Sync 3 v3.4 Build 21020

[Gizmokid2005]

copy. Without knowing all the terminology, I may have misstated something.

but, the Ford app uses ‘something’ that’s not wifi, even if one doesn’t buy the at&t service, which I have not.

You're correct. There is a cell signal that Ford Pass does use to communicate, but it's not related to the wifi hotspot feature that we also have. I just wanted to be clear for others that may read through this.

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[JACER]

Has anyone else lost the ability to use WAZE or Google Maps while their Android phone is connected via USB? Since I updated to 3.4, only the built-in nav map is available.

WAZE & Google Maps is what I relied on before.

 

[TechnicallyReal]

Yes, as far as I know updates require wifi. I think the onboard cell service is just for basic stuff like starting the car with the app. I don't think they want to allow huge data transfers on that link.

I would guess that Ford doesn't let SYNC update via cellular connection because it would cost them too much money in data fees, and even if the vehicle owner is paying for the WiFi hotspot feature then they probably still block it from being used to perform the update in order to prevent the owner from using all of their data or accruing a massive bill.

The onboard cell service, truly, has nothing to do with Ford Pass connections. You don't need to have turned on, enabled, used, be paying for, etc the AT&T Data connection on your vehicle to use Ford Pass. They're separate entities from the Sync perspective.

It's likely that the reason you can't use the wifi network that the truck broadcasts is that there's only one wifi radio in the system and you can't broadcast and connect to another network with the same radio in the same device, thusly since the OTA uses wifi, it doesn't recognize the cell connection on its own.

You're correct. There is a cell signal that Ford Pass does use to communicate, but it's not related to the wifi hotspot feature that we also have. I just wanted to be clear for others that may read through this.

From what I know about the system, both FordPass and the WiFi hotspot feature use one and the same cellular connection. Ford covers the cost of the connection to enable basic functionality (remote start, etc), since that uses next to nothing data-wise. If you want to extend that connection to other devices (via the WiFi hotspot feature), which use a lot more data, then you have to pay for that extra functionality/data.

About the WiFi limitation, a single device can broadcast WiFi to others, while itself being connected to a another WiFi network. I've done this a bunch of times with my phone to temporarily allow people onto a WiFi network without actually giving them the password to it. But I'm not sure how that fits into all of this. Maybe someone was saying they want to trick SYNC into using it's own WiFI hotspot to download the update and I missed it? If that was the case then no, a device broadcasting it's own WiFi network will refuse to see or connect to that same WiFi network itself. On the other hand one possibly could do something like this: SYNC WiFi Hotspot -> Phone -> Phone WiFi Hotspot -> SYNC, but now things are just getting silly, haha

 

[Tom_C]

Has anyone else lost the ability to use WAZE or Google Maps while their Android phone is connected via USB? Since I updated to 3.4, only the built-in nav map is available.

WAZE & Google Maps is what I relied on before.

Do you have anything else plugged in by USB?

I have found that if I have both my iPod and iPhone connected via USB then the phone apps aren’t synchronized. I’ve got to unplug the iPod and let the iPhone sync to get Waze and the other phone apps then I can plug my iPod back in.

 

[JACER]

Do you have anything else plugged in by USB?

I have found that if I have both my iPod and iPhone connected via USB then the phone apps aren’t synchronized. I’ve got to unplug the iPod and let the iPhone sync to get Waze and the other phone apps then I can plug my iPod back in.

Only my phone is plugged in. It worked before. I'm sure at some point, it will again. Today I found it downloading another map update.

 

[Peter949]

Notice traffic hasn't showed up since updating Sync and maps.
edit:
It's back after 2 days.

 

[Voltune]

The update installed perfectly on my 2019 Ranger (do not have the navigation pkg). I connected my truck to my mobile hotspot and scanned for updates. It started to download “5U5T-14G391-BN_1615427750000.TA4.GZ.” It took about 2.5 hours to download, install/update and reboot. I suspect it took so long due to the speed of the mobile hotspot. I upgraded from v3.3 build 19052.

This was my first experience updating sync and it was very painless! I skipped installing the previous two versions until they resolved the issues surrounding the missing climate controls. I haven’t noticed anything missing or issues.

The only thing I really dislike is that they removed the black/dark background. It is now just four choices of blue. Why do they limit the display background choices to only a selection of four?

