Status - Wow - Ford app has no real time

[Philsky]

Am I missing something
Status of essentially everything other than tire pressure and update (!) is not in Ford app for the MME…

even where there are buttons there is no status
Is vehicle on ? Icon doesn’t say - just says failed to start if you try and it is already on (or maybe it really failed to start….good to know)

Are doors locked or not. Icons don’t show

also no status for important things like:
Is ventilation system on, let me access Settings like temp, on/off including please defrost
What is the inside temperature
Window open
And more….

I get control is more work, but status is basic…

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[kodiakng]

Am I missing something
Status of essentially everything other than tire pressure and update (!) is not in Ford app for the MME…

even where there are buttons there is no status
Is vehicle on ? Icon doesn’t say - just says failed to start if you try and it is already on (or maybe it really failed to start….good to know)

Are doors locked or not. Icons don’t show

also no status for important things like:
Is ventilation system on, let me access Settings like temp, on/off including please defrost
What is the inside temperature
Window open
And more….

I get control is more work, but status is basic…

very frustrating - especially since some of the information is actually on ford's servers. unfortunately, the car doesn't update the servers with ALL status indicators in real-time but the lock+window+door alert status, sometimes the alarm status, on/off status, charging information during sessions, etc are pretty close. fordpass just doesn't show them.

if you're interested, there are a couple of widgets for iOS and android that bridge that gap a bit.

 

[alexgorod]

You are not missing anything.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Yes I recommend the widget above... I use the Android version.

 

[generaltso]

Am I missing something

Yes, you’re missing all those things you mentioned. As are the rest of us.

 

[DevSecOps]

There's 3 of us who have created widgets for the MachE and were inspired to do so, in part, because of this limitation/lack of feature:

Android:
Mine - [Guide] Android MME Widget [More Complex]
by @kennelh - [Guide] Android MME Widget [Less Complex]

Apple:
by @tonesto7 - FordPass - Scriptable Widget V2022.XX (iOS, iPad, MacOS)

Even with our widgets sometimes the data is outdated because of the scheme used by Ford to have the car report back its status. This only happens on door lock events, during charging and power on/off events. Therefore, if those events don't happen (i.e. left unlocked with a window down) then you'll never get the update. Even though it's supposed to report on the aforementioned events a good 1/10th of the time it fails. A previous comment alleges that not all statuses are updated. That is incorrect. If an update happens all statuses are updated. The trick is just getting the update to happen.

My guess is that Ford knows how bad the status would be and therefore will not implement it. If you're going to report status then it should be correct and updated 100% of the time and they just can't do that. It would cause a bunch of bad pr, calls to their customer service lines etc.

 

[kennelh]

There's 3 of us who have created widgets for the MachE and were inspired to do so, in part, because of this limitation/lack of feature:

Android:
Mine - [Guide] Android MME Widget [More Complex]
by @kennelh - [Guide] Android MME Widget [Less Complex]

Apple:
by @tonesto7 - FordPass - Scriptable Widget V2022.XX (iOS, iPad, MacOS)

Even with our widgets sometimes the data is outdated because of the scheme used by Ford to have the car report back its status. This only happens on door lock events, during charging and power on/off events. Therefore, if those events don't happen (i.e. left unlocked with a window down) then you'll never get the update. Even though it's supposed to report on the aforementioned events a good 1/10th of the time it fails. A previous comment alleges that not all statuses are updated. That is incorrect. If an update happens all statuses are updated. The trick is just getting the update to happen.

My guess is that Ford knows how bad the status would be and therefore will not implement it. If you're going to report status then it should be correct and updated 100% of the time and they just can't do that. It would cause a bunch of bad pr, calls to their customer service lines etc.

You can force a update by sending a remote command (start, unlock, etc) but I don't recommend doing that as it can anger the FordPass gods. Plus as @DevSecOps mentioned, sometimes the remote command fails.

 

[DevSecOps]

You can force a update by sending a remote command (start, unlock, etc) but I don't recommend doing that as it can anger the FordPass gods. Plus as @DevSecOps mentioned, sometimes the remote command fails.

Shhhh!!!

It also causes LVB battery drain if you poll it constantly as it wakes the car. So, yes that's another limitation because then people will get spammed with DC DC inverter top off messages and some new erroneous message to plug in immediately.

