Forget Sync Applink

[Jorgeesteves]

I don't know if any of you have been to Ford's website lately, but if you have you may have noticed that the info about SYNC has been updated. As it appears, AppLink is finally available in Europe, but this is not what brought me here.

See the image below to know what did.

I can't express how p***ed I am about this thing, when you have a car that's 1 year old (and I mean not only the car registration but also the model launch itself has been a little more than a year ago) and the system is already outdated?!?! And to think I even bought the Sony special DAB, which cost a lot more, come on man! These guys are completely ripping us off!

Of course technology keeps evolving, there's no denying that, but I believe most of you that are probably in the same situationas I am are giving this some thought too. Besides, do you believe there has been such a (hardware) enhancement? Or do you think they are only saying that to make you buy a new car (not that I would trade my 1 year old car just because of something like AppLink). All I know is I have been waiting for this update for almost as soon as I got my Fiesta and now it's available only for new models?

What do you think about this? All that s****y talk about updating through a usb pendrive and such I guess it's all for nothing now. Even so, I can't complain as much as the people who are waiting for their ordered cars to arrive and when they do the system will already be outdated. Ridiculous, that's all I have to say.

Shame on you Ford

[Gary.J]

After finally getting past Fords main website which kept linking me to an advertiesment about the Mustang rather than let me get the mains ite I found this in their sync area

Use your voice to control some of your favorite mobile apps while driving. Available on select Ford vehicles, SYNC AppLink⁶³ lets you choose apps from your supported smartphone using voice commands and radio buttons on your steering wheel.²⁷SYNC AppLink is available on 2013 Focus, Fiesta, E-Series, Expedition, F-150, Super Duty,^® C-MAX, Fusion and Mustang.

So I can't see why it isn't being made available for european Fiestas whe it was able to be used on the american ones a year ago.

Additionally, on the uk website they have this

Ford SYNC technology is constantly evolving – for example, its

language capabilities are becoming more sophisticated all the time. And
you’ll be able to integrate the improvements and new services into your
SYNC version, as they’re released.

Currently, you can have the updates downloaded directly, by taking your car to your local Ford dealer.

And soon you’ll be able to simply download them from our website onto a USB stick. You can then slot this into the USB port in your car and transfer the new services and updates yourself.

[Jorgeesteves]

Exactly! That upgrade message about the local Ford dealer and the "future possibility" of upgrading through usb pendrive is as ancient as SYNC has been available in Europe. And yet no sign of the usb update, and now that the AppLink is finally available, it is not, because somehow they found an excuse to only allowing it for the newer models...

[Jorgeesteves]

Okay, so as I was going to post a link to the page I took that screenshot from, I found out they changed it in the meantime... I wonder... :P

The new text is shown in the image.

Here's the link by the way, it's under the FAQs label

http://www.ford.co.uk/experience-ford/Technology/Ford-SYNC-with-AppLink

All it seems to me from all the pictures is that the interface is precisely the same, and I can't really think about any hardware changes that would only allow AppLink on this rocket science "enhanced" version, as I can see it, it's a mic, the DAB with bluetooth connection and the rest is software, right?!

[Gary.J]

I've no idea then. If this happened in the US, the purchasers would be jumping all over it with class action lawsuits etc as the recent debacle about fuel consumption shows. Ford had to accept they were wrong and have given money back to the customers for basically lying about how little the cars use. Over here though I doubt enough people have Sync and even know about applink or are willing to challenge Ford over the problem.

[supersneak]

Disappointing if true, this is not what was promised at the turn of the year.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/126175-ford-sync-applink-software-upgrade-to-arrive-for-3-4m-vehicles-in-2014

[GrumpyTrucker]

And people who go into Ford dealers are even told "there's no updates available"

I'm convinced they've never written any for DAB just the US systems. New firmware here seems to be only installable at build.

