Sync 3

[Sgt1411]

i realize you're just the messenger, so please don't take this personally instead maybe relay to management. But sync w/ mft was sold to the consumers with the promise applink would be "available soon". This is the announcement of the end of life of our current mft, and it's really a bs move on ford's part. They failed to deliver on every promise they made regarding mft, and yet profited incredibly from the option. No available upgrade path for current mft users, and no ability to change out mft for an aftermarket infotainment system due to the complex integration with other system functions in 2013-2014 model vehicles has secured my decision to leave ford and pursue another manufacturer next year when i go shopping for my next vehicle.

Mft is a known clusterf@#$ of a mess, and those of us who stood by the bug ridden system for the past x years (personally 4 here) get to hear "buy a new vehicle if you want your problems fixed". I was chastised when i eluded to the 3.7 update being an eol for 2013 my and prior vehicles, but it looks like i was spot on.

You say we will continue to recv performance and bug fixes, but in reality we won't, and haven't for some time. If you haven't been able to fix some of the most basic bugs since 2011, what confidence can we possibly have in expecting any resolutions now after an eol is announced?

Deeply hurt by ford product management, and ivt

the kicker is, no one at ford will care =p
as a family we've purchased 5 ford vehicles in the last 2 years, it's nice to know the loyalty is rewarded.

+1

 

[BobbyMarks]

I realize you're just the messenger, so please don't take this personally instead maybe relay to management. But Sync w/ MFT was sold to the consumers with the promise AppLink would be "available soon". This is the announcement of the end of life of our current MFT, and it's really a BS move on Ford's part. They failed to deliver on every promise they made regarding MFT, and yet profited incredibly from the option. No available upgrade path for current MFT users, and no ability to change out MFT for an aftermarket infotainment system due to the complex integration with other system functions in 2013-2014 model vehicles has secured my decision to leave Ford and pursue another manufacturer next year when I go shopping for my next vehicle.

MFT is a known clusterf@#$ of a mess, and those of us who stood by the bug ridden system for the past X years (personally 4 here) get to hear "buy a new vehicle if you want your problems fixed". I was chastised when I eluded to the 3.7 update being an EOL for 2013 MY and prior vehicles, but it looks like I was spot on.

You say we will continue to recv performance and bug fixes, but in reality we won't, and haven't for some time. If you haven't been able to fix some of the most basic bugs since 2011, what confidence can we possibly have in expecting any resolutions now after an EOL is announced?

Deeply hurt by Ford product management, and IVT

The kicker is, no one at Ford will care =P
As a family we've purchased 5 Ford vehicles in the last 2 years, it's nice to know the loyalty is rewarded.

+1:thumbdwn:

 

[13Sport]

I wish they'd allow us to waive the warranty on MFT and release it as open source so the community can pick up where they failed. Maybe a couple of wrapper objects for interacting with hvac and instrument clusters so we could write our own interface altogether...

 

[ObsceneJesster]

I still can't believe Ford isn't giving the option to upgrade their current MFT to the new QNX system. Nobody here expects it to be a free upgrade. Obviously hardware and install time costs money. Ford knows damn well that an upgrade is entirely and completely possible yet they refuse to offer it in an upgrade. Talk about a slap in the face. I just purchased a 2015 Explorer and planned on keeping it for 10 years since I only put 7,000 miles a year on my cars. Now what the hell am I supposed to do when my engine is still running and my infotainment system is outdated. I should have done more research into my purchase but I had never even thought about an infotainment system not being able to be upgraded. I just didn't think a company would not allow their customers a way to upgrade something so essential to car driving in the 21st century.

If Ford doesn't make this right, I can guarantee that I will never buy another one for the rest of my life.

 

[Sgt1411]

Due to the fact I don't do computer programming I have a question for the software guys on here.

How hard would it be to produce a "MFT version" of SYNC3 that would run on the existing MFT hardware?

So maybe it doesn't have some of the features that are dependant on faster hardware like pinch and zoom mapping but I can live with reduced functionality.

Is that possible or are there a whole other batch of interface issues (existing climate/media/nav) that this would open up?

 

[RedDen]

if Ford sticks to "no after the fact" navigation with new system than they are just a bunch of ...

 

[RedDen]

Due to the fact I don't do computer programming I have a question for the software guys on here.

