4.2” productivity screen doesn’t display Sirius Song

Asu4040

Member
First Name
Taylor
Joined
May 2, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
14
Reaction score
16
Location
Phoenix
Vehicle(s)
F150
Hi all,
I’ve noticed my Ranger’s right productivity screen does not display the song name or artist while using SiriusXM. It only displays this info on the main touchscreen. Can I get this information to display on the productivity screen(s)? I know it’s minor but previous Fords I’ve owned have displayed this information. Thanks for the help.

1880D3C6-EBE1-4A5C-BA68-3D511B4F3CF1.jpeg


2D2EE13B-A261-472D-BDFE-F3391F3FD676.jpeg


8DBA0356-A93C-4DC3-BEB0-4D9C40764A62.jpeg
Sponsored

 

Desert_5G

Well-Known Member
First Name
Eric
Joined
Oct 28, 2018
Threads
18
Messages
542
Reaction score
501
Location
Arizona
Vehicle(s)
Tacoma
Vehicle Showcase
1
mine doesn't either. I think the right display is useless. I wish they would get rid of it and utilize the display on the lower trims.
 
OP
OP
Asu4040

Asu4040

Member
First Name
Taylor
Joined
May 2, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
14
Reaction score
16
Location
Phoenix
Vehicle(s)
F150
Anyone know a way to report to Ford’s tech team? See if it can be corrected?
 

DrRoger

Well-Known Member
First Name
Roger
Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Threads
3
Messages
386
Reaction score
320
Location
Dallas, TX
Vehicle(s)
2011 Taurus, 2019 Ranger XL (May 20)
Occupation
Retired
Anyone know a way to report to Ford’s tech team? See if it can be corrected?
I also need to contact them about the incorrect date on the display issue.
 


RCMUSTANG

Well-Known Member
First Name
Ray
Joined
Jan 22, 2019
Threads
21
Messages
1,789
Reaction score
1,935
Location
Los Angeles
Vehicle(s)
2017 Fusion 1995 Ranger
Sync 3 removed it for some stupid reason.
 

VAMike

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Feb 22, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
3,270
Reaction score
4,145
Location
Virginia
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger Lariat SuperCab
The thing to remember about car companies is that they aren't software companies.
 

UofMEngineer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
516
Reaction score
334
Location
Michigan
Vehicle(s)
20' Escape Hybrid,18' Fusion Hybrid
Hmm. This is working fine in my Fusion with the same style cluster display. I need to hop into a Ranger one of these days anyway to do some testing, I'll see if that's any different with 3.4, or if it's some unique thing for Ranger.

Re: Contacting Ford - Your best bet is still going via the dealer. You can contact the call center, but most issues I see come in arrive via the dealer channel.
 

RedlandRanger

Moderator
First Name
Rob
Joined
Nov 14, 2018
Threads
35
Messages
4,592
Reaction score
8,826
Location
Oregon
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ford Ranger Lariat FX4, 1973 Mercury Capri
Vehicle Showcase
1
The thing to remember about car companies is that they aren't software companies.
That is true, but with all the software in modern vehicles, I would hope that it is a skill they are rapidly developing. If they are not getting good at it, they are going to fail very soon.

Part of the problem with software is that there are so many external dependencies - is it truly software or is it some strange hardware issue caused by the myriad combinations of hardware? Many days, with the complexity of current systems, I'm amazed that ANYTHING works at all. There are SO many failure points, and yet for the most part, things are pretty reliable.
 

VAMike

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Feb 22, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
3,270
Reaction score
4,145
Location
Virginia
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger Lariat SuperCab
That is true, but with all the software in modern vehicles, I would hope that it is a skill they are rapidly developing. If they are not getting good at it, they are going to fail very soon.
That would only be true if there were competition. Since all the car makers suck at being software companies, they can be lousy together. The closest is tesla, but since they're still trying to figure out being a car company they aren't really competing head-to-head with the others.

Part of the problem with software is that there are so many external dependencies - is it truly software or is it some strange hardware issue caused by the myriad combinations of hardware? Many days, with the complexity of current systems, I'm amazed that ANYTHING works at all. There are SO many failure points, and yet for the most part, things are pretty reliable.
That's not really an issue for a car, as all the combinations of hardware are known to the manufacturer and there aren't too many combinations to prevent testing them all. (As opposed to something like windows, for which microsoft cannot possibly test or even know about all the hardware it might see.) The bigger issue is that they just don't really want to be bothered, and as long as the customers keep putting up with badly supported infotainment systems the manufacturers will continue to save money by not putting resources into the problem. (All that said, I think Ford is still better than many--just don't expect that if there's anything about the system that you don't like, you'll ever see it get fixed.) Android Auto/Apple Carplay were the best things to ever happen to in-car technology, because they're a step toward decoupling the infotainment UI from the control of the auto makers. It would be nice if it went further, but at least there's some chance that in 5 or 10 years there will be an up-to-date map application available via a 3rd party device, because there's basically zero chance the manufacturer would have spent a dime on improvements over that time.
 

RedlandRanger

Moderator
First Name
Rob
Joined
Nov 14, 2018
Threads
35
Messages
4,592
Reaction score
8,826
Location
Oregon
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ford Ranger Lariat FX4, 1973 Mercury Capri
Vehicle Showcase
1
That would only be true if there were competition. Since all the car makers suck at being software companies, they can be lousy together. The closest is tesla, but since they're still trying to figure out being a car company they aren't really competing head-to-head with the others.


