Anyone using Alexa in their Mach-E?

[kgautam28]

She spies on us in the house - do not need her spying on us in the car!

Paranoid grandpa?

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[kgautam28]

I refuse to get one for my house, and will try to disable her in my car if I can. Assuming they roll her out using an OTA.

Why this hatred?

 

[kgautam28]

What private thing are you doing in the car that you wouldn’t be doing in the house? Actually, on second thought, don’t answer that.

Google and Siri are the actual spies lol.

 

[kgautam28]

Alexa, whether in your home or car does not constantly record and send audio to the mothership. She waits for the wake word and then sends after that. Yes she can be triggered accidentally and yes you can delete all recordings that she makes.

People lack this basic knowledge. And if it doesn't understand what you're speaking, it just ignores it. Only the commands it's known to recognize it does.

People give away far more information via their browser activity, Facebook and Instagram etc.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

I wanted to say that I would like to be able to use Siri to control aspects of the car, similar to what the ford assistant can. Things like setting the temperature, turning on seat heaters or other neat stuff.

Ohh ok. Ya that is not possible, yet, but Apple is reportedly working on it. Ford has been very proactive about integrating new CarPlay features (note todays post about EV routing) so there’s a good possibility they would integrate something like this. Check out this article.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/7/...nheart-vision-car-settings-climate-seat-radio

 

[XTheUnknown]

So funny - 3 pages of replies and nobody has really taken the time to answer the OP question as to how Alexa works in the Mach-E. ?

Let me take a stab at it. It's weird; I have a Galaxy Flip 3 5g, my wife has an iPhone and we now have the choice of Siri, Google, Ford Assistant, and Alexa. Sort of a bot "overload" but all are good with different things.

The best way I can describe using Alexa in the car is this...at home, we have numerous appliances that have Alexa integration and we have set those up in our Alexa app. For example, we have Hue lights, Nest Thermostats, Tidal music, Kevo locks, Liftmaster MyQ garage doors, etc. You get the idea.

Having Alexa in the car is just like having another Echo device at home, but it's in your car. I can be 30 miles from home and "announce" that I'm 30 mins away to my family at home. I can just say, Alexa, play the album Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk on Tidal and boom...it's playing in the car. I can turn on the lights at home just as I'm arriving, or I can set the home to "guard mode" as I'm leaving. Basically, all of the things you can do at home are extended to you while out and about...and I love it. It's not that I'm a huge fanboy of Alexa (for what it's worth), but admittedly, it works extremely well.

If I'm on the freeway listening to loud music in the cabin and say Alexa in a normal voice, the music pauses and Alexa waits for a command...the mic in the car is very sensitive and it works well. Also, Alexa will allow you to do in car things as well as "navigate to 123 Main St" (which uses built in Nav), or set temperature to 72 degrees", etc. but that said, I feel like I struggle a bit more to get those commands to work as well as Ford Assistant or Siri.

All that said, if I want to do anything with Carplay or Android Auto, I'm long pressing the mic button and using Siri or Google to work the apps within their ecosystems. If I'm doing in car stuff, I tend to just hit the mic button quickly and have Ford Assistant help out as it seems more responsive for in car commands for the built in Nav or Mach-E functionality. Again, not that Alexa CAN'T do it, but I just find it easier.

Still, if I want to play a song or podcast from Tidal instantly, or if I want to control something at home, or get a flash news briefing, or get the weather or even play a quick game, Alexa is pretty flawless and a big thumbs up to a very clean integration.

Hope that helps...

Robb

P.S. One last note...that Tidal streaming doesn't come off my phone...it's using a 30 day trial of in car data services that are normally $10 a month and use the built in cell services of the Mach-E. I might just continue to subscribe but undecided right now...$10 isn't too big a deal but the streaming music from Tidal seems to sound a bit more compressed to me than if I'm streaming direct from my phone in Android Auto. I need to "A/B" this a bit more...not 100% sure yet.

 

[JoeDimwit]

People lack this basic knowledge. And if it doesn't understand what you're speaking, it just ignores it. Only the commands it's known to recognize it does.

People give away far more information via their browser activity, Facebook and Instagram etc.

Prove that. We have been lied to by all these companies so many times that there is no trust. Also, when they say “[assistant] isn’t listening or recording until you say the activation phrase” How does it know you’ve said the activation phrase if it isn't listening?

 

[mpshizzle]

Just my two cents here:

#1) no voice assistant is constantly streaming everything you say. It's just not feasible to send a constant stream of audio

#2) that doesn't mean data isn't being collected like crazy when you do talk to it. And a voice assistant is only as good as the data it collects. Google is THE KING of data collection which is why it's by far the best voice assistant. Alexa right up there with it. Siri collects far less data, and thus is wayy dumber


Privacy vs convenience... Pick one

Personally, I don't care that Google knows I've searched "Mach e BlueCruise OTA 15,000 times". Big whoop ? .

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

Funny how most will love Alexa and some hate Her.....
I will always love Alexa bc she is my daughter's name way before AZ named their AI (Alexa)

Funny, my daughter is also "Alexa". So I/m in the love group as well. One of her teachers last year felt it was funny to always say, "Alexa, can you..........".

 

[Jimrpa]

@Ford Motor Company if you’re listening, I’m in EA, the TWO EA products I absolutely don’t want anywhere near my vehicle are “Alexa” and whatever the stuff from Facebook meta is that you’re trying to foist on us. Please leave all that stuff for the Chinese market vehicles ?

 

[Jimrpa]

I am pretty sure we will all get her with an OTA, so get ready. And I doubt we will have a choice if we want the other "improvements" that are part of that and future updates. Maybe I will just put a piece of black tape over the logo on the screen so I won't be so annoyed that it is there. As long as she is not turned on and listening, it will just be a minor annoyance.

Edit: maybe our friends @AOSK will make an Alexa cover to hide the logo! ?

Not sure I’d trust Amazon to be “accidentally” in a listen mode all the time. Further, what data would it be collecting from the vehicle? Where I am? Where I’m going? Where I’ve been? I don’t want my car creepily suggesting I can buy groceries at Whole Foods when Alexa detects I’m at Wegman’s ?

 

[Jimrpa]

Holy CRAP! And there’s no way to get rid of it?
@Ford Motor Company I’d suggest you have the team stop all work on remote frunk release and focus on allowing owners to fully remove all Amazon integration and components through a toggle or something on the touchscreen - nod “disable”, actually remove the software from the vehicle entirely. (Along with the Facebook and Meta software that may be coming.)

 

[Jimrpa]

I found a solution to your first concern.

Still thinking about your remaining concerns, though. I don't know how I could prove to you (or me or anyone) that it is or isn't listening when its connected feature option isn't enabled.

Masks the problem, doesn’t remove it. It’s basically a cheap air freshener solution to dead, rotting koi in the frunk ?

 

[Jimrpa]

Paranoid grandpa?

Really? ?

 

[generaltso]

@Ford Motor Company if you’re listening, I’m in EA, the TWO EA products I absolutely don’t want anywhere near my vehicle are “Alexa” and whatever the stuff from Facebook meta is that you’re trying to foist on us. Please leave all that stuff for the Chinese market vehicles ?

Be careful. If you keep paging them, they're going to ask for your VIN and dealer info. ?

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