Fantastic Car, but PAAK, Phone Integration, FordPass and overall Software is an Abomination

[BigMach-E]

PaaK implementation is terrible. Directions during set up are just wrong, the app tells you to look to the Mach E to provide you the passcode after downloading the key, when it is actually looking for you to feed back the passcode into the phone that it gave you previously during set up. If when you get into the car, and forget to start the car on your Ford Pass app and just press the power button, car doesn't see your phone as a key, and turning off your car and turning on your car in the app still shows no key detected. I know that some of this stuff may be user error, but the design is terrible. I wouldn't trust PaaK.

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[Chuck]

Well, I patiently waited 9 months for our MME, and as a car, it is phenomenal. In the meantime, I also bought a 2021 Ranger. Also, for context, been an engineer in the software/tech business for 35 years and I've seen it all, built tons of cool stuff and broken more than my fair share of tech products. Worked on aircraft, networks, chips/ASICs, software (including mobile) and lots more interesting stuff.

First of all, mobile phones as all around platforms where you need to RELY on them as things like car keys is simply dumb. Yep, trendy and we're all used to using "apps", but phones and the wireless networks that they leverage are not now, and likely will never be as reliable as a simple key fob. FordPass is basically useless, as I had 3 cars on it, now down to 2 (sold my Mustang GT), and it just has almost zero value. On my Ranger, it does nothing other than unreliably and slowly lock/unlock or remote start the car. Why couldn't they give me remote start on the Fob like EVERY other car and manufacturer on the earth. On the MME it is simply stupid for Ford, which just produced a tour-de force in the Mach E, to destroy the ownership experience with this idiotic and banal Phone As A Key idea. FordPass is filled with garbage that I, and I assume almost everyone else, doesn't care about. I constantly have new "messages", which basically is just more garbage notifications about nothing. If they ever put something important in there, I'll never see it, because I don't have 30 minutes a day to scroll through, read and delete mindless marketing dribble from some random Ford marketing unit that has nothing better to do than "engage" with their "Ford family".

The PAAK implementation is horrendous. I have a choice, either leave the app running all the time and drain my phone battery, have the phone and the car confuse each other all day when I walk by it with my phone in my pocket or leave it in proximity, OR disable the app until I need it, and wait 10 minutes for it to get itself organized, then wait another 5 minutes for the car to decide it likes the phone, then wait for the car to give me an error message "no key detected", shut itself off, then restart the FordPass PAAK thingy, then wait another 10 minutes, then maybe, just maybe, I can reliably leave my house. Yesterday, it took 45 minutes of this idiotic dance before I literally lost it, went into the house, grabbed the single Fob (which my wife uses as she has no patience for garbage tech), then left the house. Just awful and its literally like this EVERY single time. It is shameful that of all the places that the MME/Ford team decided to remove cost, was in the basic and absolutely crucial area of having a reliable KEY to start and use your car. OMFG.

Next, phone integration is wildly inconsistent, even when its working well. Its not just me. Just read the threads here (and other MME forums) about phone problems regardless of which phone brand you have. Apple/Android... doesn't matter. Sometimes it connects, other times nothing. Sometimes wired works, other times, nothing. Sometimes wireless Carplay/Android Auto works, other times nothing. Its monstrously distracting and frustrating. More than that, its incredibly UNRELIABLE, which Ford of all companies should be sensitive to, as it got killed years ago in JD Power surveys for the notoriously fickle My Ford Touch that they eventually killed after bad publicity and litigation. It can take me 20-30 minutes sometimes simply to get Google Nav to work reliably on the glorious screen in the MME. I have to pull over, plug, unplug, reboot the phone, shut the car off, open and close the door, then start the phone, wait for it to completely boot, then restart the car, then pray. Over and over and over again. I know that Android Auto and CarPlay can work, as they work in our other cars. Android Auto works fine (mostly) in my Ranger as an example (not 100%, but fairly reliable). But in the amazing Mach E, who knows? Now this is not all on Ford, as Google and Apple, in their most profound arrogance, really don't care about their software quality anymore as they have plenty of nasty bugs all over the place, and their billions of users can't escape them. But it is on Ford to ensure that the CAR I bought from them works like a car, and not like a mutant phone/toaster/TV/car hybrid contraption.

Finally, overall software is totally wonky. Ford should try to be Ford, and not Tesla. I don't care about all sorts of goofy features, but the ones that make a car actually work. I just want to be able to change the damn radio channel without nearly crashing while I'm trying to figure out how to get back to the Sirius station I was on before I accidentally hit some random arrow and ended up on an non broadcasting AM band blaring static. I have to pull over so I don't crash while I figure out how to get back to Sirius, and then figure out how it ended up on Sirius channel 53 when I was previously listening to channel 9. How can this be so terribly executed.... Same with lots of other basic car features.

Out of the 122 cars I've owned over 40 years, the MME is amongst my 3 or 4 favorites (up there with the incredible Aston Martin Vantage that I recently sold). I'm totally sold on the CAR part of the MME, but the software part is an abomination. And I hope that Ford doesn't have another case of My Ford Touch lurking in the shadows. They need to rethink how they're doing this software, what's important, and how they can make it RELIABLE every.....single..... time.

