Phone As Key - Does anyone's work consistently?

[Mach-Lee]

Works 98% of the time for me, so something is wrong with yours. Have someone check if you have an RFA update available. It could also be an issue with your phone if you don’t have the app open in the background or you haven’t disabled power saving settings on your phone.

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[HuntingPudel]

2021 GT-PE And iPhone X (now iPhone 13). It functions well. I have had very few issues with PaaK. ??

 

[bfleischer]

me, there are two primary points of failu

When you say PAAK doesn’t work for you, can you be more specific?

To me, there are two primary points of failure, and they are not always related. The first is the car waking up and auto-unlocking when you press the button on the door. The second is the car starting once you are in.

The latter issue is working reliably for me now. I rarely get “No Key Detected” messages or have to use my backup start code. It’s down to less than 1 in 20 startups.

As for the car waking up and unlocking, that’s still a pretty significant problem for me. I’d say around 1 in 5 approaches the car makes me wait several seconds / button pushes to unlock, and sometimes just doesn’t unlock period and I’ve got to use the door sill passcode.

I keep FordPass running in background on my iPhone 11 Pro. I think pulling the phone out of my pocket to wake it up may help a bit, but that should not be necessary.

It’s very difficult to diagnose the problem. Best I can tell, the car seems to know when I’ve got my arms full or I’ve got a companion with me, and that’s generally when it chooses to ignore my PAAK for maximum pain in the ass.

Ha, yes and it always fails at the worst times... I have both problems... the car doesn't wake up/unlock when I get near it with the phone (with the app running in the background). It also doesn't wake up when I unlock the phone and bring up Fordpass, or when I restart Fordpass. Then, when I get in, it does not recognize it as a key. Of course, then there are the times it does work... when it does work, both the car wake-up/unlock and start are fine.

 

[awp0]

I've been using PAAK (iPhone 13 Pro) exclusively. For me it's never "failed" in the sense that I can't access and start the car with PAAK. However it's usually very slow. It rarely triggers the welcome lights before I'm already standing at the door, and it most often requires me to press the door button multiple times before it actually opens. Sometimes pressing a phone button to "wake it" seems to help (not totally sure). I also occasionally get the "no key detected" alert after I start driving, but it always goes away after a few seconds.

The PAAK experience is pretty slow and clunky and disappointing, but it's reliable where it really matters and still better than carrying a key fob. I haven't carried the key fob for months.

 

[kdonnel]

I have never carried anything other than my phone.

In the beginning I had some issues but once I updated the RFA module it has been nearly flawless.

I do make sure to carry a fob with me when taking a road trip so I would have something to leave should the car need to be repaired far from home.

 

[bfleischer]

ould have left it a

Post your VIN in this thread, and somebody can look in FDRS (Ford Diagnostic & Repair System) to see what updates are really available for your car.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...are-willing-to-look-up-info-for-others.10230/

If you have an RFA (Remote Function Actuator) update available, you should go to your dealer and tell them that Phone as a Key isn't working well for you and you'd like SSM 50845 applied.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...oncerns-various-dtcs-in-the-rfa-module.18979/

Awesome - clear - I'll try that out, thanks!

 

[Mirak]

Ha, yes and it always fails at the worst times... I have both problems... the car doesn't wake up/unlock when I get near it with the phone (with the app running in the background). It also doesn't wake up when I unlock the phone and bring up Fordpass, or when I restart Fordpass. Then, when I get in, it does not recognize it as a key. Of course, then there are the times it does work... when it does work, both the car wake-up/unlock and start are fine.

Ok. That’s very similar to my experience early on. There are updates that should at least improve it to my level. But I’m still confused how others are having a “nearly flawless” experience. Hard to tell if they’re just cool with standing outside the door for five seconds, or if something is materially better about their phone/car.

 

[alexgorod]

I'm wondering if anyone is finding that their Phone As a Key is working consistently.

0 (zero) failures since the updates were installed in the dealership about 6 months ago. Prior to that, worked reliably only when positioned on or near the charging pad.

