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Ford/Microsoft Sync & iPhone

N

neoelectronaut

Cancelled
Original poster
Dec 3, 2003
3,417
2,093
Considering my options about a new car when my last one was involved in a wreck (unfortunately not my fault) and it'll be totaled.

I see most of the new Ford vehicles have something called Sync. I assume this is primarily Bluetooth based since it handles calls, but does it work via the dock connector as well. What would be the preferred method for music? I'm assuming the dock connector would be a better quality signal than Bluetooth would be.
 
We just got a new Chevy. With it came a USB port that we use to charge up the ipods/iphones, etc.
But this also will let us play music through the car stereo as well. Which seems to have a better over all quality than BT from my limited experience. So I'd look if the car has a USB port in it that allows you to connect to the stereo. Its easy to check. Just plug your iphone in, and see what the stereo does.

But the bluetooth in the car to make voice calls is awesome. Mic is right in the roof above the drivers head. Call quality is top notch.
 
Yes to all of the above. If you hook it up using the dock connector, it will sync your music library and make it all available via voice. Therefore, you could say, "play track jerry was a racecar driver" and it will start playing primus. As far as bluetooth, it works the same as any other bluetooth audio device you may have. When iPod is playing and you are connected to SYNC via bluetooth, you can simply select SYNC from the audio menu (on the phone) and audio will stream through the system.

BTW, I use my iPhone4 with my 2009 Ford Escape, and also work for Ford.
 
Yes, you can stream your music from your iPhone via BT. I did this in a Ford Edge over the summer. You can plug it in as well, but the BT streaming is awesome if you're a guest in the car, which I was.
 
Small White Car said:
Well, stop paying so much attention to the road and if you're lucky then your next accident will be your fault.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :D
Click to expand...

This'll definitely be the weirdest accident I'll be in in my life though...guy was backing out of a business onto the damn highway, I didn't see him do so in time, bam, wreck.

It was my fault that I hit him but you don't back out onto a goddamn highway.
 
neoelectronaut said:
It was my fault that I hit him but you don't back out onto a goddamn highway.
Click to expand...


Come to the Washington DC metro area and people backing out onto the highway will be the least of your worries. We have an extremely high concentration of Asian women drivers.
 
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But there's a Gotcha if you connect the iPhone to Ford Synch or even if you merely hook the iPhone up to charge via USB.

You will no longer hear TXT messages come through to your phone.

It's crazy stupid but a major flaw with either iOS's Blue Tooth capabilities or Ford Sync. It's been that way for a long time.

You will hear incoming calls though either way, just not TXT's.
 
Fissure said:
But there's a Gotcha if you connect the iPhone to Ford Synch or even if you merely hook the iPhone up to charge via USB.

You will no longer hear TXT messages come through to your phone.

It's crazy stupid but a major flaw with either iOS's Blue Tooth capabilities or Ford Sync. It's been that way for a long time.

You will hear incoming calls though either way, just not TXT's.
Click to expand...

I think it may be iOS. Ford Sync will try to read your TXT to you when you get them (a feature it seems only Android supports).
 
diamond.g said:
I think it may be iOS. Ford Sync will try to read your TXT to you when you get them (a feature it seems only Android supports).
Click to expand...

correct. It is apple.

I have SYNC and an iPhone. I can't imagine buying a car without it now! I use it everytime I am in my truck.
 
Dont do it -- Sync is NOT a Macs friend

I bought a brand new Lincoln Navigator. Many $. It has a 10Gb drive that you can put music on by Ripping a CD in the Car. No thumb drive support, no transfer from iPod. You will get an error "Unable to index all music. You may need to manually enter track names".

You may be able to play songs that reside on your ipods, but for the money paid, it should do MUCH, MUCH more.

In hindsight, I'd get rid of the car just because of the MS-Sync system.
 
Fissure said:
You will no longer hear TXT messages come through to your phone.

It's crazy stupid but a major flaw with either iOS's Blue Tooth capabilities or Ford Sync. It's been that way for a long time.
Click to expand...

I can hear texts come in when my iPhone is hooked up to my Chevrolet Cruze's audio system over Bluetooth, or over the USB connector. So, I would have to say it's probably not an iOS thing, or at worst, a bug that somehow only affects the SYNC system (Apple and Microsoft not playing well, imagine that?).

And FWIW: the Chevy's audio system does also support MP3 playback over USB thumb drives, in addition to having a separate, plain old line-in jack.

Ultimately though, the sound system, the iPhone support, the Bluetooth capabilities, and even the iPhone App are nice frills, but shouldn't be the sole things that define a car purchase. If the car has a good safety rating, good mileage, handles well and is comfortable and durable, those should really trump the frills.
 
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scaredpoet said:
i can hear texts come in when my iphone is hooked up to my chevrolet cruze's audio system over bluetooth, or over the usb connector. So, i would have to say it's probably not an ios thing, or at worst, a bug that somehow only affects the sync system (apple and microsoft not playing well, imagine that?).

And fwiw: The chevy's audio system does also support mp3 playback over usb thumb drives, in addition to having a separate, plain old line-in jack.

Ultimately though, the sound system, the iphone support, the bluetooth capabilities, and even the iphone app are nice frills, but shouldn't be the sole things that define the car purchase. If the car has a good safety rating, good mileage, handles well and is comfortable and durable, those should really trump the frills.
Click to expand...

+1.3
 
I'm thinking of using an old 32GB 1G iPod touch that I was going to sell as a permanent car jukebox by loading it up with my music and just leaving it plugged into the car, while my iPhone will handle all the....Phone functions. That way I don't have to plug in my iPhone all the time to play music. Would this work or would two devices being used in tandem confuse the thing?
 
Car will be ready for pickup on Wednesday. Excited to have a care after 3 weeks of having to use a loaner. Debating on using my 32GB iPod Touch or picking up a used iPod Classic somewhere on the cheap.
 
So here's one more question. Is there any way to charge my iPhone without the car trying to index all the music that's on the device? I plan on using the aforementioned iPod Touch strictly for music, but occasionally I might need to charge my iPhone, and I'd love to just be able to pop the USB cable in, but since I won't be using the iPhone for music I'd hate for the car to start trying to play music off the damn thing...

Worse case scenario I'll just hold onto my old iPhone car charger.
 
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