someone stated. I up one setting and it's too loud for my siblings, and I drop one down and it's too quiet for me.
3. The GUI colors and buttons is just not to my liking.
4. 911 Assist notification on/ off still does not work. I'd rather have it off so I turn notifications off as well but it still pops up asking me to have 911 assist so I basically leave 911 assist on. This didn't work in previous versions and still doesn't in the V3.

Likes:
1. Faster screens and loading, especially for navigation which is a plus
2. The interface is a bit more cleaner.
3. The MFT finally utilizes the onboard graphics that came with the car which they didn't utilize before which speeds things up a lot faster.
 






I work in IT sales (have been in the IT world for years) and have to agree with the previous post about their Beta testing and coding; definitely not the most well thought out development and QA thus far.

Not that I think the display on the right side of the drivers console/display needed to be changed but I found it interesting that they didn't change it yet changes the main MFT screen.

I do agree that the GUI is not that attracive however it is more "clean" to look at. I find the climate control screen is SO simple looking it doesn't really much different than a more traditional display that is not on a screen.

It's going to take some time to get used to.....and unfortunately I am pretty sure at this point I can't go backwards to the highest version in version 2.
 






Some owners not getting a USB while some do kind of ticks me off as it seems like some customers are more appreciated more than others.

The whole getting o not getting USB for update debacle has nothing to do with what you mention. Pre-May 2011 builds have to go to the dealerships so that they can monitor the fans and prevent an overheat condition during the update. although Ford won't admit this is the reason...
 






I

1) Removing the outside temperature. (I know it's on the right hand instrument panel display, but WTF?)
QUOTE]

My apology if I'm wrong, as I have a 2013 Ex on order so no experience with system. But my thought that perhaps the displays on instrument panel are controlled by separate computer processor than the MFT center display. If the temp works like it does on my Escape, it is constantly monitoring and updating the temp. By removing this process from the MFT center display, you remove a lot of computer processing and memory usage. Freeing up this process may make system operate faster.

Then again, I may be wrong about this. Was fun thinking about why it would be removed & reports system is now faster.
 






...perhaps the displays on instrument panel are controlled by separate computer processor than the MFT center display. If the temp works like it does on my Escape, it is constantly monitoring and updating the temp. By removing this process from the MFT center display, you remove a lot of computer processing and memory usage. Freeing up this process may make system operate faster.
Yes, the temperature was updated regularly when it was on the center display. I really don't think there would be any significant processing requirement for that task though. And if there was, they could have come up with other solutions. For example, they could have made it only update every 5 or 10 seconds or stop updating at all if there were more important tasks that needed the processor.
 






I am finding the new upgrade to be flawless in all my driving so far. The new upgrade is a huge improvement over the previous version. There are some likes and dislikes, but I have learned from this forum that if Ford shipped Gold bars in the back of the new Explorer there would be some complaining that the bars weigh too much. Such as it is.
 






but I have learned from this forum that if Ford shipped Gold bars in the back of the new Explorer there would be some complaining that the bars weigh too much. Such as it is.

Lmfao! So true!
 






The whole getting o not getting USB for update debacle has nothing to do with what you mention. Pre-May 2011 builds have to go to the dealerships so that they can monitor the fans and prevent an overheat condition during the update. although Ford won't admit this is the reason...

Actually, my dealer admitted it. The cooling fans for the engine are controlled through the software in the APIM in Pre 5/11 builds, so when the software system is being re-installed, which takes 45 mins (minimum), the engine could overheat since the fan control software is disabled. At the dealership, they bypass the APIM and run the cooling fans continuously. In addition, since the fans were actually not designed to run for 45 minutes continuously, they have to sit there and monitor that the fans do not fail. My tech said if the fans went out, he was authorized to install a new fan assembly (per the tsb about fan replacement).
 






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