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Couple of questions - iPhone App & Performance Update Number

Wildcat_1

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2013 Explorer
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Just about to become an owner of a 2013 and looking forward to it. Last Ford was a 2010 Expy.

Questions I have are:

1) Is there an iPhone app that allows me to interface with the car/truck ?
2) I also use Tunein Pro, what is the ETA for Applink on the MyFord Touch systems ?

3) The performance update that I keep seeing mentioned. What is the actual version number, how can I check if my 2013 has it already and should it have been installed at the factory on this new truck ?

Thanks

WC
 



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If your looking for a Ford version of GM's MyLink, it doesn't exist.

ETA for the EXPLORER version of AppLink is unknown because all resources are working on the Performance Upgrade according to IVT.

You must go on to the site SYNCMYRIDE and create an account then your vehicle will be displayed and your version of MFT will be shown. Just as an aside all 2013's got the new version MFT
 






While Applink was promised early on for MFT, Ford has no announced plans to add it now (as SGT1411 indicated, because it is focused on fixing bugs and improving performance). The safest bet is to assume that Applink won't be coming anytime soon (to avoid disappointment).

Also, you should be aware that many owners with iPhones have complained about bluetooth audio streaming and USB audio not working consistently (I have had this problem with my iPhone 3GS and 4S/ bluetooth audio streaming does not work more than half the time and USB audio cuts out and won't work 30% of the time).

Regardless of whether this is Apple or Ford's fault, if these features are important to you (and they might be especially with no Applink), you may want to wait to see if the new MFT update fixes these problems as there have been early reports that these bugs still exist.
 












While Applink was promised early on for MFT, Ford has no announced plans to add it now (as SGT1411 indicated, because it is focused on fixing bugs and improving performance). The safest bet is to assume that Applink won't be coming anytime soon (to avoid disappointment).

Also, you should be aware that many owners with iPhones have complained about bluetooth audio streaming and USB audio not working consistently (I have had this problem with my iPhone 3GS and 4S/ bluetooth audio streaming does not work more than half the time and USB audio cuts out and won't work 30% of the time).

Regardless of whether this is Apple or Ford's fault, if these features are important to you (and they might be especially with no Applink), you may want to wait to see if the new MFT update fixes these problems as there have been early reports that these bugs still exist.

Your 100% correct.

The BT issues,like the BT text to speech MFT issues are on the Apple side of the house as many of the IT professionals on this forum have pointed out.

I still find it amazing that when your designing a cutting edge system like MFT you wouldn't work with Apple and design some middleware or another solution to Apple's lack of MAP.

Hate Apple or not, it's the most widely used smartphone and their share across the business sector is growing as they steal corporate clients from the floundering Blackberry.

It blows me away every time someone here on this forum says they are waiting to buy a phone after the Performance Upgrade is done.

So your car decides your phone?
 






Sgt1411, you have become so bitter! I hate to see it man.

I will chime in about the car deciding the phone. When it comes time for my wife and I to update our phones, we will most certainly take into account how well the phone and MFT play together. Will it be the only factor? Of course not. But as we look at it, when it comes to deciding between Phone A or Phone B, the one that works better with MFT will get picked. Spend the money on the car and its technology and plan on making the most of it.

I hope you're doing okay and I can sympathize with your frustration, as my dealership has given me more than a few things to gripe about when it comes to my car.

Later :)
 






Unfortunately your right I have become bitter.

I wanted so badly for the Performance Upgrade to make up for all the evils we have faced over the past year and after reading not only the threads here but on other sites, it appears it hasn't.

I actually really like the Ex but all these TSB's getting fixed and the amount of dealership time required to own this vehicle is taking a toll.

This may not be a completely fair comparison and yes I drank the Apple Kool-Aid long ago but look at the way Apple handled "AntennaGate" with the iPhone4.

You had an explanation quickly and then a free case that was delivered to you in weeks at no charge. Getting the case was easy, no confusion. It's completely redesigned on the 4s.

Over the past week Ex owners are now fighting with their dealers just to get an honest, accurate answer.....Where do I get the SD card?.......Am I still getting one in the Mail?........Dealer says yes, But Ford SYNC Support says no your dealership will have them........seriously?.....come on.
 






Also, you should be aware that many owners with iPhones have complained about bluetooth audio streaming and USB audio not working consistently (I have had this problem with my iPhone 3GS and 4S/ bluetooth audio streaming does not work more than half the time and USB audio cuts out and won't work 30% of the time).

Regardless of whether this is Apple or Ford's fault, if these features are important to you (and they might be especially with no Applink), you may want to wait to see if the new MFT update fixes these problems as there have been early reports that these bugs still exist.

I'm going to add a comment here. I had the BT audio streaming issue (I don't use the iPhone via USB at all) with 2.8 and 2.11 and it was pretty irritating. I installed the performance upgrade last Thursday and I have had the same issue still, but it does seem much less frequent. Maybe half as often as before. Better, but not 100% eradicated.
 






Unfortunately your right I have become bitter.

I wanted so badly for the Performance Upgrade to make up for all the evils we have faced over the past year and after reading not only the threads here but on other sites, it appears it hasn't.

I actually really like the Ex but all these TSB's getting fixed and the amount of dealership time required to own this vehicle is taking a toll.

This may not be a completely fair comparison and yes I drank the Apple Kool-Aid long ago but look at the way Apple handled "AntennaGate" with the iPhone4.