Samsung Galaxy S21.

 

[machescott]

I have had a few instances where it took a few extra seconds (10-20) to see my phone and unlock the door but otherwise it has worked great since purchase July 2021. Have only used Fob a couple times. Premium AWD Extended with Iphone 10 & 13.

 

[WaltK]

We own 2 Mach-e GT's (2021 & 2022) and use the PAAK exclusively. We keep a fob in a faraday bag in each car in case of an issue. Only issue we have ever had was when we first got the 2021 the car was giving some "key" issues and then bricked in the middle of the road while driving! I sent someone to get the fob from my home and by the time the tow truck arrived the fob had arrived and the car magically worked as normal (with the fob). Dealership updated the software and haven't had an issue again. That's why we now keep a fob in each vehicle just in case! I don't think I'd purchase another vehicle if I had to have a fob in my pocket.

 

[Johnny B]

Has always worked for me, although, it was sometimes slow to connect and I would get an extraneous No Key Detected after the car was started with it. This seems to have been corrected in one of the recent updates, and now working 100% and without the No Key Detected message appearing. I'm on Android

 

[SnBGC]

Hello fellow Mach-E owners. I'm wondering if anyone is finding that their Phone As a Key is working consistently. I've experienced it fail, like, often... maybe it works 1 out of 10 times. Most of the time, I'm entering my door key code, and back-up start passcode. I've learned not to depend on it and rarely go without the key fob these days. I'm using an iPhone Xs, latest IOS (16.1 -although it didn't work with any previous iOS version). I have the latest Mach E software updates, and latest FordPass app. Curious if anyone got it working to a point that they use it often. Or, if anyone has had similar problems and was able to fix them? Thanks in advance!

Beautiful car!
I don't know anyone who claims PaaK is 100% reliable but many users find it good enough for their needs. Your failure rate sounds very high compared to many others. A while back, Ford sent me some tips that are supposed to help. I haven't tried these things because I had already switched back to the fob by this time.

 

[Tbird]

Yes, my paak is working fine. I installed it about 3 weeks ago. Before that I used the key fob.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

My experience is the opposite. Very spotty, unreliable for 12 months. Since my latest set of updates, it has been perfect.

Go figure.

The last set of updates really messed things up for me. But there's more ...

I use PAAK 99%.... on Android

what updates to car messed you up?

My phone upgrade to Android v12 completely killed PAAK. I had completely un-install and re-install FordPass, delete phones from MME, re-pair, configure PAAK, set backup code. All good since then

3.5.3
I sent a bug report to the EA people detailing very specifically what had happened with both PAAK (3.5.3) and Carplay (3.5.4), what my settings were, and what I had actually seen and actually done. The answer I received back was rather disconcerting. They responded that there was nothing in any of the 3.5.x updates that had anything to do with PAAK or Carplay. This might be very technically true but that doesn't mean something they had in those updates isn't or can't interfere with either PAAK or CarPlay (I have no idea about the status of Android Auto). Their final comment was that PAAK and Carplay "issues will eventually be addressed." That doesn't leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling that any solution is forthcoming anytime soon or that they're even acknowledging there's an issue, at least regarding PAAK and CarPlay, in the 3.5.x series of updates. It appears that all they did was look at the issues I presented and respond with canned answers (Reboot sync for example) rather than looking at what I actually wrote. That will be the last bug report I'll submit to Ford.

In the meantime, I'm using the FOB and getting used to that after nearly 17 months of virtually flawless PAAK performance and dealing with a car that won't do Carplay 2/3 of the time.

 

[phil]

3.5.3
I sent a bug report to the EA people detailing very specifically what had happened with both PAAK (3.5.3) and Carplay (3.5.4), what my settings were, and what I had actually seen and actually done. The answer I received back was rather disconcerting. They responded that there was nothing in any of the 3.5.x updates that had anything to do with PAAK or Carplay.

I have rejected 3.5.3, and have no plans to accept further updates. Everything seems to be working fine right now, so I figure I should quit while I'm ahead.

Thanks for the warning.

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