How hard would it be to produce a "MFT version" of SYNC3 that would run on the existing MFT hardware?

So maybe it doesn't have some of the features that are dependant on faster hardware like pinch and zoom mapping but I can live with reduced functionality.

Is that possible or are there a whole other batch of interface issues (existing climate/media/nav) that this would open up?

it is different architecture. It is like trying to install Windows on Mac or vice versa...

 

[Bryceb]

It is like trying to install Windows on Mac or vice versa...

Although that is actually do-able.

But in this instance, I think the most likely "hack" is going to be someone figuring out how to install Windows Automotive and have OS level access to it.

 

[ObsceneJesster]

Due to the fact I don't do computer programming I have a question for the software guys on here.

How hard would it be to produce a "MFT version" of SYNC3 that would run on the existing MFT hardware?

So maybe it doesn't have some of the features that are dependant on faster hardware like pinch and zoom mapping but I can live with reduced functionality.

Is that possible or are there a whole other batch of interface issues (existing climate/media/nav) that this would open up?

It is near impossible and doesn't make sense for the amount of work it would require. It would be much much easier for Ford just to swap out the entire unit. In fact, that would be super easy for any service shop to do. Probably a 3 hour job max.

If Ford is like every other car manufacture and they are, every "INFOTAINMENT" system is going to glitch and run slow due to the fact they are using hardware with the equivilent power as a smart watch. It's all about the bottom line and rather than spending $35 on a decent CPU, they'd rather spend $25 on a already outdated CPU. Rather han spending $12 on RAM, they'd rather spend $8 on it.

Car companies will continue doing this since most people today buying a car doesn't really think about the infotainment system. That's just a secondary perk in the average buyers eyes. In a couple years though, it won't be. Then maybe, just maybe the car business will start taking it seriously.

It doesn't matter how great the infotainment system is designed. It doesn't matter how good it runs today. What is going to matter most is upgradeability. If the infotainment system can't be updated then people will stop buying those vehicles that don't have upgradeable systems. It's inevitable that whatever system you're currently using is going to be severely crippled and outdated 5 years down the road.

Ford along with every other manufacture figured out a way to keep selling cars now that they're making drivetrains that last longer and longer. They obviously don't want people keeping a car for 10 years so they figure they will keep them buying new cars due to outdated infotainment systems.

 

[tmg19103]

I understand Ford over-promised and under-delivered on Sync.

No Applink, and I was lucky to miss the bugs as I bought a used 2011 when 3.6.2 was already out and immediately updated, so my user experience is not bad at all. Actually like it.

My below post explains my thinking. As long as newer smart phones contain the current Bluetooth technology (which I expect they will due to that being a lot of business for them for of millions of cars) I'll just update the current Sync 2 with new smart phone technology right off my phone.

I also don't see Sync 3 as that great. Maybe in 5 years infotainment systems will have something I really feel I need, but by then I will be getting closer to a new vehicle.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3367432#post3367432

 

[RedDen]

There was kinda similar situation with BMW owners. First idrive generation was on Windows platform and with second generation BMW switched to another one. Some time later third-party retrofit kit to upgrade to new system appeared on the market as it wasn't provided by BMW. Costly though...

 

[RedDen]

Everything is on Ford engineers and they could have kept same interface connectors (slots) to make swap between two units (aka APIM) possible. This fact we still going to find, cause not much info available as of yet. If they didn't, then Ford is just a bunch of morons who don't care about their customers and I'm not going to buy any Ford vehicle in the near future. It takes years to earn loyalty, but much faster to loose it!

 

[gatzdon]

This one video give me hope for a slick aftermarket solution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lue5P6tAagI

This video is for adding aftermarket Garmin Navigation to the MyFord Touch, but they do it by adding a board between the MyFord Touch motherboard and the LCD board allowing them to make full use of the touchscreen functionality. The product description shows use of the steering wheel buttons to toggle between navigation and regular myford touch screens.

What this means to me is that someone already figured out the hard part. Hopefully as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay rollout, there will be someone in the aftermarket to push something like this out that allows us to add Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to our MyFord Touch Screens with the ability to easily switch between the two modes.

Alternatively, with probably a bit more development work needed, maybe someone will come up with a solution to swap out the MyFord Touch motherboard all together. It seems like that would be a pretty easy swap.

