PAAKL: What a difference a phone makes

[Kamuelaflyer]

the sheer number of the paak posts where people had problems far outweigh the posts about people that have fob problems. I, too, advocate for anyone to use WHATEVER method they want to enter their own car (including the brick) but the the FOB is more reliable than paak. I'll say it again, PAAK is great, until it is not...lol

I reported my experience, not yours or anyone else’s. How is that confusing you? Somehow though, you want to turn your opinion into dogma. It doesn’t work that way. Dogma is always bad. Except the movie. That was funny.

So let me spell this out as simple as possible.

PAAK. Works. For. Me.

Fob. Works. For. You.

Simple enough?

Frankly, there’s not that much of a difference. Ford has done an excellent job of improving its reliability and with the backup start code, I’m good to go.

Seriously, if PAAK is going to make someone anxious because it might fail, don’t use it. There’s nothing wrong with that. If they feel more comfortable with a fob because they’ve always had one, great! Use the fob. If the technology makes someone uncomfortable, use the fob. But what you don’t get to do is debate other’s experiences.

I have a different experience. If I never have to carry a key or fob for anything ever again, it’ll be too soon. PAAK works for me and it’s one less thing to carry. Making a blanket Religion of Fob statement is no different than those arguing over who has the best invisible sky friend.

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[Guss-E 2021]

Samsung S23+. Walk up unlock sometimes works and sometimes I have to wake the screen. I've also found pumping the door button like a crazy person while saying, "this time" with each push will get my phone and car talking too .

And there is always just using my door code. So long as Johnny doesn't come look for his two dollars, facilitating a speedy departure, I don't mind the occasional delayed entry. Sheeba always relents eventually.

 

[RickMachE]

Unfortunately, phones working, or not working, with external devices/systems have so many components that the reason/cause of success, or failure, is often impossible to determine. Phone, version of OS, recent update, other apps, car OS, car updates, etc.

I have an Android watch with FordPass on it. Had issues all of a sudden. After some consultation with the right group at Ford, their only solution was to reset the watch, which worked.

Watch recently is having issues with notifications from phone. Inconsistent alarms specifically. Google is little help with their phone (Pixel 8), Samsung is zero help with their Watch 7.

 

[Eckless]

I will add to this that I did get a new Pixel 10 Pro XL, and the PAAK has been working VERY well so far (knock on wood). On previous Pixels PAAK was very hit-or-miss. So it could be the Android OS updates, it could be a different bluetooth hardware on the new Pixels...

Only challenge I've been having is about 10% of the time my phone will unlock the car doors, then I'll get in the car, and it'll say "No Key Detected" (weird, because it unlocked the doors)...if you try to power on the car at that point, it'll honk.

 

[ipca204]

A PAAK failure, while rare, is only a minor inconvenience. It's not a catastrophe.

First of all.... "rare"? Really???? Second of all, it can absolutely be a catastrophe if you are far from home..
Do a forum search for the following "Fob issues" and "PAAK issues" and please tell me again how "rare" it is. And again, I could care less about whatever method you guys use to enter your car, my concern is people will thinking paak is "near flawless", go on a road trip from Az to California and then realize....not so much....lol..

 

[Chuck]

First of all.... "rare"? Really???? Second of all, it can absolutely be a catastrophe if you are far from home..
Do a forum search for the following "Fob issues" and "PAAK issues" and please tell me again how "rare" it is. And again, I could care less about whatever method you guys use to enter your car, my concern is people will thinking paak is "near flawless", go on a road trip from Az to California and then realize....not so much....lol..

Enough with the the ad hominem.

 

[KriegTiger]

My guess is that it's a coin toss as to whether the phone or the car is causing the paak issues at any given time.

I've been using PAAK before I ever got my MME (long time Tesla driver of my housemate's Model 3 & Y). In my experience the phone is the problem every time. Across 3 vehicles, 2 manufacturers, and about 4 phones now (Pixel 2, 3, 6, 8) if my PAAK is acting up dropping into/out of airplane mode sometimes fixes it, a full phone reboot ALWAYS fixes it, and sometimes I just manually open the app and unlock the car, which generally makes the security services connect after you get inside.

That said, I'm not entirely sure what part of the software is at fault - the phone OS for permission auditing/limiting something, the software for hanging or otherwise gumming up, or some mix of things. But it's always the phone.

Regardless, I'm happy to use the PAAK because that's one less thing I have to worry about missing and one less clunky object in my pocket. Just I would recommend that whenever you're not using your FOB you have it in a faraday bag/box inside the house, thieves are getting more sophisticated these days.

 

[Exordium01]

paak is great....until it is not. Not a single person has had it work "flawlessly", contrary to what people post..

I’ve been using PAAK for over 2 years and have never had an issue.

I’m guessing this is more of an iOS vs Android thing. IOS validation is better because there are fewer different models to validate.

 

[phil]

I’m guessing this is more of an iOS vs Android thing.

That has not been my experience.

PAAK has been highly reliable for me for nearly three years now, using multiple Androids and iPhones during that time. There was one exception -- for a couple weeks early this year, PAAK would disconnect and need resetting anytime the Android's bluetooth was switched off (that issue was caused by an Android security update and fixed fairly promptly).

 

[Exordium01]

That has not been my experience.

PAAK has been highly reliable for me for nearly three years now, using multiple Androids and iPhones during that time. There was one exception -- for a couple weeks early this year, PAAK would disconnect and need resetting anytime the Android's bluetooth was switched off (that issue was caused by an Android security update and fixed fairly promptly).

Great that it works for you. I’m just observing that the common thread among people who have issues in this thread is Android.

 

[ChrisO]

A PAAK failure, while rare, is only a minor inconvenience. It's not a catastrophe.

Tell that to the person that was 6 hours from home, and it fails, they get in with the keypad only to find that their password to start the car is gone. Yes, this has been reported in another thread on here.

And goes with the thread that tells people to check the password on a regular basis.

Personally, I have had enough problems with PAAK that I won't trust it. And one thing I think is wrong is that you can't set a password to start the car without first connecting PAAK. I think it should be possible to do that without setting PAAK.

 

[jav_eee]

A PAAK failure, while rare, is only a minor inconvenience. It's not a catastrophe.

Except people talk about it like it’s a catastrophe.

 

[Chuck]

Tell that to the person that was 6 hours from home, and it fails, they get in with the keypad only to find that their password to start the car is gone. Yes, this has been reported in another thread on here.

And goes with the thread that tells people to check the password on a regular basis.

Personally, I have had enough problems with PAAK that I won't trust it. And one thing I think is wrong is that you can't set a password to start the car without first connecting PAAK. I think it should be possible to do that without setting PAAK.

If I ran my life by the accounts and fears of online posters I should probably never get out of bed. My experience is that people love to post negative things, whether they are true or not, just to get replies.

 

[ipca204]

Enough with the the ad hominem.

it's not a personal attack on YOU, just your assertion that a PAAK failure is "rare". You should learn the difference..

 

[ChrisO]

If I ran my life by the accounts and fears of online posters I should probably never get out of bed. My experience is that people love to post negative things, whether they are true or not, just to get replies.

So, you believe these people are lying to get attention?

Well, I don't.

Now on the other side of the coin, do I think that the problems with PAAK getting into the "serious" range is very rare? The answer is yes. But you aren't going to convince people that have had problems with PAAK to "just don't worry about it".

It is a personal decision, and neither is wrong.

For me, carrying the FOB isn't a problem at all, so I see no reason why I need to put up with even mirror problems.

It is a purely personal decision that works for me.

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