Ford Auto Software Notes 2022 – Tech Notes – Steve Schmidt

Some notes about Ford’s automobile software after a 5,000 roadtrip across the northern US. Originally posted as a long Twitter thread in June 2022. Slightly edited for clarity.

1. I have some thoughts on the features and especially software on my 2021 Ford Ranger Lariat. Will be posting them soon. Executive summary: Generally good, but some software features very frustrating. Have not used voice much but what I have used is not great.
2. Let’s start with this one: Using the built-in navigation, if you’re sent over to the opposing lanes of a freeway due to road construction traffic shift, the Nav panel stops updating the miles to destination and ETA.
3. The direction on the driver digital display does not always agree with the direction shown on the Nav panel of the 8” center console display. Not always in sync when compass directions shift. ???
4. Left panel of driver digital display should have all the same options as the right panel. Why not?
5. No way to see the current gear and RPM in one place. Very frustrating.
6. Used the same three or four six-tap commands repeatedly throughout the day. Need a way to memorize favorite combinations of taps, such as show me the upcoming fuel stops, rest stops, or restaurants on my current route.
7. The Nav interface needs a some serious polish and more consistency. I get how menus change based on whether the vehicle is in motion or not, but it seems like it also uses the passenger seat sensor to know the driver must be using the system, then the menus change much. ??
8. The auto headlight three-way toggle (low-beams, high-beams, automatic high-low) is inconsistent when the headlights are set to auto. Toggle choices depends on current conditions (low beams or high beams detected).
9. When the Nav panel switches to show an upcoming turn or needed lane change, the current speed limit display disappears. Sometimes for a very long time when this happens on the highway.
10. Need a way to see the Nav route in words with the distance of each segment. Did I miss this option? Hard to believe it’s not available.
11. The driver display panel interface is awkward. To switch from speedometer display to trip timer display: Left, down, right or enter. Gotta be an easier way.
12. Need an option to have the driver display panels be black and white only. Can’t read the blue “distance to empty” figures with sunglasses on.
13. Other physical car buttons like the climate control temperature up/down need to white!! Cannot see the current low-contract buttons in many conditions (dark, sunglasses on, etc.). Maybe also have a raised dot so your finger can find them without looking?
14. I should be able to resume the cruise control at any speed, like zero, when I’m starting out from a stop sign or traffic light. Easy software change.
15. Need much better audio notifications from the system, such as when the speed limit changes. But up and down changes critical. Simple ascending tone to speed limit increases and descending tone for speed limit decreases? Please!
16. My does it reset key settings each time I start the vehicle? Settings such as 1) auto engine start/stop disable, 2) cruise control on/off, and 3) auto engine shut down (after 15- or 30-minute default)? So frustrating.
17. The forward collision avoidance alert and it’s interaction with the adaptive cruise control is awkward. Needs to be adjusted. Does not seem to take into account the potential target is moving out of the way (turning) and could not physically stop and remain an obstacle.
18. Caught in a sleet storm at upper elevations during recent Yellowstone visit. Adaptive cruise control sensors were covered and cruise control would not set. Need to revert to standard fixed-speed cruise control in this case. Warn the user, yes, but still provide some control.
19. Need audible warning of blind spot detection when driver engages turn signals, except in cases where system detects that my vehicle recently overtook driver in blind spot. Maybe use a different signal in this case where I need to overtake vehicle because of speeding tailgater.
20. I want a way for the adaptive cruise control to track speed limit changes and automatically increase or decrease speed. Nothing fancy autonomous driving wise, but it’s a natural. Alternatively, easy voice command to set, increase, or decrease cruise control speed.
21. Need ability to name my adaptive cruise control so it can respond to abbreviated commands that are separate from other vehicle related commands. “George up 10,” “George down 10,” “George set 58.”
22. Need similar ability to name the climate control system, navigation system, and ability to set general name for other vehicle commands to allow more concise voice commands.