 

[jgcom]

Some work-arounds (other than the excellent widgets): If you are worried that a door in unlocked, press and hold lock on the app. It will tell you that it has completed the lock process or will admit failure. Under bad network conditions and/or sleeping car, it might take two tries. If you are worried that the door is locked, unlock it. (If you are a programmer or systems engineer and must know the car's various state variables at a glance, never leave the car or turn it off. )

Tire pressure when you aren't driving is difficult to read out in a definitive way.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

Although ... tire pressure should work (it does for me). In the app, go to Vehicle -> Status -> Tire Pressure Monitoring and you should see it. The main page should show if the car is plugged in and either charging or not charging, with an option to get 'details' as to when the car will reach the desired state of charge.

But nothing else ... cabin temp, whether or not windows are open/closed, car locked/unlocked, etc. are displayed in the app.

There is an API ... and a few of us have used it, but then Ford started blocking access to any APIs triggered outside their own app. I can think of good reasons why Ford might want to have APIs that are not published for external use, but there are a number of APIs that in my opinion *should* be published to allow others to use.

BTW, related to this ... the ability to remotely control the car is found using the in-car menu: Settings -> Vehicle -> Connectivity -> Connected Vehicle Features menu. When my '23 was delivered, the module that controls that was wedged ...on the 'Connectivity' screen if I tried to open the 'Connected Vehicle Features' list, it would not reveal any options. I had to reboot the car by disconnecting and reconnecting the fuse. My '21 *just* did this to me yesterday and I have no idea why. Fortunately, I knew to use the fuse to force the module to restart and that fixed it.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

There's 3 of us who have created widgets for the MachE and were inspired to do so, in part, because of this limitation/lack of feature:

Android:
Mine - [Guide] Android MME Widget [More Complex]
by @kennelh - [Guide] Android MME Widget [Less Complex]

Apple:
by @tonesto7 - FordPass - Scriptable Widget V2022.XX (iOS, iPad, MacOS)

Even with our widgets sometimes the data is outdated because of the scheme used by Ford to have the car report back its status. This only happens on door lock events, during charging and power on/off events. Therefore, if those events don't happen (i.e. left unlocked with a window down) then you'll never get the update. Even though it's supposed to report on the aforementioned events a good 1/10th of the time it fails. A previous comment alleges that not all statuses are updated. That is incorrect. If an update happens all statuses are updated. The trick is just getting the update to happen.

My guess is that Ford knows how bad the status would be and therefore will not implement it. If you're going to report status then it should be correct and updated 100% of the time and they just can't do that. It would cause a bunch of bad pr, calls to their customer service lines etc.

Do the widgets still work? I thought Ford switching to OAuth broke those? Also Ford started locking people’s accounts who were using it.

 

[kodiakng]

Do the widgets still work? I thought Ford switching to OAuth broke those? Also Ford started locking people’s accounts who were using it.

i've been using the android one by @kennelh without issues and he keeps it fresh.

regarding the account locking issue: create a second account with ford and associate it with your VIN for use with the widget to keep your main account unlocked. i think since folks have kicked the abusive actors (i.e. Recurrent) to the curb there have been fewer reports of accounts locked.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

i've been using the android one by @kennelh without issues and he keeps it fresh.

regarding the account locking issue: create a second account with ford and associate it with your VIN for use with the widget to keep your main account unlocked. i think since folks have kicked the abusive actors (i.e. Recurrent) to the curb there have been fewer reports of accounts locked.

That’s good to know. I would definitely create a secondary account, if for no other reason than it concerns me to enter my Ford password into an app that I don’t know the developer of. Not that I don’t trust the developers, but I don’t know what their security level is.

I had been using the FordPass iOS shortcuts up until those stopped working. I liked that those allowed me to create my own scripted actions. Also since it only runs when you tell it, it’s not constantly polling the car.

 

[RickMachE]

I believe that if Ford provided realtime updating of many things, some people would seek an update say every minute of every hour. The number of server hits would be crazy.

I have technology around my house that provides updates, and much of it is much faster than Ford, but also more likely to be necessary. Is my garage door open? Is my front door not locked? What's the temp in the family room?

Sure, I'd like Ford to provide more info, but much of what is sought isn't available on any Ford vehicle, so if they do Mach-Es they have to do everything. FordPass is brand-wide, not EV.

 

[kodiakng]

That’s good to know. I would definitely create a secondary account, if for no other reason than it concerns me to enter my Ford password into an app that I don’t know the developer of. Not that I don’t trust the developers, but I don’t know what their security level is.

I had been using the FordPass iOS shortcuts up until those stopped working. I liked that those allowed me to create my own scripted actions. Also since it only runs when you tell it, it’s not constantly polling the car.

with OAuth2 in use the app doesn't store your username and password - just adds the token after initial auth.

forced refresh (requesting a refresh from the car as opposed to just refreshing existing data on servers) frequency is a concern so i've made sure the few 3rd party apps i use give control over that frequency to the user.

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