The Ford upgrade covers its entire 2017 vehicle line-up in the United States to include cars, SUVs, light trucks, and electrified vehicles.
Ford has expanded its SYNC 3 connectivity platform to allow compatibility of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto throughout its entire 2017 American vehicle line-up of cars, SUVs, light trucks, and electrified vehicles. Over-the-air updates via Wi-Fi will help ensure it keeps up with the latest technology.
The aforementioned suite features new hardware and software for faster and more intuitive performance and conversational voice recognition to help people easily connect to their smartphone and access a variety of features including hands-free phone calls and available navigation.
The Escape, Fusion, Mustang, and Explorer are already available at dealerships, while the F-150, Focus, Edge, and Super Duty are slated to arrive later in the year. Apps such as Spotify, Pandora, Ford PASS, AAA member services, and AccuWeather have been added through SYNC AppLink.
Compatible with iPhone 5 and later models, CarPlay provides a simplified way to use the iPhone interface on a car’s touch screen—giving users access to Siri voice controls as well as Apple Maps, Apple Music, Phone, Messages, and a variety of third party apps.
Android Auto is available on devices with Android 5.0 and higher and delivers Google Maps and music to a car’s screen while enabling voice controls for phone calls and messaging. Apple, Apple CarPlay, iPhone, Apple Maps, and Siri are trademarks of Apple. Android Auto, Google, and Google Play are trademarks of Google.
“Customers considering a new vehicle can now choose any 2017 Ford car, SUV, light truck or electrified vehicle with SYNC 3 and be able to access their favourite apps,” said Chuck Gray, Global Director, Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering at Ford.
Ford was a winner at the 2014-2015 World Branding Awards under the Automotive (National) category.
