RIP Car Icon (2019 - 2023)

[J5hort]

Here's an idea, and I am remembering that the goal of the UI in modern car screens was attemptnig to be a phone-like design/UI, let users customize their screens, icons, backgrounds, etc. I'm guessing with future OS offerings (read full Android Auto) this will be the norm. User customization should be pretty much a given in this day and age.

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[TheSteelRider]

Tens of dollars, thousands of cents.

I’ll donate my time to generate out the different color combos if they bring it back.

The car is built in Mexico, so it might actually be HUNDREDS of pesos

 

[nor3bo]

To me, overall the new UI is much better than the original.

But, I'm hopeful the icons are at some point made consistent throughout the UI. Shows poor attention to detail and as a result It's kind of a dogs breakfast. .... I know, first world problems...

This, agreed.

Overall I'm okay with what they are trying to do, but, it's very inconsistent (Icons and font) and static from a UX design.

It would be nice to have
- nicer looking icons that feels like the same family and colour palette
- less variation in font with better thought on when and where to use the sizes/weight of the chosen typeface
- customizability to add some favourite icons to the top where we now have the camera

 

[Vulnox]

Yeah, I like the update and some of the complaints seem a bit like complaining about change rather than it being a legitimate issue. I don't care that the car icon is gone, I imagine that confused more "regular" customers than was a help when it came to finding your vehicle settings. The new icon is more identifiable. I guarantee if I sat my father in law or mother in law in the old UI Mach-e screen and said, "you have 30 seconds to find the settings for the car/infotainment" they would run out of time a few times over. But with the new icon? Probably found in ten seconds. In the end Ford is a ultra mass market vehicle producer, and they are going to respond to complaints from that mass market.

The Auto not showing the current heat value is something I wouldn't hate being back, but I don't understand why value that has overall. Someone on here mentioned so you can see if it's off? You either feel the heat at the appropriate level for your current needs or you don't. Auto climate control doesn't constantly display the changes in fan speed it makes, yet people have managed just fine. If anything, Auto not showing current level brings the UI into a more uniform visual language than having this one thing when set to auto that constantly gives feedback on what it's doing.

The UI is much snappier, camera button is 10/10 welcome, and while adjusting settings using the volume knob isn't super critical since as others said you usually aren't making dramatic changes where it's a speed improvement, it also is nice to see that they can approach using it in a more as-needed way and I hope they keep trying new things like that.

Overall I am happy with the UI. I agree the icon images aren't the best, but I am not looking at them much when driving so it's all good.

If Ford wanted to really surprise us I would prefer a more modular approach so we can adjust things. It's my wife's car mainly and she said she wishes some of the climate controls were at the top, like heated seat settings and current set temp for HVAC. I think they could move those things to the top "bar" where the settings/camera button are (but to the right of them of course) so you had more line-of-site visibility while driving of these climate options you are more likely to interact with.

It feels really sketchy to have to look so far down when adjusting heated seats or whatever. At least on my F-150 they are physical buttons with just lights to indicate current setting (no "Auto" though), but I can glance and in a half second know what the current setting is and with eyes back on the road hit the button the needed amount of times. Looking all the way to the bottom of the screen at the current heated seat setting, then having to make sure you hit the heated seat button, and then looking to make sure you turned the knob or whatever to the correct setting is so much more dangerous. While they can't fix the lack of physical buttons OTA, they could at least move those to the top.

 

[Lord Polymath]

Some favorites at the top would be nice. Frunk/Trunk buttons especially. Opening the trunk is only two touches, but it's too slow.
Using the volume knob for the heated seats is pretty cool, but I just tap the icon - first press is level 3, second is level 2, etc. I usually put it on level 1 so a quick 3 tap is actually easier than a tap and a turn of the knob, IMO. I always have the A/C on auto.

 

[737flyer]

I turned off auto-update months ago, I'm happy with current functionality and will stick with it as long as I can...

It’s alway important to do updates. These updates are to keep your Mache safe and preform correctly.