 

[TechnicallyReal]

The update installed perfectly on my 2019 Ranger (do not have the navigation pkg). I connected my truck to my mobile hotspot and scanned for updates. It started to download “5U5T-14G391-BN_1615427750000.TA4.GZ.” It took about 2.5 hours to download, install/update and reboot. I suspect it took so long due to the speed of the mobile hotspot. I upgraded from v3.3 build 19052.

This was my first experience updating sync and it was very painless! I skipped installing the previous two versions until they resolved the issues surrounding the missing climate controls. I haven’t noticed anything missing or issues.

The only thing I really dislike is that they removed the black/dark background. It is now just four choices of blue. Why do they limit the display background choices to only a selection of four?

You should still be able to change the mode to Night which has the dark backgrounds, and will still be bright during the day and dim at night. Unless the non-nav Sync is really that different

 

[tmcolegr]

Has anyone else checked to make sure Sirius XM Travel Link is still working? Mine is not. If so, how did you reenable Travel Link after the update?

 

[JoeC]

Has anyone else checked to make sure Sirius XM Travel Link is still working? Mine is not. If so, how did you reenable Travel Link after the update?

Ya, mine's not working either.
I was on 'chat' with XM support for about an hour: they sent multiple resets to no avail.
They gave me another number to call, but I thought I'd let it settle down for a few days after all these updates. Sometimes it fixes itself, after a bunch of key cycles.
I just hope I don't have to do a 'master reset' as a last resort.

 

[tmcolegr]

Ya, mine's not working either.
I was on 'chat' with XM support for about an hour: they sent multiple resets to no avail.
They gave me another number to call, but I thought I'd let it settle down for a few days after all these updates. Sometimes it fixes itself, after a bunch of key cycles.
I just hope I don't have to do a 'master reset' as a last resort.

I'm curious if that is a result of the Sync 3 update or if Travel Link is disabled while map updates are downloading. Mine is still downloading map updates after 5 days.

There may be nothing wrong.

 

[tmcolegr]

FWIW, my 2019 F150 which was updated to Sync 3 v3.4 Build 21020 last Sunday still has all of the Sirius XM Travel Link Apps enabled. I am going to assume it may have something to do with downloading the new NA 2 20 files.

I don't want to perform a soft or master reset to see if this enables the Travel LInk features until after the updates are completed.

Previously the NA 2 20 update wasn't available for OTA or for purchase/download through the Sync 3 Map Update website for 2019+ F150s. As of this morning, the new NA 2 20 map update is now available OTA. Sill not available through the website for purchase or download.

 

[Hot Pepper Red Zeppelin]

The only thing I really dislike is that they removed the black/dark background. It is now just four choices of blue. Why do they limit the display background choices to only a selection of four?

Lost the dark theme with the previous update. Was hoping it would return with this update. Very annoying.

You should still be able to change the mode to Night which has the dark backgrounds, and will still be bright during the day and dim at night. Unless the non-nav Sync is really that different

Are you saying you have a dark theme w/o any blue?

 

[TechnicallyReal]

Are you saying you have a dark theme w/o any blue?

I have mine set to dark which made the buttons blue across the bottom and opened up differen backgrounds, of which I have chosen a grey background

 

[DHH]

I updated OTA from V3.3 yesterday. Connection from truck to home network isn't very good and it took at least 10hrs to update. Maps are still at 1.18, but it's downloading another file today, so I'm guessing that's the maps.

Question: Does anyone know if you can flash backwards? I really do not like the 3.4 screen and would like to go back to 3.3.
V3.3 was more 3D whereas with V3.4 the display is very much 2D.
The biggest issue I have though, is most of the font is grey, on a black background and it's really hard for me to see. Even the on-screen buttons are low contrast and more difficult to see. I don't know why Ford would use a low contrast layout. Not exactly the safest thing to do.

EDIT: So I went through the settings and I just needed to change the background color to get better contrast. Interesting that black isn't even a choice, yet that is what the default is.
I still would like to go back to V3.3 though. V3.4 doesn't seem to react as well to the touch screen as 3.3. There's a bit more delay in the response and sometimes I even have to hit the button twice to get it to react.
I also noticed a glitch when using the "text" screen. If you display a text while moving, it displays a warning message and text at the same time, so it's just a jumbled mess and you can't read either. V3.3 allowed full use of the text screen even while moving.

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