luxpow

I just end up trusting the sensors to tell me if I am about to bump into something. Ford designs dont seem to factor the need to see to drive IMHO. Driving a Ford Edge is like driving a tank in the day and a spaceship in the night.

Hmmm that kind of kills the whole idea of the feature. If use has to pull the phone out of pocket to launch the app. Fortunately, in practice it works better than that. I dont need to manually start spotify etc. on my phone myself. I just select it from "mobile apps" or from audio sources and it automatically launches the app on phone (in my pocket). Maybe Android just keeps those apps running all the time. Power saving kills those apps and thats why they disappear. Oh well It doesnt matter to me anyway since spotify is so pricey I cant use it and Fordpass is an app which even the developers dont know the use of. No other relevant apps either.

Turn power saving off for those apps. I had the same issue and turning power saving off for those apps solved the issue. You didnt mention if you have an iphone or a smartphone so this may not apply. I have Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, yes my phone is an Edge too ;-)

I dont know if this is a question or rant or a wish. I am annoyed by the fact that my 2016 Edge Titanium has 2 screens on sides of speedometer yet they show much less info (at a time) compared to a single screen on my Escape 2014. The Escape had a quadrant which showed mileage info in one quad, trip miles in another, next navigation turn on 3rd and then something else I cant remember in the fourth. With 2 screens of same size on the Edge, I would imagine 8 times the info. Now I find myself going back and forth between settings to see miles left, mileage info, tire pressure etc. I wish Ford launches FW upgrade to show more info on the displays but I know its not going to happen.

Nope. It just makes the phone look good and bigger. It is actually more issues than use. holding the phone is a PITA as you basically end up touching the screen with multiple fingers and the real touches dont register. So had to get a case which fortunately was not hard to find. Now no issues. There are widgets designed to display some stuff on the edge like a ruler, data usage meter, news feed etc. Some look pretty but I dont see why displaying something on edge is better than anywhere else.

Well actually thanks to you twice because I did end up buying a new phone (S7 Edge) as well :-) (for different reasons) I could use NFC tags with new phone now but AFAIK it would still need me to take my phone out of pocket to tap somewhere. Plus NFC would need to be kept on always (even though it might use very little battery, its still extra) Hey, now my car and phone are both "Edge" :-)

Yes, the audio goes to sync3 over Bluetooth which I thought was the case for iphone also. I dont see how bluetooth degrades audio quality. Bandwidth of BT 4 is more than enough for music streaming IMHO. You are right, AA does need a USB connection. But seems like WiFi AA is coming (not to existing cars though maybe) http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/18/11700174/android-auto-update-wi-fi-support-ok-google-io-2016​

Built it finally ! I keep this plugged in car's USB port. When car starts, it emits a WiFi network SSID. Mobile phone use app called "Tasker" to turn BT on/off if this SSID is seen/notseen.

Android doesnt need to be plugged into USB for Applink. Only iphones might have that disease :-) With android, just let the phone be where it is be it your pocket, purse, trunk or wherever. Then press the voice button on steering wheel and say (for example) "spotify" & voila, spotify on your sync3 screen !. Or simply choose spotify from the audio sources in the car. Or, click the apps button on the screen for all compatible apps. I love it. Just hope more apps join the gang.

Found it finally. The key is : dont use the "where am i" thing. It just doesnt have what it should. The solution is : 1. Simply click on nav to see the map. The red arrow shows where you are. 2. Now touch the red arrow with a single finger (or a nearby spot). 3. At the right bottom on the screen, a green button named "start" will show up. 4. Press that green "start" button. 5. A dialogue box opens with options to either save that location or to start navigating to that spot.

To be honest, after looking at how well applink works, I am no longer too excited about AA or Carplay. The ease of apps working with your cars infotainment without having to take your cell out of pocket is too good to be true. AA & Carplay will need USB connection. So my dream now is to see more apps supporting Applink. With Totyota embracing that technology instead of AA/CA, I hope the dream will come true.

Thanks enigma but that might be so in MFT only :-( my 2014 escape had a similar way to do that. But sync 3 seems to have missed implementing that feature.

