PAAK (in 21B36 Software Update) a Game Changer?!?!

I've owned my 21' MME now for 2 years today!!! Outside of the initial Cluster F**** from the 1st few months when PAAK did not work really at all; then I had to take to the Dealer for an update; my updates since have all been pretty Flawless. I would keep an eye on the forum and generally 2-4 weeks after the initial EA members would get the update, I would get them without incident. I tell you this to say I have had a failed update everyday since June 7th!!!!! As many of you know it is really annoying every time you turn the car off, it reminds you of the failed OTA as well as a message on FP.

***OK, that being said; I took my car into the Dealer and received the Update. I used PAAK for the 1st time with the update and WOW!!! It was Frickin Flawless!!! Guys & Gals, I did NOT even have to take my phone out of my pocket!!!! Over the last 2 years I have used PAAK on the weekends; but would normally be forced to at minimum wake up my phone but usually, get the FP App up on my front screen. Even then the car would "normally" let me start her and then give me the old "No Key Detected" message; and then I'd remind the car that she let me start her.....She never answered that line of questioning. ***But yesterday I left my phone in my pocket "asleep" had my hands full ( 5 items from Costco) and approached the Trunk and slid my foot under the rear bumper and whalaa, the trunk opnened. Then I approached the car and the door opened (first touch) and I was able to start the car and drive without getting my phone out of my pocket. I repeated this yesterday 3 x all with the same result. If this holds; I think this will be my favorite update.

ps. not sure why the OTA failures, but as we all know from this experience with the MME, she can be a little like "Carrie".

This update also has allowed my wife to start using PaaK on her iPhone 7. She had given up on PaaK two years ago.

I'm not sure why Ford took so long to push this update as an OTA, it has been available in FDRS for a very long time.

It was not too long, several months, after I took delivery in March of 2022 that I used FDRS to update my RFA module. (edited: I looked it up and I had this update available for my car in July of 2022 and applied it then. So this improvement has been available to push as an OTA for one year)

There are still occasions where it have to push the button a couple times, or worst case I have to open Ford Pass on my phone, but otherwise PAAK works great.

I only bring a key fob with me when leaving the state. If something happens to the car while far from home I want to be able to leave a key fob. Otherwise it is PAAK all the time.

Now if I could only leave my phone in my pocket that would be great. But I can't because if my phone is anywhere other than in the center console, Apple CarPlay navigation apps have only a general idea of my location. As soon as I take my phone out of my pocket the location problems go away.

I have to agree. In the past I too had to open my phone and make sure the Ford app was open and then maybe get the door to unlock and sometimes have to hit ok to the no key detected message. Not after this update. With my phone in my pocket it recognizes me right away. Just entering the garage it’s ready. What a difference!

The thing that is now working for me since this update is the touch lock button on each door! Was always hit or miss, now it works every time.

67 Stang Convertible said:

ps. not sure why the OTA failures, but as we all know from this experience with the MME, she can be a little like "Carrie".

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I would say more like "Christine", but yeah the PaaK seems better. I still don't really trust it yet, and I always have my lightning keyfob so I can open the frunk easily.

timbop said:

I would say more like "Christine", but yeah the PaaK seems better. I still don't really trust it yet, and I always have my lightning keyfob so I can open the frunk easily.

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I've thought about the Lightning Fob, I use my Frunk. Every grocery run, the bags go in the Frunk. But I'm usually PAAK when at the store. What I really want is a power lift gate Frunk activated by the foot under the bumper. I can dream can't I?

kdonnel said:

I'm not sure why Ford took so long to push this update as an OTA, it has been available in FDRS for a very long time.

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I'm thinking I may have gotten this 21B36 update last year as part of the Customer Satisfaction Program 21P22 Software Calibration Update.

21P22 was described as updating multiple "modules" - including RFA- and since I got that update I have had zero problems with PAAK. I've never seen any documentation that 21P22 included 21B36, but some of the results do seem to be the same. Maybe there's at least some overlap between the two CSPs?

67 Stang Convertible said:

I've thought about the Lightning Fob, I use my Frunk. Every grocery run, the bags go in the Frunk. But I'm usually PAAK when at the store. What I really want is a power lift gate Frunk activated by the foot under the bumper. I can dream can't I?

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A long time ago when I was considering a model 3, I came upon a hack that someone had come up with: he put an RF tag under the left mirror and had a macro that tripped the hood release through the tesla app. If I ever get a frunk button in the FP app I'm going to try doing that

Fully agree, the PAAK OTA has been really great. Rarely see an unlocking delay anymore. I put the fob back in the drawer! Kudos to the Ford software engineers!

Thanks to this thread I decided to re-enable un-restricted PAAK ( in system battery settings on my Android phone) and it's been flawless so far. ?

I’m glad others are having more success with PAAK after the update, but I’ve been using PAAK since I got the car March 22 and I am not seeing any change. If anything it’s slightly worse. Having said that, it has always mostly worked for me without getting the phone out. Sometimes it’s slow to unlock, sometimes I get no key detected, liftgate rarely works without first opening a door, but worst I’ve had to do is restart the FordPass app. Was hoping even those little annoyances would go away but not with this update.

To me every 'sensor' on the mme is too darn low. I have to hip check the thing with the fob to open the back door half the time and even the garage door thing is a joke. I have to be IN any driveway for it to work.

This update fixes that? And PAAK? Bc PAAK most likely fails due to the junk sensor ranges?

I'm one of those the update definitely helped. I'd use PaaK time to time (or accidentally - always fun to learn I don't have my keys but drove for a couple of hour), but never trusted PaaK to actually work. Now, it does, and when it fails, it does so reliably enough that I'm confident I can troubleshoot. A couple of quibbles that are easy to complain about, but technically hard to solve for given the use of Bluetooth for all this:

1) When the car goes into deep sleep, phone proximity doesn't seem to wake it up, and PaaK effectively doesn't work unless I hit a door button or punch in the keypad.

2) When the car starts and multiple infotainment systems are starting up, PaaK seems to not take priority: The bluetooth connection drops, the car says "No Key Found", and everything churns for a few minutes. It mostly resolves itself eventually, but sometimes it needs a full "turn the car off, leave the car, turn it back on." Not great.

All this said, PaaK for me is solid for casual use and I've become bolder about leaving my keys behind.

Was this part of any of the recent OTA PowerUp's? If so, can someone share which one?

I read in another thread (https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...n-installing-21b02-and-paak-after-21b36.7402/) that it's recommended to delete your current PaaK setup and start from scratch again... I'm wary of messing with things until I'm caught up on all the needed updates.