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC

[GrumpyTrucker]

Huh. After all my whinging it seems I do indeed have AppLink. I hadn't realised an iPhone needs connecting to the USB to get it to work.

From what I can see - and it's purely circumstantial - the Sony head units are the same in the 2014 models as previous ones. The menu interface is the same so I really can't see why Ford are being so hard headed about software updates here.

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC

[Jorgeesteves]

Huh. After all my whinging it seems I do indeed have AppLink. I hadn't realised an iPhone needs connecting to the USB to get it to work.

From what I can see - and it's purely circumstantial - the Sony head units are the same in the 2014 models as previous ones. The menu interface is the same so I really can't see why Ford are being so hard headed about software updates here.

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC

What do you mean by saying you have AppLink? I have some sort of menu that says mobile apps, but that has been there since I had the car and my unit has never been updated. If that's what you are refering to, that's not actually AppLink, I could never get that to work...

If you really do have AppLink, then congratulations mate! I'm happy for you, at least people whose cars are less than a few months aren't being fooled.

[GrumpyTrucker]

What do you mean by saying you have AppLink? I have some sort of menu that says mobile apps, but that has been there since I had the car and my unit has never been updated. If that's what you are refering to, that's not actually AppLink, I could never get that to work...

If you really do have AppLink, then congratulations mate! I'm happy for you, at least people whose cars are less than a few months aren't being fooled.

Yep, that is AppLink. Got it working last night with Spotify. Genuinely surprised to find it on there. I saw that Mobile Apps menu listing when I got the car and it just kept saying "no apps found" until I connected the iPhone with the cable, had Spotify playing as the foreground app and screen locked. I'd foolishly assumed it worked over BT. Does on Android. Ruddy Jobs and his BT hatred :(

I can't see any reason the menu listing would be there if the car isn't capable of it, or any reason why the 2013 cars can't be updated. Head units look the same.

Sent from my iPad using Ford OC

[BHeart]

Hi GrumpTrucker

I'm also seeing the 'no apps installed' message when I went into the SYNC options on my late November built 2013 Fiesta and I was quite upbeat when I read your reply saying that you needed to connect your iPhone to the system using the USB cable.

So, this morning I did exactly that and then went into the SYNC menu options and still found the 'no apps installed' message.

When you connected your iPhone using the cable, what exactly happened and had anything changed in the SYNC options?

As stated in my earlier reply's, I've spoken to Ford CR and have also had a written response saying that I have Applink 1.0 installed and that there was an 'Applink 1.1' update but this could not be applied to my system because my hardware was not compatible.

Also the newer Applink 2.0 is only being installed on April build models onward.

[Jorgeesteves]

Bheart, you are a little confused. You have SYNC 1.0 installed, not AppLink 1.0.

SYNC 1.1 has AppLink support. And yes, even calling it 1.1 should hint that it's an update, but it sure starts to seem like we'll never see this in our Fiesta's, for now it's only available in new cars.

About SYNC 2.0 there isn't much about it yet, but this one looks like a major upgrade of hardware included, launching on Ford Focus.

[GrumpyTrucker]

Hi GrumpTrucker

I'm also seeing the 'no apps installed' message when I went into the SYNC options on my late November built 2013 Fiesta and I was quite upbeat when I read your reply saying that you needed to connect your iPhone to the system using the USB cable.

So, this morning I did exactly that and then went into the SYNC menu options and still found the 'no apps installed' message.

When you connected your iPhone using the cable, what exactly happened and had anything changed in the SYNC options?

As stated in my earlier reply's, I've spoken to Ford CR and have also had a written response saying that I have Applink 1.0 installed and that there was an 'Applink 1.1' update but this could not be applied to my system because my hardware was not compatible.

Also the newer Applink 2.0 is only being installed on April build models onward.

You need to have an AppLink supported app actively running and in the foreground. For example Spotify or TuneIn Radio and then press the lock button on your phone. Then if you go into the Sync Settings -> Mobile Applications -> Find New Apps option it should find the app.

