New Guy Sync Screen questions

[bc1]

Hello. Got a couple initial questions on the sync screen by a new owner and will have more.

1. When I push the button to change the fan speed, it doesn't give me much time to move to the knob and change it. Is there a way I can increase the response time to use the knob particularly when I'm driving and doing this?

2. For the radio stations and my 90 day sirius trial, it has an arrow tune on the display. Is there a way I can change it to the knob tune for a fast turn of the dial?

3. Is there a way to change the navigation screen to satelite display or something I can actually see?

4. I can't get the navigation to set up on the route I want it to take. I try to tap on an alternate route but it won't do it. When I go ahead and drive the alternate route it keeps trying to send me back instead of automatically adjusting to the new route like some navs do.

5. Can I add some other navigation unit to this? It was a tough learning curve trying to drive through Dallas and San Antonio road construction at night in heavy traffic with this one that is hard to follow although the view ahead gives me an idea I made the right turn.

did an edit on the sync screen, thanks.

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[bmwhitetx]

First off, just a terminology correction: all your questions are about the Sync screen, not the instrument panel. The instrument panel is the display right in front of you with speedometer, battery percentage, etc.

Some answers
1. I find that annoying too. Haven't seen a way to change it though.
2. The knob can just do volume, fan, temp and seat heat/cool to my knowledge. (In the old days it just did volume).
3. Not that I know of. You can display a weather map.
4. When I drive an alternate route, it automatically redirects at some point once the alternate becomes the optimal route. May take a while - until then its convinced I'm better off making a u-turn every 100 feet.
5. Carplay/Android Auto opens up a world of alternate navigation programs.

 

[RickLightning]

5) No, you can't. The Sync system runs the entire vehicle. As @bmwhitetx mentioned, simply use Carplay / Android Auto from your phone, it will project on the vehicle's screen.

 

[dmod]

I really wish they would allow you to set the default behavior of the knob. I already have volume control on the steering wheel, so I'd prefer it default to temp as that is the most annoying to change while driving and having to press the screen first and then use the knob doesn't help much.

 

[davehu]

Using Android Auto from you phone and you get google maps which is way better. it has a satellite view and a number of other features not found on Fords NAV. The only useful feature on the Ford NAV is it will show altitude. That's about the only time I switch to it. I'm on my third year of the free Ford NAV and because of Android Auto it's highly unlikely I'll renew it unless it's dirt cheap or they add a LOT of features.

 

[bc1]

OK. When I got my 2013 Prius it used TomTom for nav and I can do a split screen and the other screen shows all the upcoming exits by mile marker number and ID which is handy and so far I haven't found that on any other app. Really helps traveling down the interstates.

I never thought Google was very good about giving you advance notice and which lane to be in when going through a place like Dallas or San Antonio with multiple interstates and freeways and then all the road construction to boot. The ford nav wasn't too bad for that except I turned early a few times on those busy interstates at night where the exits were close which of course turned into miles of detours and my first time driving there. It would give me a warning to turn just as I was approaching the wrong exit in heavy traffic and I didn't always have time to glance down at the screen with Texas drivers trying to run me down and kill me and the same time unless I kept up with their flow of traffic speed which was always higher than the limit. Guess I'm getting old.

 

[bmwhitetx]

I didn't always have time to glance down at the screen with Texas drivers trying to run me down and kill me

Texas resident here. As the saying goes - "you're not in Kansas anymore".....

 

[bc1]

HaHa. That was a good one. At least I'm staying a couple steps ahead of the ones in the state between us. What I figured out is that there was a Grand Prix going on in Austin that weekend I went through and apparently everybody else around was practicing like they were in the race too. I think that was Verstappen riding my bumper but my Lightning could out excelerate him if I really wanted to.

 

[zakress]

OK. When I got my 2013 Prius it used TomTom for nav and I can do a split screen and the other screen shows all the upcoming exits by mile marker number and ID which is handy and so far I haven't found that on any other app. Really helps traveling down the interstates.

I never thought Google was very good about giving you advance notice and which lane to be in when going through a place like Dallas or San Antonio with multiple interstates and freeways and then all the road construction to boot. The ford nav wasn't too bad for that except I turned early a few times on those busy interstates at night where the exits were close which of course turned into miles of detours and my first time driving there. It would give me a warning to turn just as I was approaching the wrong exit in heavy traffic and I didn't always have time to glance down at the screen with Texas drivers trying to run me down and kill me and the same time unless I kept up with their flow of traffic speed which was always higher than the limit. Guess I'm getting old.