 

[dtbaker61]

It’s alway important to do updates. These updates are to keep your Mache safe and preform correctly.

Oh I thought updates were to introduce random undocumented surprises and new features I don't care about.

 

[Mark-E]

Top left of the screen.



That part is fine. I just hope you don't like having useful information on the tiles at the bottom of the screen.

That’s what I miss most in the updates, info v. a mere button at the bottom of the screen ?

 

[Mirak]

I don't care that the car icon is gone, I imagine that confused more "regular" customers than was a help when it came to finding your vehicle settings. The new icon is more identifiable. I guarantee if I sat my father in law or mother in law in the old UI Mach-e screen and said, "you have 30 seconds to find the settings for the car/infotainment" they would run out of time a few times over. But with the new icon? Probably found in ten seconds.

Maybe. I would agree that the current settings icon looks a bit more setting-ish than the car graphic. But if you were to ask your in-laws where the button is to open the trunk, I bet they’d give up entirely.

And now the app tray is accessed by tapping a picture of a house?

These things don’t make sense.

 

[RockDaphne98296]

OMG - it took me forever to figure out where everything was - I have had my FE since Feb 2021, so I was used to the layout and could find just about everything with barely a glance. Then this update hit with no notice and it took me ten minutes in my driveway to find the greyed-out trunk button...it would have been nice to receive a guide for the new setup...

A friend suggested that this change may have been driven by insurance companies - the insurance companies are saying that cars with tablets are having more accidents due to having to tab through to find whatever it is you are looking for...

 

[Vulnox]

Maybe. I would agree that the current settings icon looks a bit more setting-ish than the car graphic. But if you were to ask your in-laws where the button is to open the trunk, I bet they’d give up entirely.

And now the app tray is accessed by tapping a picture of a house?

These things don’t make sense.

Ha, yeah the lack of hard buttons in general is frustrating, but I will never defend the choice of the giant portrait screen to begin with. My F-150 has the 12" horizontal oriented screen and physical controls for HVAC, drive modes, etc. Ford tried too hard to be like Tesla and gave up on the basics. Even my power tailgate for open and close has a giant physical button. That goes beyond bad UI and was just trend following interior design in general and it's the only aspect of the MME I absolutely hate.

 

[Mirak]

Ha, yeah the lack of hard buttons in general is frustrating, but I will never defend the choice of the giant portrait screen to begin with. My F-150 has the 12" horizontal oriented screen and physical controls for HVAC, drive modes, etc. Ford tried too hard to be like Tesla and gave up on the basics. Even my power tailgate for open and close has a giant physical button. That goes beyond bad UI and was just trend following interior design in general and it's the only aspect of the MME I absolutely hate.

The Lightning got a physical tailgate button exactly where it should be. The spot near our left driver knee where Ford gave us a second "Max Defrost" button instead.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

Ha, yeah the lack of hard buttons in general is frustrating, but I will never defend the choice of the giant portrait screen to begin with. My F-150 has the 12" horizontal oriented screen and physical controls for HVAC, drive modes, etc. Ford tried too hard to be like Tesla and gave up on the basics. Even my power tailgate for open and close has a giant physical button. That goes beyond bad UI and was just trend following interior design in general and it's the only aspect of the MME I absolutely hate.

See I’m the other way. Ban all buttons, with the exception of the few that are on the steering wheel. I find them ugly and unnecessary.

 

[Hammered]

please keep the car icon gone, I don't want the 8yr old computer wasting resources for an icon of a car I already know I'm in.

Now if the push button dial could be pushed for first AC temp, then AC fan, then driver heated seat, that'd be quite handy. If it was temp by default, even better. I use the wheel button for audio vol as it's already present where my hand is.

 

[Hammered]

The Lightning got a physical tailgate button exactly where it should be. The spot near our left driver knee where Ford gave us a second "Max Defrost" button instead.

That's actually a carry over from the truck it's based on, the F150

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