Ford to bring Apple's CarPlay to all Sync 3-equipped 2017 vehicles

Leading up to the start of CES, Ford on Monday announced that all 2017 vehicles equipped with Sync 3 infotainment systems will bake in support for CarPlay and Android Auto, offering deep smartphone integration to both iOS and Android device owners.

Starting with the all-new Escape crossover, Sync 3-equipped vehicles can connect with a driver's iPhone to access Maps, Messages, Phone, Music and Siri features directly on a built-in touchscreen or through steering wheel controls. CarPlay will also be available to owners of 2016 model year cars with Sync 3 in a forthcoming software update.

Introduced in 2014, Apple's CarPlay automotive connectivity platform designed to access and present iPhone's data, sensor and communications capabilities through in-car OEM hardware. Ford pledged support for CarPlay last April, but did not specify an official launch window.

"SYNC allows customers to bring the smartphone technology they're comfortable with into a vehicle and use it without hassle," said Don Butler, Ford's executive director of Connected Vehicle and Services. "With SYNC, we move at our customers' pace - making it easy for them to maintain a connected lifestyle no matter their choice of smartphone, apps or services inside and outside their vehicle."

As expected, both CarPlay and Android Auto are secondary interfaces to Sync 3's BlackBerry QNX-based operating system. For drivers with iPhones, the iOS-inspired CarPlay UI appears automatically when the device is plugged in via USB.

In addition, Ford plans to introduce in-car 4G LTE technology with Sync Connect later this year, allowing smartphone access to vehicle functions like remote start, unlock doors and check fuel levels. The system also helps guide owners to their parked vehicle using GPS data.

Finally, the American auto giant will add a clutch of new software offerings to its AppLink platform, including a AAA/CAA app, Concur for business trip logging, Eventseeker for surfacing live music and Cityseeker for discovering nearby points of interest. Ford is taking aim at the Chinese market with a Tencent Chelian app that offers access to the popular QQ messaging service, music, real-time traffic and streaming audio.

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15 Comments

goodbyeranch 249 comments · 9 Years

About 8 years ago

I rented a Ford Escape and every time I started the car with my phone in the USB port it automatically started playing my music alphabetically by title. It was EXTREMELY annoying to keep my phone charged and I wasn't going to spend my vacation trying to figure out how to make it stop.

Auto makers need to stay out of my phone and I'd rather have zero integration than poor integration.

genovelle 1481 comments · 16 Years

I think it sucks that all these companies held up integration with CarPlay to give Google time to copy and catchup. Their solution was unpopular and unused but iPhone users were forced to suffer because of it.

radarthekat 3902 comments · 12 Years

How many people didn't know that MSFT's efforts to develop an interface would be a total crap fail?

wood1208 2932 comments · 10 Years

Phone integration with Auto is must and will get their. May not be soon enough for many like me who want to buy new auto but holding out for most important feature, deep phone connectivity with auto console.. Manufacturers like Ford,GM, Honda etc are front runner while Toyota and few others are waiting for God's signal or till to see their market share erode by those who do support some form of phone connectivity. I agree that function or feature if supported than should work as expected. People buy and keep car every decade or more. So I would not buy any new vehicle unless it has tighter CarPlay/Android integration to a point where simple functions like Map,Music,Cal/text, Calendar/Appointment,door lock/unlock/status works flawlessly. Moreover, one should also be able to turn on/off phone-to-auto features selectively so if driver wants phone map to work with auto console but same time don't want phone music or receive incoming text/phone on console because of other passengers in car than that should work accordingly.. You tell "Siri" to turn on/off features and that will be nirvana to phone-auto marriage.

mac_128 3452 comments · 12 Years

goodbyeranch said:

I rented a Ford Escape and every time I started the car with my phone in the USB port it automatically started playing my music alphabetically by title. It was EXTREMELY annoying to keep my phone charged and I wasn't going to spend my vacation trying to figure out how to make it stop.

Auto makers need to stay out of my phone and I'd rather have zero integration than poor integration.

Haha, I rented a 2015 Ford Escape over the holidays and was impressed by what a disaster the infotainment system was. Basically a big budge on the dash loaded with buttons that made no intuitive sense -- horrible for a rental car where the drive has to familiarize themselves with the systems quickly. The steering wheel media controls were equally as perplexing. And I did take some time to try and figure it out one day.

I noticed the same USB issue as well. The same thing actually happens with a Jensen head unit I had too, and I'm not sure there's a way to fix it without a software update. I did not have that problem with Bluetooth, on either system, though BT on the Escape was as difficult to initialize as USB or anything else.

The tiny backup display was also a joke. I didn't even realize I had one, and when I finally saw it, I laughed. And then I cried when I realized I was supposed to use that tiny non-touch screen to navigate the radio settings using the bizarre button layout layout on the bulbous dashboard console.