Sync 4 going away

[VAtruck]

Synch 4 going away

You had me excited there for a minute. I thought you meant Ford was removing the computer/screen from the vehicle. I taped a piece of black cardboard over it the first week I had my Bronco til I realized I couldn't really work the radio without it.

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[RagnarKon]

Well CarPlay isn’t going away-this is just a replacement for the sync 4 OS, but I’m really curious as to how many people actually use it instead of CarPlay or Android Auto, since I figure that at least 90% of car buyers have a smartphone

I prefer SYNC over CarPlay to be honest. CarPlay tries to nudge to you to use Siri, and I despise Siri with a fiery passion. (Not just Siri, but voice assistants in general, especially Alexa.)

But ya know... whatever. Ultimately not that picky. As long as it has the basic radio functions and it's not impossible to figure out how to use it, I could care less. Work in IT/technology and driving the Bronco is my escape from all of that technology junk, so I only use a small fraction of what these modern infotainment systems are capable of.

 

[DarthLincoln]

I prefer SYNC over CarPlay to be honest. CarPlay tries to nudge to you to use Siri, and I despise Siri with a fiery passion. (Not just Siri, but voice assistants in general, especially Alexa.)

But ya know... whatever. Ultimately not that picky. As long as it has the basic radio functions and it's not impossible to figure out how to use it, I could care less. Work in IT/technology and driving the Bronco is my escape from all of that technology junk, so I only use a small fraction of what these modern infotainment systems are capable of.

I completely agree regarding Siri and any of the AI assistants. Unfortunately I can’t totally disable Siri/AppleIntellignece on my iPhone since that is required for CarPlay to work. So I disable the listen for “Hey Siri” but often get bothered by accidentally activating Siri with the power button.

 

[adam1991]

You all should be use to by now, I mean paying for all the extras, I don't care either, but what choices will we have. Remember free TV... now and it is not getting any cheaper

You know, with Plex and Roku (for example) there's TONS of free TV and movies out there. The Roku channel has many many individual channels for all sorts of interests. I'm looking at a channel that shows Cops, and another one that shows CSI--shoot, there's a Leave It to Beaver channel. And Saved By the Bell. The list just keeps scrolling and scrolling.

 

[VAtruck]

You all should be use to by now, I mean paying for all the extras, I don't care either, but what choices will we have. Remember free TV... now and it is not getting any cheaper

It's better today than when I was a kid in the 60's. There were 3 VHV and 3 UHV channels. I get 50 channels for free now with my air antenna!

 

[Roger123]

The only thing I use my Bronco screen for is the radio and my wife figured out how to use Alexa to open our garage door (because for some reason Ford elected to not use Homelink on all trims). I use a stand alone Garmin GPS for navigation on trips or my phone for local navigation when needed.

I'm just glad it's only 8" and doesn't look like a stupid iPad attached to the dash.

Why do most of us say we hate screens and the auto makers keep adding bigger and more complicated ones?

If Slate would put a small 4 banger in their new offering I'd be all over it, LOL.

 

[Sherminiator]

Why do most of us say we hate screens and the auto makers keep adding bigger and more complicated ones?

Don't confuse a vocal minority with what actually sells

 

[idontknow]

Honestly I'd be happy with just a dock to stick my phone in on the dash and that be all. I don't want an infotainment onboard system to really do much of anything at all, and I haven't seen one that does anything that my phone can't already do better.**

**apart from when they use the system to remove physical buttons, like climate control, and I ~despise~ that.

hate not having physical buttons. One of the reasons I love Mazda. Even on their newest cars the buttons are still physical for everything…no or minimal touchscreen stuff

 

[mikec426]

I'm just glad it's only 8" and doesn't look like a stupid iPad attached to the dash.

Yes! A big tablet sticking up out of the dash is one of the worst design elements of modern vehicles.

 

[heavyD]

Don't confuse a vocal minority with what actually sells

I don't mind screens as long as the UI is reliable. BMW did it best a few iDrive generations ago when they had the touch screen, the scroll wheel, and 9 programmable buttons. They do all touch screen now in some vehicles and it's not as good IMO but it works well enough. I've always been one of those people that have embraced technology rather than fight it and the Bronco 10" screen doesn't bother me in the least especially with the HVAC controls below. Lots of other new vehicles have all the HVAC built into the UI.

 

[MrGreen55]

I'm very tempted to try one of the CarLink Android kits that @BigMeatsBronco uses, as I think it lets you bypass a lot of Android Auto/Carplay limitations by running a full Android client on the screen

It's more, alot more, turns your mainscreen into a tablet, browsing the web, reading emails, downloading PDFs, printing and stand alone GPS and cellular connection, sim card, SD card, the list goes on and on...all easy with the carlink boxes.

for example, I downloaded warn winch app from play store, now I can control the winch from the Broncos main screen...pure awesomeness

I my be reading something wrong but if the new OS adds the playstore we should be able to do the warn winch app and some other app to.

 

[Brian_B]

I my be reading something wrong but if the new OS adds the playstore we should be able to do the warn winch app and some other app to.

Theoretically. I’m willing to bet it’s locked down and restricts stuff in motion or only allows “approved” apps - but I don’t know that for certain

 

[rugedraw]

Theoretically. I’m willing to bet it’s locked down and restricts stuff in motion or only allows “approved” apps - but I don’t know that for certain

That's the beauty of Android and it being an open-source OS. Even if Ford locks down the bootloader, it is just a matter of time before the guys on xdadevelopers figure out how to get in there. Once that happens and you gain root access, you can side-load any app as long as you can get the .apk file.

Personally, I can't wait for this. If the article is correct, it'll be a while before this makes it into the F150, so it looks like I will be keeping my truck for a while longer. Which is fine.......I love my truck as it is right now.

 

[adam1991]

Yes! A big tablet sticking up out of the dash is one of the worst design elements of modern vehicles.

I told my wife just yesterday, if we had to get a BEV I'd be forced against my will to look at Hyundai/Kia--because they build actual car interiors, not weird glass cockpit stuff that's unworkable in actual traffic.

 

[CarGuy]

It's more, alot more, turns your mainscreen into a tablet, browsing the web, reading emails, downloading PDFs, printing and stand alone GPS and cellular connection, sim card, SD card, the list goes on and on...all easy with the carlink boxes.

for example, I downloaded warn winch app from play store, now I can control the winch from the Broncos main screen...pure awesomeness

Which model do you use?

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