Ford . . . PLEASE consider making the Mach E compatible with Apple Car Key! (or give us TWO fobs)

jhalkias

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Dear Ford people who are viewing the forum . . . please consider making the Mach E compatible with Apple Car Key. I know that your PAAK is a point of pride in your release of the Mach E. BUT . . . it is so inconsistent. I am driving my dealer's FCTP this week until my car arrives, and sometimes it works, but most times it does NOT. iPhone 11ProMax is my phone for those wondering.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211234

Yes, I know we can program a code to open and a code to start (I have not done that because dealer demo) and I WILL do that in my car, but that kind of defeats the purpose.

If I had Apple Car Key as an option, I could use my phone OR my Apple Watch to open the car. And, Apple software just tends to WORK. I unlock my Mac daily with just my watch. Works like a charm, and I am guessing Car Key would work just as well. Ford PAAK has been a frustration. It would be REALLY nice of you to just give us the option like you gave us CarPlay or Android Auto. And for our Android friends, if they have something similar, please give them that option too.

And I know some bean counter in Dearborn decided if our phone works we don't need two fobs. Well, they were wrong. EVERY Mach E owner should get another fob courtesy of Ford. That move was just CHEAP.

Thanks for listening . . . I feel better now, but would feel even better if you take me up on all of this.
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jhalkias

jhalkias

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BTW . . . wasn't there a Ford engineer who posted about wanting to know about these kinds of Sync issues at one point (not enough time to look it up right now) If anyone knows who that was, feel free to tag them in this thread.

Unless of course they are now in the "Ford Witness Protection Program" after cars started arriving with a gag order.
 

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I believe the MME was already in its final design stage when Apple Car Key was officially unveiled, therefore, it's very unlikely that it has the NFC readers that would be required. Even if it did, you would have to physically tap your phone on the exterior reader to unlock the car and place your phone in a specific spot inside to start the car. At that point, I would rather just leave the fob in my pocket and not have to physically fumble with anything.

Eventually, Apple Car Key will use UWB (ultra wideband) so that this can be accomplished with your phone in your pocket, but it's not out yet. The chances of the current MME having the hardware to support that are pretty low.

In other words, it doesn't matter how many people ask for the functionality. If the hardware isn't there, no amount of OTA updates will make it work. I think the most we can hope for is the continual improvement of PaaK to make it 100% reliable.
 

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I have no use for Apple (I use Android), but Ford should really be giving us 2 fobs regardless. PAAK is too inconsistent. Getting into the car and starting it is too important to have anything less than 99.99% dependability. And key fobs are that.

Adding PAAK to that as an extra feature when it works is fine. But only in ADDITION to providing fobs.
 


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jhalkias

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I believe the MME was already in its final design stage when Apple Car Key was officially unveiled, therefore, it's very unlikely that it has the NFC readers that would be required. Even if it did, you would have to physically tap your phone on the exterior reader to unlock the car and place your phone in a specific spot inside to start the car. At that point, I would rather just leave the fob in my pocket and not have to physically fumble with anything.

Eventually, Apple Car Key will use UWB (ultra wideband) so that this can be accomplished with your phone in your pocket, but it's not out yet. The chances of the current MME having the hardware to support that are pretty low.

In other words, it doesn't matter how many people ask for the functionality. If the hardware isn't there, no amount of OTA updates will make it work. I think the most we can hope for is the continual improvement of PaaK to make it 100% reliable.
Perhaps someone can confirm this from Ford?
I have no use for Apple (I use Android), but Ford should really be giving us 2 fobs regardless. PAAK is too inconsistent. Getting into the car and starting it is too important to have anything less than 99.99% dependability. And key fobs are that.

Adding PAAK to that as an extra feature when it works is fine. But only in ADDITION to providing fobs.
?
 

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It works really well with a samsung phone. Maybe you should dump apple

Personally I think the fact that you can use codes makes up for any issues with the paak. If you wanted to you could drive without a phone or key
 
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For both sides for this, the hardware and the software, aren't hard stops. While I agree the Mach E doesn't have (as far as we know) the UWB hardware both might be able to be added with an OTA and visit to the dealer. Ford is looking for more revenue streams on existing products and I would definitely help with that if it meant I could add this functionally!

Also, Apple does the best marketing this option but the functionality is also available to any manufacturer and we should all push for it ? https://carconnectivity.org/digital-key/
 

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It works really well with a samsung phone. Maybe you should dump apple

Personally I think the fact that you can use codes makes up for any issues with the paak. If you wanted to you could drive without a phone or key you can
I'll probably give the FOB to my wife and use the PaaK and as a back up the door code, since I love that on my Fusion. But the single Fob choice is still baffling to me.
 

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We already told our dealer that we will want two fobs and to order one and have it pre-programmed at delivery. Wanted to save the hassle of trying to get one later when the PAAK doesn't work on a consistent basis. Also, our living room is above the garage and it is where I am currently working from, so the phone is going to be right above the car all the time and I don't want it "waking up" all the time as some have reported it does.
 

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We already told our dealer that we will want two fobs and to order one and have it pre-programmed at delivery. Wanted to save the hassle of trying to get one later when the PAAK doesn't work on a consistent basis. Also, our living room is above the garage and it is where I am currently working from, so the phone is going to be right above the car all the time and I don't want it "waking up" all the time as some have reported it does.
Assume they are charging you a pretty penny for that?
 

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It works really well with a samsung phone. Maybe you should dump apple

Personally I think the fact that you can use codes makes up for any issues with the paak. If you wanted to you could drive without a phone or key
Forcing a specific platform is never a good option for required functionality. If it's a platform requirement for something that is opt-in, that's generally more acceptable.

The code to start your car is not a panacea. It actually pushes you to use a complex code. It's not intended to be a simple pin.

I think there should've been two Fobs as well.
 

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I don’t believe any of the Apple fanboys (guilty as charged) are demanding a recall of all existing Mustang Mach Es to install hardware required to support existing or future implementations of Apple CarKey, if the hardware is not already there. Nor are we asking that any existing functionality be removed. The only ask is that a new functionality be ADDED to existing cars, if possible, and that it be considered for inclusion on the product roadmap for future MY. Just because Ford sold their soul to Google doesn’t mean they can’t occasionally continue to try to play well with other platforms.
 

Mach-E VLOG

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I don’t believe any of the Apple fanboys (guilty as charged) are demanding a recall of all existing Mustang Mach Es to install hardware required to support existing or future implementations of Apple CarKey, if the hardware is not already there. Nor are we asking that any existing functionality be removed. The only ask is that a new functionality be ADDED to existing cars, if possible, and that it be considered for inclusion on the product roadmap for future MY. Just because Ford sold their soul to Google doesn’t mean they can’t occasionally continue to try to play well with other platforms.
I have no problem with them adding Apple Car Key... unless it is using some proprietary stuff that is unnecessary. As @RobbH and I both mentioned, there is an industry standard called Digital Key. This has been in the works for year. Some are speculating that Apple Car Key is compliant with the specifications, but it is not known for sure (as far as I could tell from the articles I found). The Digital Key standard would not be dependent on or favor any specific platform. Deviation from industry standards just adds hardware costs, developer costs, and complexity.
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