Rant complete

A lot of rant going on, most of it hyperbole. For an engineer you certainly use a lot of exaggerations and inaccuracies to try to make a point. I'm a manager of 110 engineers and I can tell you with absolutely certainty that such hyperbole wouldn't last long on the job.

For example, you throw around 10 minutes and an additional 5 minutes to get PAAK running. Really? Really? Do you have a 10 year old phone?

You also gripe that there are too may options. Really? Many options are what makes this car great. It's the anti-iPhone or Tesla where they tell you what you want and that's all you get.

Most tech people I know can figure out the nuances in the PAAK pretty quickly. I don't understand why you're struggling with it. I've had my MME since April and have never taken the FOB with me on any journeys.

And, finally, as most engineers should know this is version 1 of the software. When have you ever published version 1 of your software and had it match the end design? The software will evolve over time and get improvements as Ford hears what user's want. Go look back at version 1 of Windows, or Mac OS or iOS or Android and see how those have evolved.

It sounds to me like you expected one thing based upon some dream in your mind and got something else. That's fine but don't project your expectations onto the rest of us. I had no expectations and got a car that looks, acts and feels much better than I expected..

 

[MarkP213]

A lot of rant going on, most of it hyperbole. For an engineer you certainly use a lot of exaggerations and inaccuracies to try to make a point. I'm a manager of 110 engineers and I can tell you with absolutely certainty that such hyperbole wouldn't last long on the job.

For example, you throw around 10 minutes and an additional 5 minutes to get PAAK running. Really? Really? Do you have a 10 year old phone?

You also gripe that there are too may options. Really? Many options are what makes this car great. It's the anti-iPhone or Tesla where they tell you what you want and that's all you get.

Most tech people I know can figure out the nuances in the PAAK pretty quickly. I don't understand why you're struggling with it. I've had my MME since April and have never taken the FOB with me on any journeys.

And, finally, as most engineers should know this is version 1 of the software. When have you ever published version 1 of your software and had it match the end design? The software will evolve over time and get improvements as Ford hears what user's want. Go look back at version 1 of Windows, or Mac OS or iOS or Android and see how those have evolved.

It sounds to me like you expected one thing based upon some dream in your mind and got something else. That's fine but don't project your expectations onto the rest of us. I had no expectations and got a car that looks, acts and feels much better than I expected..

Thank you for this! Spot on.

I’ve noticed a few “engineers“ and “software developers” whining and complaining on this forum how bad the software and technology is with the Mach-E. I love when they say things are “stupid, useless, and no one will ever use this” when they can’t figure out how to use technology. ??‍

 

[bp99]

If when you get into the car, and forget to start the car on your Ford Pass app and just press the power button, car doesn't see your phone as a key, and turning off your car and turning on your car in the app still shows no key detected. I know that some of this stuff may be user error, but the design is terrible. I wouldn't trust PaaK.

The buttons in the app and PAAK are not related. The Start/Lock/Unlock buttons are all done through the cloud (Phone <-> Ford Server <-> Car). They do not use Bluetooth. PAAK is Bluetooth only and is a direct connection between your phone and car.

If the Bluetooth status below the Start button in the app says "Bluetooth Connected" and PAAK is not working, then there's something buggy going on.

 

[krafty81]

My Ford Pass will not update today. Says last update 2 hours ago and does not show the car charging....which it is right now. Andorid.

 

[BigMach-E]

The buttons in the app and PAAK are not related. The Start/Lock/Unlock buttons are all done through the cloud (Phone <-> Ford Server <-> Car). They do not use Bluetooth. PAAK is Bluetooth only and is a direct connection between your phone and car.

If the Bluetooth status below the Start button in the app says "Bluetooth Connected" and PAAK is not working, then there's something buggy going on.

Well, there is something buggy then. I understand the two different connection tech involved. I have "Bluetooth connected" in the app on an iPhone and Android, but also show "no key detected" on the Mach-E. It doesn't happen 100 percent of the time. But yeah, PaaK, I'm not thrilled with.

 

[Chuck]

Well, there is something buggy then. I understand the two different connection tech involved. I have "Bluetooth connected" in the app on an iPhone and Android, but also show "no key detected" on the Mach-E. It doesn't happen 100 percent of the time. But yeah, PaaK, I'm not thrilled with.

Which phone are you using? Some of these issues could be on the phone's side. I have zero issues with a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G. It works as expected every time. I haven't had to use the FOB since I got the car in April.

 

[BigMach-E]

Which phone are you using? Some of these issues could be on the phone's side. I have zero issues with a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G. It works as expected every time. I haven't had to use the FOB since I got the car in April.

Iphone SE 2020 and Pixel 4a

 

[Dude]

I had PAAK problems after the latest update to IOS on my iPhone. After some thought I decided to delete the FordPass and reinstall the app. After completion of this process I still had not resolved the issue. After many days of frustration I then decide that I should delete my existing keys and then repeat the process again. After repeating the initiation of the PAAK process I am up and running. I was mildly annoyed but glad it is working again.

 

[Mystic]

PAAK is more about hardware than software. Once the phone has been paired with the car, then it uses the bluetooth signal to unlock and lock the car. You don't need the Ford app running and you also can't blame Apple or Google because Ford can't implement hardware that can see your phone when it needs to.

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