23. Some of the vehicle settings available through the driver left display console are cryptic. Can you add an on-screen explanation of what they mean? On offer the details when the vehicle is stopped.
24. Would be great to add business hours to the Nav Points of Interest searches so that I can have the system display the Open Now businesses, ala Yelp.
25. How often are the points of interest database updated? It sent me to couple of places that had obviously moved more than a year ago. Taco del Sol in Butte, I’m thinking about you.
26. Navigating around Chicago during the day, it’s unnerving how often the routes change. So I did a search for a business and reviewed the route, did some other searches, then re-searched on the original business but route changed. Tell me why it changed from last search.
27. Would really like to display my current elevation. Info readily available in GPS. Also, would like the ability to display compass direction in 16 points. See Wind Compass Rose @ Wikipedia
28. Would like to see the current GPS accuracy in feet. If it 150 feet, 30, or 10?
29. In the entertainment system, if the song name is long, don’t cut it off. Scroll it! Preferably from right-to-left after showing the left portion. Better yet, make room to show the entire song name at once. MP3 tag or filename. I’m a reader; I can take it.
30. On a somewhat related subject, the @Google @googlemaps app for Android stay-on-top feature sucks. Why not easier to get back into full screen mode, why is the Maps app not in the task list when floating display showing? Am I not getting something. Very frustrating. Won’t use.
31. Have had cases where the vehicle was occupied and running and locked, and I triggered the alarm when re-entering the car. Not sure the exact circumstances. Need to run some tests, but this has happened several times and it’s embarrassing and unnecessary, I think.
32. Is there an option to disable the auto switch into Android Auto mode when I plug my phone into one of the USB charging parts to charge the phone but don’t want to use Android Auto this time? Should be an option in the Ford settings to have it ask me each time if I want to use AA.
33. Should be an option to have it turn off the headlights when they’re on, the vehicle, and it’s locked. Maybe an option to set the time that the headlights will remain on in this situation, with an option of until the battery drains to a certain level.
34. No physical indication or even center display indication that climate control system is in dual or single / synced mode. Frustrating. Would also like a physical button to turn dual mode on or off. Miss that feature of my Acura.
35. Let’s say that I turn on Max AC then turn it off. Climate system should revert to previous temperature settings. Leaving the single or dual temp. settings on LO is a pain.
36. THE NUMBER ONE improvement that you make to increase driver safety is to provide audio feedback or settings changes, such as manual cruise control settings. Let’s say I’m increasing it by 20, as I hold it down, give audio feedback. “60”, “65”, “70”, “71”, “72”, etc.
37. The long press on the cruise control increase or decrease speed should not inc. or dec. it to the nearest five MPH. It should inc. or dec. it BY 5 MPH. So if it’s set to 73 and I long press, or should go to 68, 63, 58, etc. Make it an option at least? So frustrating. Please?
38. Option to sort Nav system favorites by most recently used or most popular. Want different sort based on current circumstances. Also some combination of the two would be helpful.
39. The Points of Interest interface is frustrating. I need to think about what would be better. Suffice to say it’s confusing to me (a logical software developer person), and it doesn’t help that the interface is completely different whether vehicle in motion or standstill.
40. If you’re going to limit the POI options when the vehicle is in motion, fine, but let me have some customization to include shortcuts for important classes of POIs. For example, rest areas are important on a long trip.
41. When I pop-up the Nav Menu from the Nav screen, show the shortcuts ordered by the most frequently used. Maybe show context-specific buttons in a different color at the beginning of the list. Need to think about this hot mess some more.
42. Swiping is not a substitute for a sizable Next Page or Previous Page button.
43. Incorporate detour distance into the Points of Interest search results display. Don’t only tell me how far they are, tell me how far off the planned route they are.
44. Let’s say that I have additional stops / waypoints set in the Nav system and I’m looking at the main Nav screen, is there a way to see all the waypoints andselect one for display, or to toggle through displaying all the waypoints so I can see progress to specific one?

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