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phone as a key and CarPlay not happy with each other

10K views 27 replies 11 participants last post by  TaxMan 
#1 ·
Soo, my apple Car Play works great until I try and have my fordpass app open with the phone as a key enabled. Basically the phone has one bluetooth connection to the car, labeled Mustang Mach-e, and the phone as a Key creates a second bluetooth connection that is listed as a 5 digit number and Mustang. If I close the fordpass app on my phone then that connection does not initiate and all works fine, If I try and have the app open to use the phone as a key function then it goes crazy. When you hit the carplay it tells you you need to choose a phone so you go to your phone and it says that applecarplay is already enabled, so you have to dissable it then reenable, then if you are lucky it works. Still a pain. Normally I probably will not run the phone as a key, but my son and wife will, and my son will freak if it does not work.... Anyone encountered this?
 
#2 ·
My iphone can either be connected via Bluetooth to the car, and controlled like it would when connected to a dock accessory, or using CarPlay. I cannot control the iPhone simultaneously from both. I have to deactivate one to choose the other. I leave the Paak always active, it is the key after all.

Sometimes when I enter the vehicle, I do see Bluetooth connection flip-flop errors. It doesn’t matter if I have BT or CP active. I believe this is what causes the PaaK ‘no key found’ and entry delay issues.
 
#6 ·
I can tell you without a doubt that the whole issue is that they had two different teams working on the different systems. The ones that did the PAAK system needed something different in the BT connection and they did not even stop to consider that with two different BT connections they might not play well together. They should have fixxed the PAAK to work with the original BT connection. It is a better connection anyway, if you hit the info on it it gives you multiple options, the other gives you nothing
 
#7 ·
Soo, I ended up deleting the numbered bluetooth conection from my phone, that was the one for the PAAK. This still left it on my account on fordpass so I can still use the door code to get in and the emergency code to start the car. Now the carplay works great. Until they fix the issue I will just carry the keyFOB. I have to carry a keychain anyway. The odd thing is that I also set up my son's Iphone as a key yesterday and his seems to work more or less. He still has to hit a extra button or two for car play to work but it does. Lucky him!!
 
#9 ·
I spoke with fordpass and they finally put me through to customer relations and filed a case. Case number: CAS31466250 they said if anyone else has this issue to call in and refer to my case number and they might be able to add more names to it so it might get fixed faster.
 
#10 ·
I find PaaK / wireless Car Play work more often than not. It’s clearly a work in progress and it can get frustrating at times but I’m stubborn and I want it to work so I stick with it. I try never to bring the fob.

I have one other annoying bug happen a lot: the next / back buttons on the steering wheel stop working when using Apple Music during a ride. If I use the touchscreen it’s fine. This has happened at least a half a dozen times to me.
 
#23 ·
Similar Love/Hate relationship with PAAK as others have noted. Had the recall performed at the end of June, and then re-installed PAAK. Noted at the time that the recall resulted in a second, number-coded Bluetooth connection to my phone, like Cavi mentioned.
Three weeks of carefree PAAK use followed. The only oddity was a Sirius channel on car start up that I never use (I’m the only driver and key-holder). This past week, the audio system started flipping itself between the Sirius station that was playing, and the Apple CarPlay menu screen (no app running) while I was driving. After I manually re-selected Sirius a few times, the Sirius selection key and audio stream disappeared entirely. Once home and parked, I tried to open the Sirius Setting, but found only a inoperable, grayed-out “Audio” setting button. A long call with a Ford Advisor — and something she must have done after the call — restored Sirius and the Sirius setting. However the random switching between Sirius and CarPlay continues. A trip to the Dealer produced only head-scratching, after attempts to disable/re-enable CarPlay failed.
At this point it’s left with the Dealer as an open issue, and I’m going to disable PAAK. I hope that a second recall or OTA update is in the works … I hate it now, but I’m open to loving it when it finally works well. The simple Mach-E math is IPhone + Key Fob = Cargo Shorts. Wait, that might be a good thing😀. Still loving this car!
 
#24 ·
Similar Love/Hate relationship with PAAK as others have noted. Had the recall performed at the end of June, and then re-installed PAAK. Noted at the time that the recall resulted in a second, number-coded Bluetooth connection to my phone, like Cavi mentioned.
Three weeks of carefree PAAK use followed. The only oddity was a Sirius channel on car start up that I never use (I’m the only driver and key-holder). This past week, the audio system started flipping itself between the Sirius station that was playing, and the Apple CarPlay menu screen (no app running) while I was driving. After I manually re-selected Sirius a few times, the Sirius selection key and audio stream disappeared entirely. Once home and parked, I tried to open the Sirius Setting, but found only a inoperable, grayed-out “Audio” setting button. A long call with a Ford Advisor — and something she must have done after the call — restored Sirius and the Sirius setting. However the random switching between Sirius and CarPlay continues. A trip to the Dealer produced only head-scratching, after attempts to disable/re-enable CarPlay failed.
At this point it’s left with the Dealer as an open issue, and I’m going to disable PAAK. I hope that a second recall or OTA update is in the works … I hate it now, but I’m open to loving it when it finally works well. The simple Mach-E math is IPhone + Key Fob = Cargo Shorts. Wait, that might be a good thing😀. Still loving this car!
Getting any better? Mine is terrible even after in person update.
 
#25 ·
I’m back to cautiously using my phone as a key. Had disabled PAAK and used the key fob for a few weeks. Thinking that Ford must be working on this issue with OTA updates, I reinstalled PAAK and it seems to be stable so far, using best practices discussed in this Forum (FordPass App open, phone not buried in a pocket, proper Bluetooth setting).
I’m defining “stable” as: opens the door, starts the car, no Sirius/CarPlay wackiness. Most of the time puddle lamps sense and respond — it seems to need more time to sense the phone’s presence so if you’re in a hurry and jumping behind the wheel, you don’t get that “greeting”.

Ford must still be scrambling with fine tuning PAAK. There will probably be more advances and setbacks. It will be very convenient when it all works reliably. I note MachDrive’s comment that PAAK should be harder to clone than a key fob.
 
#26 ·
Had my MME for about 10 days and can't even get my phone to set up PAAK. I think I've tried everything I have ready in different forums etc. I'm not opposed to just using the FOB, but I would eventually like to have PAAK work. I have an iPhone. Any suggestions on getting this set up or should I wait for a while and see if Ford figures this out?
 
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