Flashing new software to the existing MFT motherboard is highly unlikely. I was reading up on the Freescale IMX516 and they take securing access to any software on board very seriously. Whether or not Ford used all potential means of securing the MFT is unknown, but the Freescale IMX516 was designed such that once it's in Production Mode, it's near impossible to get it back into Engineering Mode without signed software instructing it to switch back.

 

[RedDen]

With all this fool play by Ford with its customer, my next car might be Hyundai!

http://www.hyundainews.com/us/en/med...ectronics-show

Its totally right move by Hyundai!

 

[peterk9]

Another article on the new Sync3. This one is a quick review by Car and Driver.

http://motrolix.com/2015/01/car-dri...il&utm_term=0_74c392f506-dce4fcfb28-364881805

Peter

 

[tazcubed]

+1

+1 who probably will look elsewhere for vehicles. Between the lack of upgrading since 3.6.2 for a 2013 (when others are at 3.7), plus ongoing navigation problems, a lack of traffic functionality in the Canadian vehicles, and essentially no options to rectify, I'd say Ford Canada will be out of luck keeping me as a customer soon enough (other, ongoing problems with the vehicle as well is giving me little reason to believe that reliability will be enduring).

Given that the QNX version won't be out right away means there's simply no reason to look to Ford. To hear Ford service say they'll keep Sync2 running - probably only for as long as warranties require.

Frankly, I'm just simply tired of trying to get a hodge-podge to work properly. It's more of a distraction than an aid.

 

[peterk9]

QNX is being installed in some vehicles this year. No word yet as to which ones. It seems that version updates were only coming out about once a year and then only if there was an upgrade or fix for certain issues. Apparently V3.7 had nothing new for the models prior to 2014 that wasn't already fixed via a download (Ambient lighting). I didn't notice any difference between 3.6.2 and 3.7.

Peter

 

[Lewisra]

Will I be able to use it with my gloves on?

 

[Plinyyounger]

Makes me think there will not be any more major updates for MFT

http://www.cnet.com/news/ford-sync-3-announced/

Where did you read or see that no updates will be made? Not sure you read everything, or you are just speculating. Normally, electronics are updated when issues arise, for a period of time anyway. I think we can in the very least expect periodic updates.

Edit: now that you have posted info about the update most of us already knew about, the retardos are going to come out again and spam this thread with "I want an upgrade for free" crap. Ugh!

 

[Sgt1411]

Where did you read or see that no updates will be made? Not sure you read everything, or you are just speculating. Normally, electronics are updated when issues arise, for a period of time anyway. I think we can in the very least expect periodic updates.

Edit: now that you have posted info about the update most of us already knew about, the retardos are going to come out again and spam this thread with "I want an upgrade for free" crap. Ugh!

I agree not all upgrades should be free if they add new enhanced functionality but lets cut the sh$$ and be honest here. MFT was and is a disaster. When most of the people here or on other forums ask for free upgrades they are asking for even less functionality than was promised in the early MFT marketing.

When they released MFT they marketed a system that said it would do A,B,C,D,and E,

It couldn't do anything without rebooting, and not only that it would completely shut down, considering its HVAC and other critical vehicle integration this caused some significant issues. Im not talking about not playing the correct song in my library.

Im talking about being out on a highway in the desert with your kids in the car and its 100F and the A/C isnt working because MFT shut down and your looking a blank screen.

Im talking about being somewhere at night when your lost and relying on navigation to get you somewhere safe and it completely shuts down and you get a blank screen. In the middle of the night in some unfamiliar areas thats scary.

And the bigger slap in the face is some IVT rep telling you to do a Master Reset, or disconnect the battery, or twist your body in half and get under the dash to pull fuse #29 , or take it to the dealer.


First off there's no dealer open 24 hrs so thats out for immediate support because you have "book it in", second of all most dealers know less about MFT then the customers driving the car. I have had to print information from this very forum and taken it to the dealer to get them to understand issues. Even then they don't get it.

Im sick and tired of educating the very people who are supposed to be the support system for this poorly executed product.

Between 2011 and now we have gained stability and thats it. In order to gain stability we gave up several key features and abandoned hopes of ever seeing other promised features.

Most owners here want the free upgrades to be the very system that was marketed back in 2011, and guess what, that new system just came out with the caveat that the loyal early adopters can't have it without buying another vehicle.

Thats morally and ethically wrong.