Supported apps are (based on the Ford US site):

Spotify

TuneIn Radio

amazon music Player

Stitcher

Aha Radio

Glympse

And a couple of others that I'm not sure are available in UK

If I'm being 100% honest I'm a bit underwhelmed by it, which is disappointing. Cables are so old hat these days. Although the AppLink connection does give more info via Spotify than a bluetooth connection does.

Have a look here and scroll down to the section Sync AppLink and Phone Compatibility

http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/applink-overview-sync

Sent from my iPad using Ford OC

[zimo]

You need to have an AppLink supported app actively running and in the foreground. For example Spotify or TuneIn Radio and then press the lock button on your phone. Then if you go into the Sync Settings -> Mobile Applications -> Find New Apps option it should find the app.

Hi!

Tested this also. I think you're lucky one to have the Applink 1.1 in your car.

I have 2013 Fiesta and there's no "Mobile Applications" option in the SYNC-settings. In the main menu there's "SYNC-applications", not "Mobile applications".

Local Ford (Finland) representative also confirmed that 1.1 is a hardware update and the 2013 version cannot be updated. According to them the latest update was about a year ago and apparently it didn't include the Applink option.

You can use for example Ford India's site and register using your car's VIN code: https://www.india.ford.com

I managed the download the update from the site but apparently that's really old, IOS6 optimized!!

**

Update name: AM5T-14D544-DEA

This new software will provide the following enhancements to your current SYNC® system:

- Updated bluetooth device connectivity

- Improved system stability

- Improved media player functionality

- Enhanced voice recognition capabilities

- Optimized for use with Apple iOS 6 for incoming text messaging

This update includes improvements from all previous SYNC updates such as flattened phone grammar, improvements in device indexing, text messaging capabilities with the implementation of message access profile (MAP), and more.

**

I'm getting convinced that the AppLink update hype is more of a marketing thing so people won't stop buying existing models if there's better version coming soon. Let's hope I'm wrong about this ;o)

Fiesta is my 3rd Ford (bought as new!) and probably last as I'm getting really pi**ed off with this.

[Mental_Atom]

Hey Guys! Using a small degree of my web-dev ninja-skills I got the July onwards fiesta brochure off the of the Ford site (might not be final, I dont know), and App link is mentioned :)

Page 8...

Fiesta eBrochure July 2014.pdf

[Jorgeesteves]

Hey Guys! Using a small degree of my web-dev ninja-skills I got the July onwards fiesta brochure off the of the Ford site (might not be final, I dont know), and App link is mentioned :)

Page 8...

Haha! This is getting ridiculous, sadly there is probably no way we'll ever know if there has been indeed a hardware enhancement. Can't really tell from the appearance of the console, since it may be internal and besides, those images are the same as the older ones.

[rh205]

I've no idea then. If this happened in the US, the purchasers would be jumping all over it with class action lawsuits etc as the recent debacle about fuel consumption shows. Ford had to accept they were wrong and have given money back to the customers for basically lying about how little the cars use. Over here though I doubt enough people have Sync and even know about applink or are willing to challenge Ford over the problem.

Haha! This is getting ridiculous, sadly there is probably no way we'll ever know if there has been indeed a hardware enhancement. Can't really tell from the appearance of the console, since it may be internal and besides, those images are the same as the older ones.

Hi,

I have been following this topic with interest as I have sync 1.0 and when I was researching cars back in December 2013 I was led to believe by reading the ford UK website that the ford sync version I have was the latest. However I now know that it is old tech in the US. As far as I can tell applink is a software update to add the feature to the existing software a bit like Apple and Google updating software features bundled with their existing OS’s. However in the same way that Apple drops an iPhone model released a few years ago each year because of hardware incompatibility, Ford has dropped my hardware in just over a year or less than a year if you count the announcement in January.