For the turn by turn, I use Waze almost exclusively and if I CarPlay that on the Stync screen I see the moving view, but I also have a mount for my phone that’s just to the left of it and that will display all my upcoming turns with distance and mile markers. I was tickled when I discovered it because that’s a feature I’ve wanted for YEARS.

IIRC, Google Maps does it, too. Apple Maps, might, but I’m not a fan of it.

 

[RickLightning]

For those complaining about knob functionality, have you explored voice commands?

 

[Perry]

For the turn by turn, I use Waze almost exclusively and if I CarPlay that on the Stync screen I see the moving view, but I also have a mount for my phone that’s just to the left of it and that will display all my upcoming turns with distance and mile markers. I was tickled when I discovered it because that’s a feature I’ve wanted for YEARS.

IIRC, Google Maps does it, too. Apple Maps, might, but I’m not a fan of it.

Apple Maps does this too.

 

[Rip]

Hello. Got a couple initial questions on the sync screen by a new owner and will have more.

1. When I push the button to change the fan speed, it doesn't give me much time to move to the knob and change it. Is there a way I can increase the response time to use the knob particularly when I'm driving and doing this?

2. For the radio stations and my 90 day sirius trial, it has an arrow tune on the display. Is there a way I can change it to the knob tune for a fast turn of the dial?

3. Is there a way to change the navigation screen to satelite display or something I can actually see?

4. I can't get the navigation to set up on the route I want it to take. I try to tap on an alternate route but it won't do it. When I go ahead and drive the alternate route it keeps trying to send me back instead of automatically adjusting to the new route like some navs do.

5. Can I add some other navigation unit to this? It was a tough learning curve trying to drive through Dallas and San Antonio road construction at night in heavy traffic with this one that is hard to follow although the view ahead gives me an idea I made the right turn.

did an edit on the sync screen, thanks.

On 4 and 5, I struggled with this, too, after four years of driving a Tesla. Ford apparently just decided to go with the lowest common denominator for the Nav system, which looks like MapQuest 1998.
I have an Android phone, and 90 percent of the time I will use Google Maps via Android Auto. For a while, after a pretty tough road trip, I toyed with A Better Route Planner (ABRP), which has good integrated charger-finding features. However, it didn't integrate as well with the dashboard display, and didn't seem to be able to estimate trip times as well. I also missed the WAZE features of Google Maps, and I couldn't ever find out anything about charging stations on ABRP, as I could with Google Maps. They also seem to update the feature set regularly, so I usually use Google Maps.
I don't know why Ford didn't benchmark Tesla tech and try to build something better.

 

[bc1]

I found myself using ABRP on the phone to set up the trip with a double thumbs up for Tesla as the preferred network and the others as a single thumbs up preferred network. Once the tesla charging stations were identified, I used it or sometimes straight from the tesla app, to plug the charging station into the ford navigation system. I tried it the other way with the final destination on the ford and tesla on the phone but the system was muting my phone somehow. I recalculated the route on ABRP every so often to see what it would do. I couldn't make the ABRP app work as an overall navigation unit. Think I figured out what was muting my phone about the time I got home.

I tried using Android auto with Waze last night. It did not give me the color satelite view I am used to but then it was night so will try again later. Will also try Google maps with Android auto later.

It appears I have to plug the phone in to the usb port to use android auto. Guess I'll play around and see if it will connect by bluetooth once I open it up.

 

[Rip]

I found myself using ABRP on the phone to set up the trip with a double thumbs up for Tesla as the preferred network and the others as a single thumbs up preferred network. Once the tesla charging stations were identified, I used it or sometimes straight from the tesla app, to plug the charging station into the ford navigation system. I tried it the other way with the final destination on the ford and tesla on the phone but the system was muting my phone somehow. I recalculated the route on ABRP every so often to see what it would do. I couldn't make the ABRP app work as an overall navigation unit. Think I figured out what was muting my phone about the time I got home.

I tried using Android auto with Waze last night. It did not give me the color satelite view I am used to but then it was night so will try again later. Will also try Google maps with Android auto later.

It appears I have to plug the phone in to the usb port to use android auto. Guess I'll play around and see if it will connect by bluetooth once I open it up.

It absolutely will work with bluetooth, but I usually plug it in anyway, so I can charge the phone while driving. Of course, if you just use the charging pad, you don't have to plug in.

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