Am I the only one having a great PaaK experience?

[JeffGo]

My wife keeps the fob in the faraday pouch in her pocketbook but always uses PaaK. Yes PaaK is buggy. You get experienced at “work-arounds”. It would be nice ,randomly, to not pull out your phone while standing in the puddle!

Yup, rainy season approacheth! The one big thing I would like to see fixed.

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[dtbaker61]

... I've never not been able to use the vehicle.
...

I had 'difficulty' with initial setup of PAAK on my (not-that-old) Samsung Galaxy J7V, but once I got the BackupStartCode set I have been comfortable with wrapping the Fob in tinfoil and hiding it in the car for emergency, valet parking, or trips to Service.

I find the most effective way to save phone battery, and force re-connect on approach is to 'force stop' the FordPass App whenever I am going to park and leave the car for more than an hour. Start the App back up on approach when I'm about 30 seconds from the car, and put my phone on the console tray and take a few seconds to buckle up BEFORE hitting the START button.

.... works every time, but can take a little longer to connect sometimes .

 

[bshaw]

My paak works fine, although I usually carry the fob out of habit. I have a January build and no dealer updates applied.

I said this on another thread, but don’t have the time myself to create it. Someone should start a “PAAK works with…” thread that is basically a spreadsheet. It would record the phone, OS version, etc formula that people report their experiences with. There could even be a notes column for any gotchas or tricks that apply in each situation.

I bet it would help people out, and some interesting data might be revealed.

My personal guess is that at least half the problems or more are due to phone issues, or people configuring and using it wrong (I.e closing the FordPass app or killing background permissions). But, we’d need the spreadsheet to demonstrate that.

 

[rodhx]

My wife keeps the fob in the faraday pouch in her pocketbook but always uses PaaK. Yes PaaK is buggy. You get experienced at “work-arounds”. It would be nice ,randomly, to not pull out your phone while standing in the puddle!

Genuinely curious…why would you have to pull out your phone? does your door keypad not work either?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I see a lot of discussion regarding folks' issues with PaaK. I've had my MME for two months now and haven't once left the house with my fob.

I primarily rely on PaaK, but occasionally leave my phone locked in my car and use PIN entry to get back in. Between those two options, I've never not been able to use the vehicle.

The only real hiccup I occasionally experience is that iOS will kill the FordPass app even if I leave it running in the background, which is considerably more common since upgrading to iOS 15. And if the car has gone into a deep sleep, pulling out my phone and relaunching the app is faster than jamming on the door button until the car wakes up and forces a connection back on my phone. And, for me, that's an acceptable inconvenience compared to carrying around a bulky fob.

I can understand if folks find the fob radio connection more consistent than a Bluetooth handshake, especially if you're using an older phone running an older version of Bluetooth, but I don't want to totally scare new owners away from the feature. It's certainly worth the attempt, as too is setting up your door PIN and "engine" password.

Nope. You’re not the only one. I’ve had exactly one time in 5 1/2 months where PAAK was being a jerk and wouldn’t work. I had one other occasion where it was recalcitrant. Other than those, it’s worked perfectly or nearly so. Usually don’t even need FordPass either launched or open. The car unlocks and recognizes the phone without FP the majority of the time.

 

[SnBGC]

That‘s another reason I keep a fob in the car in the faraday pouch.

I did have the dealer update for the driver door not unlocking. This little issue came back with the previous FordPass update but haven’t seen it (yet?) with the latest version. My car is a 12/20 build with 10500 miles to date.

It would be nice to get the puddle & welcome lights though.

Yes. The greeting lights and puddle pony are cool. Those should work with PaaK too. I think there is a setting in Sync to enable that feature. Is yours enabled?

 

[ChasingCoral]

You're not the only one. Mine works great. Sometimes I have to make sure the phone isn't too heavily asleep but otherwise PaaK works great with my iPhone 12Pro.

My wife's iPhone 7 on the other hand...
She carries the fob.

 

[alexgorod]

Are there any benefits to using PAAK over the fob? Can both be used at the same time or it confuses MME?
I will be the only driver and can easily carry the fob the same way I did for years, do I even need to configure PAAK (I know I will anyway, out of curiosity)?