That's not really an issue for a car, as all the combinations of hardware are known to the manufacturer and there aren't too many combinations to prevent testing them all. (As opposed to something like windows, for which microsoft cannot possibly test or even know about all the hardware it might see.) The bigger issue is that they just don't really want to be bothered, and as long as the customers keep putting up with badly supported infotainment systems the manufacturers will continue to save money by not putting resources into the problem. (All that said, I think Ford is still better than many--just don't expect that if there's anything about the system that you don't like, you'll ever see it get fixed.) Android Auto/Apple Carplay were the best things to ever happen to in-car technology, because they're a step toward decoupling the infotainment UI from the control of the auto makers. It would be nice if it went further, but at least there's some chance that in 5 or 10 years there will be an up-to-date map application available via a 3rd party device, because there's basically zero chance the manufacturer would have spent a dime on improvements over that time.
Internally, yes, they control everything, but when it comes to interfacing with phones, they have zero control over it. That is what I was referring to. There are a myriad of phones, cables, software versions, etc. In theory they all inter-operate, but in practice there are very subtle things that can cause cascading failures that are very hard to figure out. For an example see the prior threads on all their Android Auto/CarPlay issues going away by using a different cable.

My hope is that things will improve, but my guess is that things won't get much better. I still think that using the phone for navigation is a better path forward than using a built in system. Phones will be upgraded much faster than cars will. I subscribe to the "use the tool that works best" philosophy. Example - I have a 2004 Honda with a built in Navigation system that cost like $3000 when new. It is now functionally obsolete because there are no more map updates available for it. Even when there were, they charged like $150 for a new DVD for them, which was ridiculous because you could use your phone or get an external Garmin unit which was better for cheaper.

I think manufacturers should put more effort into improving the interface with phones and less effort into re-creating things that phones do better. But I kind of doubt that will happen - they want to show off their new shiny interfaces and gadgets to drive sales. I guess what I'm saying (in my long winded way) is that I totally agree with you. :)
 

VAMike

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Feb 22, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
3,270
Reaction score
4,145
Location
Virginia
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger Lariat SuperCab
Internally, yes, they control everything, but when it comes to interfacing with phones, they have zero control over it. That is what I was referring to. There are a myriad of phones, cables, software versions, etc. In theory they all inter-operate, but in practice there are very subtle things that can cause cascading failures that are very hard to figure out. For an example see the prior threads on all their Android Auto/CarPlay issues going away by using a different cable.
I don't expect them to fix bad cables. :) But the issue that this thread is about has nothing to do with phones or anything third party--it's basic functionality of stuff that came in the truck that just isn't working right. The fix shouldn't be that hard (and might even be fixed internally) but whether ford bothers to push a fix out to customers seems to be based on random chance. (See, for example, the stuttering nav voice which ford has already fixed but not pushed to the ranger.)

My hope is that things will improve, but my guess is that things won't get much better. I still think that using the phone for navigation is a better path forward than using a built in system. Phones will be upgraded much faster than cars will. I subscribe to the "use the tool that works best" philosophy. Example - I have a 2004 Honda with a built in Navigation system that cost like $3000 when new. It is now functionally obsolete because there are no more map updates available for it. Even when there were, they charged like $150 for a new DVD for them, which was ridiculous because you could use your phone or get an external Garmin unit which was better for cheaper
Yup, I had a similar honda nav. Note that even on the brand new ranger the nav maps are copyright 2015... I like having built-in nav for backup, but I don't expect it to work very well and I wouldn't have paid for it if it weren't bundled with other things I wanted more. (Side note: I despise bundling.)

I think manufacturers should put more effort into improving the interface with phones and less effort into re-creating things that phones do better. But I kind of doubt that will happen - they want to show off their new shiny interfaces and gadgets to drive sales.
I think it's more that they have to have a certain level of interface to handle internal systems (radio, HVAC, etc.) but then they just have...issues...figuring out how to integrate the phone and non-phone parts. I can't believe they're really putting much incremental effort into the nav part these days. It might be nice if the phone could take over more functions, but we know the result of that would be a really, really crappy app that wouldn't work right and wouldn't even be installable on a new phone in a couple of years.
 

RCMUSTANG

Well-Known Member
First Name
Ray
Joined
Jan 22, 2019
Threads
21
Messages
1,789
Reaction score
1,935
Location
Los Angeles
Vehicle(s)
2017 Fusion 1995 Ranger
Ford removed that info for some reason on the later versions of SYNC 3.
 

JDCinVA

Well-Known Member
First Name
John
Joined
Jan 22, 2019
Threads
8
Messages
73
Reaction score
31
Location
Vienna, VA
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ford Ranger, 2013 Ford Explorer, 1977 BMW R100/7
I posted a thread on this back in January. It's minor but it's annoying that they would drop that info.
 

Samuelc

Member
First Name
Sam
Joined
Jul 15, 2019
Threads
3
Messages
24
Reaction score
77
Location
Winchester, VA
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ford Ranger Lariat FX4
Thank God I found this. I thought I was alone. Its so stupid to not give the info. I like to use Android auto and if you are in waze you have no idea what's happening other than the channel number. It drives me nuts. Other than that the truck is awesome.
Sponsored

 
 



Top