I feel that if Apple had done this sort of thing with an iPhone there would be merry hell on both sides of the pond. This partly because when Apple release a new phone people don’t necessarily buy that model they buy the previous model/s hence why Apple support their older models and the result is they don’t cause this sort of problem.

I was looking forward to getting applink but I am slightly annoyed that this won't happen and makes you question what were Ford doing putting essentially obsolete tech in the car knowing that within months they would no longer be updating it. Their website still even makes it sound like it is going to get updates by saying 'Ford SYNC technology is constantly evolving – .... And you’ll be able to integrate the improvements and new services into your SYNC version, as they’re released.' This is the same message that has been displayed from before my car was built. This is a key statement as we know that this is not true and Ford should be questioned as to why they are making such statements making the consumer believe that they will get updates.

I have written a much longer reply (too long for the forum) to this problem in the attached word document which attempts to cover elements such as what components make up the sync system and what action I feel Ford should take.

Ford-Sync.doc

[BHeart]

I'm with you all the way on this and would seriously consider supporting any move that involves serving Ford UK with a class action.

My present Fiesta is my second in three and a half years and after buying a Zetec in 2010, late last November, I treated myself to a Titanium with Ford SYNC which was a big selling point for me but, now I find that, apparently, it cannot be upgraded.

How do I know this, well I recently emailed the Ford UK/Europe CEO and obviously it goes through his customer relations department who called me up but, after a long chat, the outcome was that, as my FORD SYNC system reads out text messages when they arrive, they confirmed that I have FORD SYNC 1.0 which cannot be upgraded to FORD SYNC 1.1 with Applink or, the latest FORD SYNC Applink 2.0 because my system hardware would not support the new software so, to say that I am annoyed about this is an understatement.

I've also just noticed that in the article shown in the www.digitalspy.co.uk link which was dated September 11th, 2013, it states the following:

"Current Ford models will ship with the latest version SYNC". "The AppLink Upgrade should be getting rolled out gradually to current generation of Ford cars".

So, as my car was built on 7th November 2013, it should have come with the latest version of SYNC but, my system has apparently only got FORD SYNC 1.0.

[rh205]

Hi,

As you have rightly pointed out the DS article does state 'The AppLink upgrade should be getting rolled out gradually to current generation Ford cars'. Well that includes my car as it is/ was a current generation model at the time that the article was published. So what happened as I doubt digital spy would make that up, it must of come from someone at Ford.

When it comes to this tech I generally see an update as a software thing and an upgrade as a hardware thing. In much the same way as you might take a PC to a shop to have the video card 'upgraded' and have the latest windows software 'updates' installed. I can however understand that at this moment Ford are focusing on installing the new modules in new cars but I do hope that given time they will enable older systems to be upgraded to ford sync AppLink.

There are tons of articles online saying that an AppLink update is coming to existing vehicles with AppLink v1 but the question is what happened to AppLink v1.0 on post 2011 vehicles? This one at Foray Motor Group (a UK not a US company)(http://www.foraymotorgroup.co.uk/module/ford-car-news/715/Update-for-Ford-SYNC-AppLink-now-available) states:

2011 saw the debut of Ford SYNC AppLink - software which allowed for a host of mobile phones and handheld devices to run applications through the voice command features, radio and steering wheels of integrated vehicles. First seen in the Ford Fiesta of that year, it has gone on to become one of the most appealing aspects of owning a new Ford car.

The Sync AppLink version they are on about is AppLink v1.0.

So why didn't my car have AppLink V1.0 installed as according to Foray Motor Group it has been available since 2011? A full two years before my car was built. Why did Ford put out of date tech in my car knowing they were going to stop supporting it? The best solution to this would be for Ford to provide answers and upgrade the sync module and software under warranty.

There just seems to be something strange about this whole issue and thing just don't add up.