You had an explanation quickly and then a free case that was delivered to you in weeks at no charge. Getting the case was easy, no confusion. It's completely redesigned on the 4s.

Over the past week Ex owners are now fighting with their dealers just to get an honest, accurate answer.....Where do I get the SD card?.......Am I still getting one in the Mail?........Dealer says yes, But Ford SYNC Support says no your dealership will have them........seriously?.....come on.

Well stated!
 






It blows me away every time someone here on this forum says they are waiting to buy a phone after the Performance Upgrade is done.

So your car decides your phone?

Hey I'm one of those people! And I think waiting is the smart thing to do.

After spending time on this forum and seeing all the issues, do you think it wise to trust Ford that any new phone and my car will work well together? I certainly don't trust Verizon anymore, as their updates have ruined a few phones belonging to family members. I just bought a Limited EX - and I want to make calls, stream music and podcasts via bluetooth and maybe even cheat and listen to a comedian's special using my netflix app with the phone while I make a 3 hour drive.

There isn't a phone that I want to buy right now. I want to keep my existing phone, but it is slowly dying. It even works pretty well with the Ford. So I ignore the entire blackberry vs droid vs apple discussion for now. I don't like any phone in the store, I want the old one to keep working. I'll wait until this dies or a phone worth buying comes out.

So if I don't check this out before I buy and then experience issues using it, I'll be angry at myself until I get it fixed. Granted you can argue that Ford or the carrier should have done X or Y to make sure it worked, but I already know that bluetooth isn't a reliable technology. I've been forced to load custom software onto family phones just so I can make phone calls again. If don't verify that my decision will actually work as I expect before I purchase, it's my own fault if I have issues because I know it should have checked this based off what I'm reading.

I try to wait 3 years between buying phones, and if I manage to pick one that doesn't work or won't work, we all know how easy it is for Ford to blame the phone and the phone can blame Ford, regardless of who's fault it is. How soon would you expect the issue to be fixed? Based on what I have read, anything from quickly to never are possible answers.

So no the car doesn't determine the phone. The phone does have to work with my car or I'm not buying it.
 






Your points are all valid and yes it's the "Blame Game" when it comes to interoperability between phones and vehicles. Forget the Ford vs Apple discussion.

My point is if you're going to sell and market your cars with what you CLAIM is a cutting (Bleeding) edge multi media system would you not want to ensure connectivity with the top 5 most popular phones?

Especially the most widely used phone?

I think you should choose your phone based on your needs and compatibility with the other peripherals you have in your life, laptop, desktop, TV, home audio, and yes eventually your vehicle. But not your vehicle as the deciding factor.

If you look at the list of phones that work the best with MFT it's not a group of phones you could say are the most popular with consumers.

I just don't like the thought that if I want 100% MFT functionality I have to pick a phone I don't want.

Then again, I had two glasses of the Apple Kool-Aid so maybe it's the Kool-Aid talking.
 






Hey Sgt1441

I think what you aren't realizing is that I'm using MFT compatibility as a reason to buy a phone, and not as a reason not to buy a phone. If phone x won't work with the car, I don't need to buy it. I'll wait for one that does. I want to use the phone to do cool stuff in the car. The rest of the time I'll have multiple computers I can use.

I agree that for Ford's sake they should have made sure that the Apple products work well with MFT. Had I already owned an I-whatever and found that it didn't work I'm sure that I would be annoyed, simply because everyone else seems to know to do that. It is one big reason people buy Apple products. Figuring out the other 4 phones on the short list would be more of a challenge.

But I have come to learn that "Bleeding Edge" often means "does not work as you would expect." This is why I want to know exactly what Ford has actually tested MFT with or find out on a forum that phone x works.

I really like my old phone more than the $299 (or more) it will cost to get a new one. So with the new update coming, why not wait for a new compatibility list before buying a new phone?

If I'm lucky I can put off buying a new phone until the next apple release, and do a final comparison against all the other available phones then. Maybe someone will release a phone I can get excited about. A phone that will work with my car.
 






If you use the search feature on this forum there are some older threads with members here talking about each phone and its functionality.

Although I guess now with the Performance Update that compatibility list will have to re-evaluated.

IVT should have a new compatibility matrix out.

Maybe some of the members on here with IT backgrounds can comment about the future design of the iPhone5 but I don't think the new iPhone5 will have the BlueTooth Message Access Protocol functionality. Some forums were suggesting MFT/iPhone5 Text to Speech using WLan protocol instead.
 






All, I finally got my Ltd-X this weekend, and overall I'm jazzed. I've got a BB9700 (Storm, I think, ~ 2 years old) and an iPhone 4S. Both are working w/ my car just fine, once I cleaned up phone books so I have no duplicate entries w/in either phone book, AND no duplicate entries BETWEEN phone books. Once I did that, everything plays well together, I haven't had any BT dropoff issues. However, I also read on the syncmyride site that the iPhones work best when plugged in via USB. So after a couple of trips where I streamed (w/ no noticeable BT issues), I started using the USB. The media hub is cavernous (room left over w/ 2 iphones, an ipod, a BB and 2 cables), you can't touch your phone while driving in the car in CA (tickets start at $159 before fees!), and it works - so I just leave my iphone plugged in (this also mitigates the crummy 4S battery drain, which is worsened by streaming for any length of time), and leave my BB to stream. Again, I haven't noticed any BT issues yet. I have Gen2 - V3.0.2.
 






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