 

[digdug52]

Are there any benefits to using PAAK over the fob? Can both be used at the same time or it confuses MME?
I will be the only driver and can easily carry the fob the same way I did for years, do I even need to configure PAAK (I know I will anyway, out of curiosity)?

No you don't need to configure PAAK if you are comfortable using the fob.

I am having a good experience, on occasion having to refreshing Ford Pass to reconnect to the car. I have only used the backup code 3 times since I picked up the MME in March. The benefit for me is I also use PAAK for my Model 3 so it is easier just always using my phone and not carrying the fob with me. I like reducing the number of Items I carry and since phone is always with me, why bring a fob too.

Every one has there own preferences and comfort zones about using or not using PAAK. You should do what is most comfortable and convenient for you.

 

[rodhx]

Yes. The greeting lights and puddle pony are cool. Those should work with PaaK too. I think there is a setting in Sync to enable that feature. Is yours enabled?

I believe puddle lights only work with PAAK if walk away locking is enabled, which is a nice feature that turns insanely frustrating when you park in a garage or basement. I do know I haven’t seen the lights since I turned that irritant off and just resort to using the lock buttons on the door trim.

it shouldn’t be difficult to implement as the car knows it’s home from the charging location settings. There should be a setting in walk-away to choose “do not lock at home”.

Hopefully I am now incorrect on the settings, though I am not aware of any changes. I would love to find a workaround so I can actually use walk-away locking.?‍

 

[Luke]

You're not the only one. Mine works great. Sometimes I have to make sure the phone isn't too heavily asleep but otherwise PaaK works great with my iPhone 12Pro.

My wife's iPhone 7 on the other hand...
She carries the fob.

I wish I had the same experience. I also use iPhone 12 Pro, I also have both PaaK updates applied. PaaK still works 70% of the time. I was never able to use the trunk kick functionality with PaaK. I always use the fob now. But I wish I could rely on PaaK.

 

[OH2AZ2OH]

PaaK works good enough for me that I don't bother to carry the gigantic fob. The only issue I have, and that you mentioned as well, is the app closing/crashing in the background on my phone, and then I have to restart the app to get PaaK to work. This seems to happen about 1-2x a day, and started around FordPass 3.28 or 3.29. I have an iPhone 11. If the app would keep running, I would be 100% happy with Paak. I cross my fingers every second Thursday...

 

[blink]

It's been fine so far. Had one day the app crashed and was acting wonky. I changed some battery saving settings and haven't experienced it since. I've only had the car for a week, though. I use Samsung Flip 3, and it connects with the car being folded in my pocket. Which means my paak is small and convenient. I def want to use that over the fob.

My SO is setting up paak too, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[RickMachE]

I have one PAAK issue where my watch disconnects with my phone when the vehicle connects with the phone.

The other issue I have, which I believe is PAAK but may also be FOB is that every time I walk into the garage and the vehicle wakes up, the charger initiates a session, then immediately says it's done.

Edit - happened this morning. Phone in pocket, not fob, so it's a PAAK issue. Wakes up car, car looks for a charge, charger gives it one, car is done because it was already at 90%.

Issue is car sleeping when it should not be.

 

[Shayne]

My PaaK experiences were not great. I did try it for a couple weeks early on and again every now and then for a day or two and have been left wanting. Plus, I really don't like giving my phone to friends or family when they are moving my car for me or running small errands.

Glad to hear that it does work well enough for some owners. That is pretty cool.

At what version did you call it quits? Did you get it in for the PAAK service call or wait for the Q3 OTA? I use the phone 100% of the time and have not got the no key detected for a while now. I carry the FOB as it is too easy not to but never use it. Once and a while you hit the unlock button twice, the front before the back little things that do not get me too riled up. The no key detect issue is now gone for me ....... touching wood.

I wish I had the same experience. I also use iPhone 12 Pro, I also have both PaaK updates applied. PaaK still works 70% of the time. I was never able to use the trunk kick functionality with PaaK. I always use the fob now. But I wish I could rely on PaaK.

Kicking is an art form that must be learnt ?. If it has worked for you once do it that way again. I found that closing was difficult until I stood back so I was not in the path of it closing. The location is the left edge of the plate for me straight in and out. Mine kicks on kicks off pretty well now mr miyagi with the phone in the front flap of my overalls.

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