Havent been able to figure out how to store the current location to favorites. Was camping someplace with no street address and could not save the location. The 'where am i' thing shows current location but no way to store it.

Hard to believe people actually like the current system that shoots your car into the parking spot even when it has been proven dangerous in the post by Bruce above.

The idea was "gas-to-move" not "gas-to-speed". A driver who cant tell/control the difference between the two is a disaster anyways with or without auto parking. I also thought the autoparking was a gimmick feature initially but it does help people in areas where you rarely have to parallel park and thus dont get to practice it manually much.

Thats a good suggestion. Yes I do have those features (part of Adaptive cruise control + drivers package). I will play around with the lane sensing on & off. But I guess lane sensing uses camera and not the ultrasonic sensors used by parking alarms. I will try it anyways.

That is normal behavior in Fords AFAIK. I once let a friend try the auto parking in my 2014 Escape and the car picked up super speed when backing up. I had to yell at him to hit the brakes. For me personally, it was never a problem since keeping my foot near the brake comes very naturally to me. But Ford needs to fix it so that car doesnt move at all till the driver presses gas pedal. So basically, Gas-to-move instead of Superfast-till-you-brake will be a saner approach.

My 2016 Edge's left side sensors keep giving false alarms. Whenever parking, even when something is far away, it shows complete left side as red on the screen. Its random : sometimes the problem goes away completely but sometimes it starts showing red even when I am on the road stopped at red light. Maybe moisture or loose connection inside. I would like to see the wiring/fuse etc. to see if something obvious. Any idea where to look ? Dont want to visit the dealer unless absolutely required.

I feel so silly for not thinking of ESP8266 for taking akirby's idea to fruition. Its a tiny $6 WiFi module which supports both client and AP (access point) modes. I should be able to build a quick circuit that plugs into one of the USB ports in car. When Car turns on, so will the circuit which creates a WiFi network my cell can detect to turn BT on or off. Or I might just make it a battery powered circuit and recharge/replace batteries when needed. Now I am feeling smart again :-)

Maybe you used the app called Tasker as well. Thats what I am using also but it is trivial to use. I tried setting it to periodically turn BT on to see if Sync3 is nearby, If so, keep BT on else turn it off. But this simple "profile" doesnt work reliably. So I am now setting it to turn BT off if I am connected to WiFi (since that means I am at home/office) and turn it on when not connected to WiFi. When turning BT on, it stays on for 15 minutes and then turns off if not connected to anything. But still so many other cases to handle. The app has a learning curve to cross.

Thats interesting. How did you find the culprit ?

Akirby is right. An app would obviously be needed but the problem is finding the correct trigger for turning bluetooth on. I just started using the app called "Tasker". Right now it is set to periodically turn BT on, scan nearby BT devices and stay on if Sync is found. But problem is the frequency of checks. When the screen is on, it scans every 30 seconds, when screen off then every 600 seconds. The periodic scans will still drain the battery and, AND it still would not turn BT on the moment I get in the car. I have wifi on all the time anyways, so a trigger based on that would be more ideal for me.

That's a fantastic idea. I could do that or use a cheap Android phone with a car charger and keep its wifi hotspot always on. But that would be clutter in the car and drain cars battery and/or cause other electrical and thermal issues. But worth it if it can be extended to serve same purpose as sync connect by connecting it to obd port ;-)

My 2014 Ford Escape had the possibility to be the WiFi hotspot itself and use the phone via USB/BT/WiFi as the internet uplink. There was no modem inside the car or associated data plan charges. The only part that I wanted to use from that was this : I could use the Cars WiFi SSID presence as a trigger for my phone to turn bluetooth on/off. Else BT eats up my phones batter like anything. My phone doesnt have NFC and I am not buying another phone anytime soon.

MFT had a way to set up a car WiFi network with a plethora of connectivity options. In Sync 3 (2016 Edge), I cant find any such thing. It seems the car can now only be a WiFi client. Is this how its supposed to be or am I missing something ?