[zimo]

There's discussion in the Twitter about the AppLink:

https://twitter.com/SimoHahtala/status/319177858197102593

No reply for the latest question though:

https://twitter.com/SimoHahtala/status/481700179910070272

[Jorgeesteves]

I'm with you all the way on this and would seriously consider supporting any move that involves serving Ford UK with a class action.

I´d support it too if I was in the UK. One of the things that are good about the North American consumer community is that there's a much bigger audience, whereas in Europe it's kind of fragmented, even though products and companies derive pretty much from one big mother company, they are represented individually in each country.

There's discussion in the Twitter about the AppLink:

https://twitter.com/SimoHahtala/status/319177858197102593

No reply for the latest question though:

https://twitter.com/SimoHahtala/status/481700179910070272

Looking forward to see what their answer to that last question will be.

[rh205]

I´d support it too if I was in the UK. One of the things that are good about the North American consumer community is that there's a much bigger audience, whereas in Europe it's kind of fragmented, even though products and companies derive pretty much from one big mother company, they are represented individually in each country.

Looking forward to see what their answer to that last question will be.

This is where it gets a bit confusing then. As the quote about sync updates comes from http://www.ford.co.uk/experience-ford/Technology/FordSYNC (Ford of Britain (FoB)). However as with most, if not all the European fiestas the car is made by Ford of Europe (FoE) in either their Cologne or Valencia plants.

So as it was FoE who put the tech in are they the ones to take issue with?

Would Ford of Britain order x amount of fiestas with sync and then FoE just fulfil the order or do FoE have some say in which sync version goes in which car?

[BHeart]

Just a thought ......... has anyone managed to actually find and download Ford SYNC 1.1 with Applink for European Ford cars and then try to update a system, via USB, which already has Ford SYNC 1.0 software installed?

The link for Foray Motors in one of the posts above, says there is an update available which can be downloaded free but I don't see any download links on their website?

[rh205]

Foray Motors are referring to Applink 2.0 that can be downloaded free of charge. However there are no links as only US customers can download and install sync software, we have to go to our dealer.

As for Sync 1.1 with AppLink I have tried googling it but only get the Ford US site which is no good for us as it wont accept our VIN numbers. I'm sure that Sync 1.1 is out there somewhere on p2p website but the issue is it is likely to be the US version which will mean the speech software is designed for US accents and language rather than UK accents and language.

Also I found this on the Ford UK website which describes the fiesta 'Like a brand new smartphone, the New Ford Fiesta combines contemporary style, with state-of-the-art technology. And every feature’s designed to help you get the most out of your day.'

This led people to believe they were getting the latest sync tech which would continue to be supported and updated by Ford.

The Wikipedia definition is: The term "state of the art" refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time.

We now know that the sync tech in our cars was not state of the art as it was not the highest level of general development of a device as there were newer sync modules being fitted to US cars.

[BHeart]

Hi rh205, thanks for your response.

Yes with regards to SYNC and SYNC with Applink, I think Ford UK/Europe are taking us for 'mugs'! Especially as it seems that we could and should have had the latest SYNC version available for in the UK/Europe which I believe is SYNC 1.1 with Applink.

I've just been reading on the Ford UK website under SYNC that iPhones users should connect their mobiles to the system using the cable so I did just that.

I was curious to see what would happen if I installed some supported SYNC apps so I installed Tunein Radio and Spotify and turned off bluetooth and connected via the cable, then launched tune in radio and locked the phone.

After about a minute, I got an 'on-screen' message saying 'no phone found'?

I then went into the SYNC/applications options on the car and saw 'no mobile apps installed'?

I don't get that? Surely if the 'no mobile apps installed' comes up, then there ought to be another option to install apps from the iPhone?

I then chose SYNC Media and got 'please connect a phone'? Surely as I have music on my iPhone and was connected via cable, that message should not have come up.

This now makes me wonder back to when my iPhone was cable connected to my 2010 Fiesta Zetec and I needed to press AUX to get my music to play - but, I did not get the 'please connect a phone' message back then.