I am a software developer by trade. So, I have an eye for user-interface and a greater tolerance for software that doesn’t have a good interface.

I find it very frustrating navigating through all the menu option. It’s worse than an HP/Dell Laser printer.

There is no cancel button! It’s hidden away as a double-tap or some god awful gesture that doesn’t have an pictogram. Please, maybe this is why MS can’t design a widely adopted phone?

You can’t find Bluetooth Audio in the menus. Only through Voice Recognition. Very confusing.

When you hit play on the iPhone and choose SYNC as the audio destination, nothing happens. Even if Bluetooth Audio is active.

I’m just finding my way to Phonebooks and the rest of the setup I expect from the system.

Being an iPhone/Apple guy, I expect a certain usability out of the box. With SYNC you must read the manual. Every line. Every paragraph. Every section.

I realize that this project was fast-tracked for Ford. Trying to add a feature to the car that was on the checklist of some executive in a glass tower in downtown Detroit. But man, this was a pretty cheesy way to get it in last years models.

Ford, you made the rest of the car with excellence and craftsmanship and then muddied the experience with a screwy system that is everybody’s face.

Get iteration 2 right, and then let me download SYNC 2.0.

iPhone 4/iOS 6/2010 Edge

Ted Microsoft blows and the sync technology is even worse. I have the same issues with my new 2013 escape. I’m sad to say it just started working properly for a day or two. Now I can’t stream pandora ! Incredibly volatile system. Im very frustrated to say the least.

any ideas??
Thanks in advance

Ted
T_anderton2001@yahoo.com

Interesting that you feel the need to customize so much… I’ve been using Macs since 1984 as well, and I find that outside of my wallpaper, there’s not that much I need to tweek… but as for technology why not visit my blog fordtechlane.com I write about Ford technology from an objective viewpoint and try to create articles that help answer the questions people might have about Ford technologies.

Second, thanks for your evaluation of SYNC. You’ve definitely spent time getting to know with the system, so thanks for the honest feedback. I can provide you some perspective on a few of your comments.
1) Voice Recognition – This feature is really the heart of SYNC and the reason why we introduced the system. In our research, voice recognition is the best interface to allow command and control over devices brought into the car (phones/MP3 players) yet help keep drivers’ eyes on the road, and hands on the wheel. Since we first introduced SYNC in 2007, there have been significant improvements to the technology, and Siri has really become the benchmark. We’ve made significant improvements to SYNC’s voice recognition in our latest products featuring SYNC with MyFord Touch. For instance, you can now say “Play track” or “Play song”. You can also just say “Call Alex” without saying “Phone” first. We’ve also added voice control over navigation, radio, satellite radio, and climate control. Note that there is a major difference between SYNC and Siri though, and it all has to do with processing power. SYNC features “embedded” voice recognition meaning that the software, and thus capability, is built into the car and always available for the driver to use. Siri is “cloud-based” or connected voice navigation, as it is taking your voice commands and sending them into the cloud for processing. The processing power is much stronger in the cloud, and therefore it allows more natural language interaction, but it requires a constant 3G/4G or Wifi connection to work. Have you ever pressed the Siri button and she responds that she’s not available at the moment? We will continue to improve voice recognition of SYNC, including looking at enhancement via the “cloud”, but it is important to make sure that the basic voice controls are always available to the driver, so the experience is a convenience, not a distracton.

2) The interface – The first generation of SYNC, such as the 2010 Focus that you’re driving, was a “peripheral” to the existing audio system allowing connectivity for cell phones (via Bluetooth) and MP3 players (via USB). Therefore, the driver interface or dashboard was not optimally designed to present the features/controls that SYNC provided. SYNC was introduced into our products as a “Go Fast” program meaning that we saw the opportunity to be the first to market and provide a feature that consumers wanted, and we were able to engineer it to work with the existing dashboard interface. While it may not have been the optimal interface, consumers have responded very favorably to the features that it has added to the car, and the competition is still trying to catch up to us. Our second generation of SYNC, MyFord Touch introduced in 2010, was designed as a holistic interface that really brought SYNC to life, using a mix of voice recognition, touchscreen, and steering wheel mounted controls.

3) Text messaging – Yes, your version of SYNC can read incoming text messages out loud, but the feature is dependent on the capabilities of your phone. This was a very advanced feature when it first launched in 2007, and phone manufacturers are slowly adopting the appropriate Bluetooth profile that allows the transfer of messages for text-to-speech.

Now that you’ve got a taste of what SYNC can do, I hope you get a chance to try out MyFord Touch to experience our latest enhancements. Also, please visit http://www.ford.com/sync to check phone compatibility charts (for text messaging) as well as other future features like AppLink, that allows for voice control over smartphone apps.

Please let me know if I can answer any other questions about Ford or SYNC.

Thanks.

Alan Hall
Ford Communications
@ahall32