Yep.
Gracenotes Removal in the Tutorial category.
To potentially answer your question regarding why 3.4.20196 isn’t an official update from Ford - there are many versions of SYNC that we see hosted on their servers but never actually make it out to a public release. Version 3.4.20196 happens to be one of those builds. The official public version (3.4.20136) is actually the first build that Ford offered to upgrade the public to 3.4. However we had access to builds prior to that version (such as 3.4.19101, 3.4.19200, 3.4.19274, etc.).
Cool. Got 20196 installed this morning, so will test calling my wife when I head home tonight. I hope this fixes it! Otherwise I will be trying earlier versions …
Well dang. I got 19101 installed, no go. Just tried 20200, same thing. They all sound terrible with car play, but great with the normal bluetooth. Not sure it’s worth trying any of the intermediate versions since 19101 does not work. Phone worked great with my F-150, but I think it was on 3.3.
Is it feasible to downgrade a 2020 F-250 to 3.3 to see if that works? Guess I will open a ticket with Ford, but everybody else says they don’t get anywhere with that.
I’d say this isn’t a sync issue as it’d be widely reported, so changing versions probably won’t make a difference.
Well it is widely reported if you look at ford forums. Seems like F-150 and other vehicles worked with 19101, but not the F-250’s.
It is not widely reported as I researched this yesterday. We have thousands of people doing the update and you’re the only one that’s reporting it here. Appreciate there is others on other forums (which I saw you posting in along with a handful of others over a period of >12 months) , but we can very quickly identify issues caused by Sync as loads of people report them simultaneously. This is not one of those.
Process of elimination indicates your phone, cable, phone config or similar are at fault, or hardware difference in your vehicle is causing it (usb hub, hardware failure somewhere), so focus on proving each of these elements rather than changing to various different software versions. Preferably you need an alternative Ford vehicle to prove against.
Guess you didn’t read this whole thread then? I had a Ford F-150 until two days ago and my phone worked perfectly in that vehicle with the exact same setup. Same cable, and I even have one if the CarAirPlay devices from the UK that worked great in that car.
So it’s not my phone or my cable. It’s Sync. Just like everyone else who has this problem has reported.
The only thing I did not try is upgrading the F-150 to 3.4, because I was not going to break that car for the guy buying it.
Only valid argument if this is not a software issue is that there is a hardware difference causing it, in that something changed in some 2020 models. But that’s still a bug in the Sync software, since whatever the issue is it clearly can be fixed in software at least for some folks who have had the issue.
I have read it and were offering help. You’re on your own now.
I also researched this yesterday and found in a F-250 Super Duty website the problem has it’s own thread. I forget where I found this, but it appears to be specific to 2017+ F-250+ series Super Duty trucks in the US. It is reported on other vehicles, but those were phone or hub issues. Ford has yet to fix the issue with the Super Duty trucks, but it appears they are aware of the issue.
Again, this issue is specific to the Super Duty series of trucks. This is not a Sync issue related to software. This can easily be proven with a APIM hardware swap.
I only found this issue documented on the one Super Duty forum. If you have other references. I would be interested in reading them. Again, this appears to be specific to 2017+ F-250+ series Super Duty trucks in the US.
Unfortunately, it looks like you’re stuck with it until Ford can solve the issue. If you have not done so, open a ticket with your dealer service and have them escalate the ticket to Ford engineering. Also report the issue to Ford regional representative once you have the issue reported thru the dealer to Ford. This is your best chance of getting a solution.
Thanks for the update. From what I read in other forums earlier software versions did fix it on other trucks, but as you have found it appears it’s not fixed in F-250+ trucks. I guess I will report it to my dealer and hope they either come up with a hardware fix at some point or a software update that works around the issue.
Certainly seems like a hardware issue of some type but those kinds of issues can usually be resolved in software so hopefully Apple or ford can sort it out.
I am talking to ford via Twitter at the moment (they don’t seem to have any email support?).
It looks like the cause might already be found, according to the posts by TylerV76, or at least a good suspicion. He writes:
I’m currently speaking with Apple engineers and they are aware of the issue but its been so random they are not sure what the problem actually is. Seeing that it’s across multiple manufacturers, it’s almost impossible to pinpoint without a widespread issue. One thing to note though, our Ranger is not on their approved CarPlay list. Even though it is the exact same Sync system as other vehicles, one engineer believes that is the root of the issue but cannot explain why some phones work.
I’m not saying this is the issue, but it has been the issue in previous problems with CarPlay and AA. Not everyone implements design or development standards the same, as you know.
Another factor here is the newer Ranger, new Explorer, new Super Duty series (and Lincoln counterparts) have changed hardware for the BCM and some other components and software, including the APIM and screen. The old software settings do not work on some of the new models. I know that your F-250 is not that new, but maybe this is one of those design oversight issues that just appear because no one though it would matter. (Either on the Ford or Apple side.) It does not look like there is a solution on the horizon anytime soon, at least from information presently available.
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For some reason I accidentally edited my post with the link to the ranger thread, so here it is again for reference:
I have no idea if this will help, but I saw this on 2GFusion site.
Interesting, I will give that a look. I actually am pretty convinced this is way more widespread than Ford realizes (probably affecting most 2020 F-250 trucks), because the primary issue is that the microphone volume is too low, not that it does not work. You can certainly make calls with it, but the other person has to turn their phone all the way up to hear you. My wife says she cannot use her phone in hands free mode when I call on CarPlay, but if she uses it normally and cranks the volume she can hear me enough to get by.
Also with the lower microphone volume, Siri messes up what you say a whole lot more than it does when it’s working correctly (ie: in my old truck).
So I suspect most of Ford’s customers probably just suffer through the problem and do not realize that it’s actually something that can be fixed. Not sure I would have realize it was an issue if my phone hadn’t worked perfectly in my 2019 F-150 which I just sold. So I know how it should work, and I suspect most of your customers don’t and hence do not report this as an issue.
This will be easy for someone who has an F-250 2020 model to test and verify. Have someone with an iPhone connect to the 2020 F-250 unit in normal bluetooth mode so that works, then connect to CarPlay and make a call. While you are still on the call, unplug the CarPlay cord so it goes to normal bluetooth and if the problem is present, the other person on the other end will notice the phone call volume just went WAY up.
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