PAAK Got Substantially Worse with iPhone 17 Pro

[Maui]

I did the phone to phone copy and it didn’t land right.

Considering this is acting like a key to your car. Maybe they shouldn’t allow the copying of these in anyways. New phone should just wipe the prior settings.

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[JohnFoxeSheets]

I had to create a new PaaK instance for my 17 Pro. I then deleted my old phone from the PaaK registry in the car. It works, but like @ARK I find I have to open the app and manually unlock the car for it to work - at least sometimes. All that said, I usually carry my fob as well, so it's not too often that I'm relying on PaaK, so I don't have all that much recent experience with it.

 

[Chuck]

I recently picked up an iPhone 17 Pro to replace my iPhone 15 Pro. On my old phone, PAAK was nearly flawless, almost always opening the door instantly the first time I pressed the button. But now, almost every time, I find myself standing by the door and pressing the button, and pressing it again, and again, and again, before the door opens after several tries.

Does anyone know if there is some setting or something else that needs to be tweaked to help the new phone out? The Ford app already has "always" access to my location, my phone is never in low power mode, background app refresh is off (but always has been, and in any event, is not a bluetooth feature unless I am missing something?).

Any thoughts?

I've always said that PAAK issues were phone related, not Ford related. I moved from a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra to a Google Pixel 10 Pro XL and all issues disappeared. Now, the car unlocks and is ready to go when I get within 30 feet of it.

 

[jav_eee]

But now, almost every time, I find myself standing by the door and pressing the button, and pressing it again, and again, and again, before the door opens after several tries.

I don’t use paak.and I have this issue too. Not even the key fob makes the car behave correctly.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I don’t use paak.and I have this issue too. Not even the key fob makes the car behave correctly.

Is that a new “idiosyncrasy” or a longstanding one? If the former, at the risk of sounding dumber than I usually do, you have replaced the fob batteries with a fresh set and replaced those if that didn’t change things?

 

[load97]

Coming from iPhone 15 pro max to the 17 pro, mine operates about the same. I really only have issues (about 50/50 chance) if I open my door briefly and close it. Then come back to the car in about 10-15 minutes and PAAK won’t work. Usually if that happens, I enter keypad code to get in, and then the car 90% of the time will then recognize the phone and I don’t have to do the password to start the car. I’m on the most current developer beta of iOS, but it has been the same when I wasn’t.

 

[ARK]

I had to create a new PaaK instance for my 17 Pro. I then deleted my old phone from the PaaK registry in the car. It works, but like @ARK I find I have to open the app and manually unlock the car for it to work - at least sometimes. All that said, I usually carry my fob as well, so it's not too often that I'm relying on PaaK, so I don't have all that much recent experience with it.

Yes, I usually use the key fob too. I had noticed PaaK wasn't working well right after I got the new iPhone. But in the past, it's taken a week or so for things to settle down with a new phone. I have had to open the app sometimes too to get it to work.

I figured after having had it for a month, it seemed to be abnormally problematic, and it does seem like whether it's an iOS 26 issue or iPhone 17 Pro issue, something has in fact changed for the worse based on what most people are sharing on here.

 

[awp0]

I've had the same problems recently. iPhone 16 Pro, running iOS 26 and of course the "new" Ford App. Not sure which of these is the cause, but it really feels like the Ford App is crashing in the background. Sometimes I need to manually start it in order to unlock the car. More often it lets me into the car but then then the car complains with a "no key detected" error until I manually start the app or enter the password. I've been using PAAK fairly exclusively for over 3 years, and something has clearly changed recently. I feel like it's the app, because I've only noticed it in the last week or so, but I've been in iOS26 for much longer. I'm seeing similar complaints on Reddit.

 

[jav_eee]

Is that a new “idiosyncrasy” or a longstanding one? If the former, at the risk of sounding dumber than I usually do, you have replaced the fob batteries with a fresh set and replaced those if that didn’t change things?

No. I just got the vehicle and it wasn’t in the dealers lot that long. On top of that it does it with both keys. Maybe I’ll try a new battery just for funsies.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

No. I just got the vehicle and it wasn’t in the dealers lot that long. On top of that it does it with both keys. Maybe I’ll try a new battery just for funsies.

Hopefully, that’s the case. I’ve heard of 1 other new car here that had dead fob batteries but it seems a bit. … odd.

 

[ChuckA]

I just upgraded my iPhone to 17 pro max. The Paak didn’t transfer so I deleted them from FordPass and recreated them using the fobs.

 

[G.O.C.]

16 pro max - it's been so bad for me since iOS 26 that I carry a key fob

I’ve got an SE but have the same experience as Chitown since update to 18.7.1. And If I forget my key fob I end up using the backup code and getting the email message from Ford that my code has been used.

 

[Buh-Bye Tesla]

Before I had it working with my new iphone, my backup code was working and then that failed on me as well. I was left stranded. Had to get home to retrieve a remote.

Haven’t needed the remote again, but now I keep one hidden in the vehicle just in case.

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