Deleted It

[AllenS]

I love the Mach-E, but if there’s anything it tells me, it’s that Ford is a great automobile manufacturer but a horrible software developer.

At least the car’s software is usable, if quirky, but I expected that since my wife’s 2017 Ford Fusion Energi has similar quirky software issues even though it does not use Ford Pass. (My car turned on intelligent cruise control all by itself yesterday—I prefer to use adaptive but unintelligent—so the car started accelerating rapidly around a corner.)

But as a computer scientist, Ford Pass is just embarrassing. It’s slow, the user interface is best described as clunky, many parts of it simply do not work, and all of it does not work half the time.

Thankfully, I have not been using PaaK, so today I’ve deleted the app from my iPhone, never to be seen again. Well, if all of you suddenly start singing its praises, I might reconsider, but I’m guessing the odds of that are slim.

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[SnBGC]

I love the Mach-E, but if there’s anything it tells me, it’s that Ford is a great automobile manufacturer but a horrible software developer.

At least the car’s software is usable, if quirky, but I expected that since my wife’s 2017 Ford Fusion Energi has similar quirky software issues even though it does not use Ford Pass. (My car turned on intelligent cruise control all by itself yesterday—I prefer to use adaptive but unintelligent—so the car started accelerating rapidly around a corner.)

But as a computer scientist, Ford Pass is just embarrassing. It’s slow, the user interface is best described as clunky, many parts of it simply do not work, and all of it does not work half the time.

Thankfully, I have not been using PaaK, so today I’ve deleted the app from my iPhone, never to be seen again. Well, if all of you suddenly start singing its praises, I might reconsider, but I’m guessing the odds of that are slim.

No arguments here. I fully expected FP to be at least a like for like replacement to MyFordMobile but they missed the mark in a big way.
I left FordPass turned off through the Spring. Restarted it for Summer just so I could have remote start. Works about 80% of the time. When Fall comes, it gets put away again.

 

[RockwallRick]

Wife and I got our first taste of PAAK and Fordpass today.
UGH!!!

 

[BMT1071]

No arguments here. I fully expected FP to be at least a like for like replacement to MyFordMobile but they missed the mark in a big way.
I left FordPass turned off through the Spring. Restarted it for Summer just so I could have remote start. Works about 80% of the time. When Fall comes, it gets put away again.

Remote start works 80% or FP in general works 80%?

 

[SnBGC]

Remote start works 80% or FP in general works 80%?

Remote start.
Does FordPass do anything else?


I know that sounds sarcastic but I am actually drawing a blank for anything useful besides remote start.... ?

 

[bighair]

Remote start.
Does FordPass do anything else?


I know that sounds sarcastic but I am actually drawing a blank for anything useful besides remote start.... ?

It excels at one thing: completely crushing your phone's battery. Holy power hog.

 

[BMT1071]

It excels at one thing: completely crushing your phone's battery. Holy power hog.

I'm curious if it is the connect/disconnect/searching for the car cycles that hammer the phone battery, or something else??

 

[OlyPen]

I'm curious if it is the connect/disconnect/searching for the car cycles that hammer the phone battery, or something else??

On my phone, the culprit is "FordPass PAAK is connecting to your car." In Android 11, I can "cancel" the background action and the phone will shut off FordPass in the background until I open the app intentionally, like if I'm actually going to use my car. I don't have the battery drain issue with FordPass as a result.

Running OnePlus 9 Pro 5g, Android 11 and have FordPass (3.25) set to "optimize battery life" in the Android battery settings. It never uses more than 2% of my phone battery when I'm intentionally using FordPass throughout an entire day.

 

[BMT1071]

On my phone, the culprit is "FordPass PAAK is connecting to your car." In Android 11, I can "cancel" the background action and the phone will shut off FordPass in the background until I open the app intentionally, like if I'm actually going to use my car. I don't have the battery drain issue with FordPass as a result.

Running OnePlus 9 Pro 5g, Android 11 and have FordPass (3.25) set to "optimize battery life" in the Android battery settings. It never uses more than 2% of my phone battery when I'm intentionally using FordPass throughout an entire day.

That's what I was thinking based on experiences I have had with spotty WiFi. The frequent cycling and searching for the network murdered my battery.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

It excels at one thing: completely crushing your phone's battery. Holy power hog.

I disagree, sir. It does not crush your phone battery life. The prefecture looking for is, "It sucks the very essence of life out of your phone's battery. Ford Pass is the epitome of an electron vampire. "

 

[Cobra427]

Ah yes, bad software. It's everywhere, isn't it? Wonder why?

As a retired quality engineer having worked for two of the major auto companies, neither of which was Ford, I can state flatly that the majority of customer problems with cars today are software related. Not all, but most.

Thought about this for a while now, and have come to the conclusion that the root cause is the reward system used to compensate system developers. There are differences, and I think it matters.

Hardware developers, both mechanical and electrical, are rewarded for innovation and quality results. If their stuff works, they benefit.

Software developers are rewarded for volume. The more lines of code produced, the more they make. This is the primary reason computer storage (memory) has skyrocketed in recent decades. Quality and efficiency are not major factors, just how many lines did you produce today.

This is the same system now engaged in the development of AI systems, which are touted as the future of all things. Some concern is justified, don't you agree?

Bad software may be the downfall of civilization as we know it.

 

[Jimrpa]

I had the software update applied at the dealer (the customer satisfaction program) and PaaK has worked well ever since (iPhone 12 Pro Max with iOS 14.6, latest version of FordPass).

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