Downside to setting up PAAK?

[mkazen]

I did notice that my phone battery decreased more rapidly when I had it set up as Paak. It probably used about 15% more battery over the course of a day. This was with a 3 year old phone though. Just got a new one and haven't tried because the key fob just works without having to worry about it

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[Kamuelaflyer]

I have not done it yet……my tech at the dealership said it drains phone battery pretty fast….is that true?

No.

 

[MetalCord]

I use a Google Pixel 6a (not exactly a new phone) and I have not seen an noticeable change in battery life. It's my understanding that the PaaK feature uses the low energy variant of bluetooth.

As has been the case since the dawn of car dealerships, you want to take any information you get from a dealer tech with a grain of salt.

 

[HuntingPudel]

If you use the physical key, there are no down sides to setting up PaaK. If you ditch the physical key, the down side is that PaaK is a bit less responsive and in areas with a lot of radio interference it can be a lot less responsive. I have used PaaK exclusively since Ford fixed a server-side issue where they didn't recognize my perfectly legal email address and have very few problems with it. As @RickMachE said, the benefit is that you get the Bluetooth controls within the FordPass app. ??

 

[Beerbronco]

I waited about 3 months to set up PAAK on my 2022 because of some of the negative comments about PAAK. I have not experienced any of the negative issue people warned about. There are times I do have to wake my phone and go into the Ford app for the car to recognize me but that isn't an issue for me. No battery drain on the phone or on the 12v when if gets woke up when I get close to the garage. My only issue is the fob has by Mom's house key and I have not been able to get into her house a couple times when I needed to. I need to get a faraday pouch and "hide the key in the car.

 

[theotherdave]

I have had PAAK set up for a few months now. For me, it is AWFUL. It has stranded me once - it just quit working and I didn't have the FOB with me. It inexplicably and randomly refuses to work, and then several days later or sometimes weeks later it inexplicably and randomly starts working again.

I'm wondering if this is an iOS vs Android thing. I'm using it on a Google Pixel phone. For the people who are having no problems, are you using an iPhone as your PAAK? I have a work iPhone and I use it as my PAAK on my BMX iX with zero issues.

 

[Ahlarict]

It's a convenient and popular feature, with both owners and thieves...

Ford Phone As A Key System Could Be is Vulnerable To Hacking

This was two years ago, and they still haven't announced any changes to mitigate the threats. I setup PAAK on my phone, then disabled FordPass's Bluetooth access. It'll still charge or heat the car OTA through the cellular network, but it no longer functions as a key fob. I've also installed the "sleeping battery" in my key fobs to mitigate some of the threats posed by their RF emissions as well.

Personally, I don't share Ford's hatred of more traditional keys and door handles...

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
I need to get a faraday pouch and "hide the key in the car.

As the child of a Grand Master locksmith and a former pirate/hacker: Do not hide a key in your car. Thieves know more about hiding places than you do. They do this for a living. ??

 

[alexgorod]

For the people who are having no problems, are you using an iPhone as your PAAK?

I have an Android phone, Samsung S23. Earlier, I had another Samsung, and both work fine. But it is possible that something will happen, and it PAAK stops working, so I have a fob in a pharadey box hidden in the car.

Earlier versions (~3 years ago) had a problem with draining the phone battery, but it was fixed a long time ago.

 

[Blue highway]

I have not done it yet……my tech at the dealership said it drains phone battery pretty fast….is that true?

no

 

[Blue highway]

coming up on 4 years exclusive use of PAAK... It works fine.

there is a door code and a start code if you are nervous about it.

Within a few years key fobs will go the way of headphone jacks on phones... they are normal until they are not... and nobody will remember why we carried fobs.

 

[AliRafiee]

3 years of PaaK and I was stranded ZERO times. My wife still refuse to use it for my car and her car.

 

[TheRock]

Coming from a Tesla, PAAK is wonderful. We didn't carry keyfob but kept the RFID credit card size card in our wallets in case my phone would die or was going for a run and didn't want to carry the phone.

 

[CarGuy11]

Get this.

 

[VirgilBoy21MME]

I have not done it yet……my tech at the dealership said it drains phone battery pretty fast….is that true?

Almost 3 1/2 years of ownership using PaaK, and I would say the dealer is poorly educated

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