iPhone 5, iOS 7 and 2013 Ford Focus

[KTK1990]

I have an iPhone 5 and a 2013 Ford Focus SE (With My Ford Sync) and use the Bluetooth feature every time I'm driving with my iOS 6 phone.

If anyone else has the same car or same sync system, are there any new features that will work with my ford? Or major problems and bugs? One thing I am hoping iOS 7 would bring is the ability for auto replies or the ability to use siri with my car without touching my phone.

The car has when you receive a text it will read your text to you over the car speakers and you can auto reply with one of the 15 preset replies, in iOS 6 it does not work with the iPhone.

 

[sumsingwong]

I haven't found anything new. I think myfordsync would have to make some updates to change anything.

 

[srazz]

All the features and bugs that could make Sync better are all on the Ford side. I just purchased a Ford and love the vehicle but I'm very disappointed how poor the head unit is. Looks great but the integration with iPhone sucks.

 

[LSUstang05]

I have a 2013 Raptor with the MyFordTouch and I have no issues with the stock apps on the phone. With Spotify and the phone plugged in to the USB port, sometimes MFT will pause the song (shows still playing on the phone) and I have to press the "Play" button on the screen to get it to work again. Don't know if that's iOS7 related or just because MFT is so ******, though.

 

[Mabus51]

I have Sync in my Mustang. Like others have said integration with iPhone isn't the best. Bluetooth audio streaming works. But what do you expect out of a Microsoft product. You can replace your head unit next year with Apple's iOS head unit.

 

[KTK1990]

Thanks everyone,

I was hoping if Apple added more Bluetooth options that the car's preset text message replies might work.

It would be nice if Microsoft and Ford pushed an update that somehow got that feature working so I could have all the features working in my biggest iPhone accessory

 

[tdar]

Thanks everyone,

I was hoping if Apple added more Bluetooth options that the car's preset text message replies might work.

It would be nice if Microsoft and Ford pushed an update that somehow got that feature working so I could have all the features working in my biggest iPhone accessory

I Haven't tried texting with iOS 7 yet....I'll give that a try and see if we have some improvement.

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All the features and bugs that could make Sync better are all on the Ford side. I just purchased a Ford and love the vehicle but I'm very disappointed how poor the head unit is. Looks great but the integration with iPhone sucks.

Very true.... I blamed Apple for a long time but it is Ford that is the problem.

 

[KTK1990]

Looks great but the integration with iPhone sucks.

Like tdar did, I blamed Apple too, until I found some workarounds and saw things were Ford's faults. For example by default I could not get my Focus to read my texts to me while driving via Bluetooth. Phone calls worked fine, but when I got a text nada, found I had to go to the Bluetooth settings and enable Send notifications toggle.

It would be nice if it sent all notifications and I wish Ford would allow that, so when I'm driving and get an email I don't spend 80 miles wondering who sent it. The Bluetooth auto replies to text messages works perfectly fine on android devices, but a no go for iPhone's, which I thought the blame would be on Apple if they didn't have the proper Bluetooth profiles available for the car to send them, or if they had restrictions enabled so my car couldn't text people for me.

It would be nice to trigger Siri somehow, or even have Siri speak map directions via the car's speakers while driving. When Apple announced better car integration at WWDC in iOS 7, I was hoping that some features would play nice with my focus.

 

[sumsingwong]

It would be nice to trigger Siri somehow, or even have Siri speak map directions via the car's speakers while driving. When Apple announced better car integration at WWDC in iOS 7, I was hoping that some features would play nice with my focus.

I thought Siri can be heard through the speakers during turn by turn navigation if you enable BT audio on the unit. Works for me.

 

[macbookguy]

2013 Ti with MFT. Same things work and don't work as with iOS 6. My understanding with iDevices and Sync/MFT is that Apple doesn't allow SMS MAP protocol through bluetooth. If we were getting iPhone in the Car this would resolve it. But we're not.

 

[Squid7085]

Apple has allowed SMS over MAP since iOS 6. It really is on Fords end, afaik, Apple now supports everything that Sync supports, however My Ford Touch is extremely buggy, my iPhone actually works better with the system then an android phone. With "Better" being a relative term. The Spotify issue has me wanting to punch the touch screen in. I want to know if Ford will support the IOS in the Car. There is no reason it can't, all the processing and stuff is done in the phone, the in car system just needs to let the iPhone display it.

 

[KTK1990]

I thought Siri can be heard through the speakers during turn by turn navigation if you enable BT audio on the unit. Works for me.

I haven't tried it while listening to Bluetooth Audio, I had my iPhone connected to my focus via Bluetooth and listening to Sirius

Apple has allowed SMS over MAP since iOS 6.

Interesting, I was always under the impression that Apple would not have allowed the vehicle to send text replies, as reading them works fine but sending doesn't. Which is interesting as officially the iPhone 5 running iOS 6 is not supported for "SMS or Text messaging" according to Ford's site.

 

[madsci954]

Apple has allowed SMS over MAP since iOS 6. It really is on Fords end, afaik, Apple now supports everything that Sync supports, however My Ford Touch is extremely buggy, my iPhone actually works better with the system then an android phone. With "Better" being a relative term. The Spotify issue has me wanting to punch the touch screen in. I want to know if Ford will support the IOS in the Car. There is no reason it can't, all the processing and stuff is done in the phone, the in car system just needs to let the iPhone display it.

Ford probably has an exclusive agreement with MS with Sync, so Ford probably won't get iOS in the Car.

I'm hoping iOS in the Car will be something you can buy and install aftermarket instead of only buying a new car, but I doubt that it will happen. Best case I imagine is you buy a car that supports it but doesn't carry it and ask the dealer to install it.

 

[ross1998]

I just use an aux cable and I'm happy

 

[cribner]

My understanding (I own a 2013 Fusion with MyFord Touch) is that Ford is interested in integrating iPhone functions onto MyFord Touch, but they are concerned with the seamless integration with SYNC's own apps. One of the things I read specifically mentioned the car being able to handle its own built-in "apps"; entertainment, navigation, climate, etc. cleanly with the "iPhone mode" that is being mentioned for iOS 7. The official statement from Ford I believe was not that they weren't interested, but that they were very interested but couldn't commit to the timeframe Apple was pushing for; they don't want to rush out to launch with something that doesn't work well with the SYNC system already in place, and were meeting with Apple around the time of WWDC this year. Yes, it'd be cool to have immediately but its better to get something that is well thought through rather than something slapped together riddled with bugs and user-interface frustrations.

 

[tack1]

The new 3.6 update for MFT helps the iPhone connectivity. I have had no issues with it since I updated a few weeks ago, and I have traveled extensively in my 2013 Escape since the update.

I have ran every beta of iOS 7, and I saw no improvements like hands free Siri, texts, etc. It would be nice to see Ford increase App support given iOS 7's new in car support and features. I should note that I have an Escape, which does not support Sync AppLink. If you have a car that does, it might work well now.