ios16 issues with Ford Sync

Heya! Just got a new iphone 14 today and was having this issue getting it to connect to my 2018 Ford Escape - I took the vehicle off my Ford Pass app and added it back, tried turning bluetooth on and off both the vehicle and the phone, and then as a last resort used the OTHER USB plugin (I usually use the one at the bottom of the center control panel, but used the one inside the center console instead) and lo-and-behold I got the pop-ups on my phone and car to setup carplay then could use the usual usb again successfully. Hopefully this helps someone else because I found it frustrating but not entirely unexpected!

I had the same issue. Thanks to Bluezkat for the answer that helped me. I have used my iphone 11 with sync3 on my 2020 Escape with no issues until IOS16. It worked sometimes if I plugged it into the other USB port. And then it wouldn't work. Each time it worked again, I had to click through adding a new CarPlay device. I also found that car play worked better (but not every time) if I set up car play to be USB only.

The problem in the end wasn't CarPlay. It was that Sync would not connect to the bluetooth pairing for the iphone. I deduced this by turning off Bluetooth on my phone. Carplay NEVER worked without bluetooth on, even when it was set for USB only. Something about IOS 16 caused the bluetooth pairing to stop working. Furthermore, when I re-paired the bluetooth, it would work only until I turned off the car. INFURIATING. I changed the name of my phone, and now everything works the way it is supposed to.

Better later than never... but found a fix with iPhone 14 vs 2016 Fusion... load a song into iTunes on the phone... now it works fine with whatever streaming app.

Finally got my phone to work by turning off RTTY mode in settings.

May have found resolve but haven’t tried yet. Restrictions was turned on. Wasn’t on before, guess it got a wild hair.

• Step 1: In the “Settings”, open “Screen Time”.
• Step 2: Turn on Screen Time if it’s already turned on then Locate “Content & Privacy Restrictions”.
• Step 3: Enter the required password if asked your iPhone.
• Step 4: Scroll and find “Allowed Apps” > “Enable CarPlay“.

I too have the issue with my 2017 Fusion. My phone recognizes that I’m connecting to a CarPlay supported device, it will even ping me with an eta on how long it will take to get home. However, CarPlay on my car audio deck never launches; it does however recognize a usb audio source is connected and will allow me to play audio through the source, but it is delayed.

Things I’ve tried:

1) Brand new certified cable. No change

2) Removed CarPlay device from audio deck and Sync 3 settings from my iPhone, then reconnected. Both my phone and car recognize a CarPlay enabled device was connected; it allows me to go through the add process; CarPlay never launches. No change.

3) Restarted phone. No change.

4) Master reset audio deck. No change.

5) Plugged in an Android device: Android Auto launches as expected.

CarPlay has been flawless for me up until this lasted iOS version. Hopefully it can be resolved soon.

Uploaded existing contacts from iPhone to Ford SYNC. Sorry, I jumped the gun on the Ford SYNC, it's been a poor product from day one, but learned to work around it's weaknesses. In summary, the Ford Techs were worthless, so I finally muscled through and got my iOS16.1.2 iPhone synced to the Ford SYNC 1 Ver 4.6. When I downloaded the Apple iOS16.1.2 initially, the two immediately quit communicating.

• I rebooted the phone
• Removed contacts on Ford SYNC
• Added contacts from iPhone back on Ford SYNC

Now hands free calling works, I receive calls, updated contacts are back on, and Bluetooth radio works. FYI, years ago at the advice of Ford I dramatically cut back on contacts stored on phone, trimmed down to about 100. Also, the main folks I call only have "first" name records, no last. That way I can say call "Dave" and there is only one name, so the voice recognition does not trip over the pronunciation of a fall name. Until I went to the single name requests, the SYNC was worthless. Now it does okay. Hope this helps, Mark :-)

Funny thing is I reset my phone and it worked this morning.

I had this issue. I renamed my phone and it fixed the problem.

Hey there The1guy,

That is a strange issue to occur, but it's also good that you were able to test Bluetooth and found no issues. That being said, we'd like to help rule out some possible causes with that connection:

1. If you test plugging in your iPhone to a charger, or another USB device, are there any issues?
2. Were you able to test another iPhone connected to the same USB port on your car stereo, and if yes, what were the results?
3. We see iOS 16 is installed, but is iOS 16.0 the exact version showing under Settings > General > About?
4. Have you already tried a restart of your iPhone? If not, this link shows how to Restart your iPhone.
5. What about testing a different USB cable with your iPhone?

Cheers!

I was on chat and phone with Ford customer service and they could not assist me with the Ford MS SYNC (stink). On my end it appears the Ford SYNC 1 Ver 4.6 is incompatible with Apple iOS 16.1.2. Never cared much for the SYNC (stink) for last 8 years anyway. Ford sold me a $35,000 headache. Oh well, the iPhone is great. FYI :-(

I have to apologize, frustrated after a lot of time on phone and chat with Ford folks, that got nowhere. I’ve heard that necessity and frustration are the parents of invention and results. Well, I googled all the answers needed, tried them and got iOS 16.1.2 to work with SYNC 1 ver 4.6. Turned iPhone 11 off then on, turned bluetooth off then on. Paired SYNC by getting code from iPhone. SYNC still would not let me handsfree call out, so I erased existing SYNC contact record, and uploaded existing from iPhone. I can call out, get calls, and access bluetooth audio with Pandora. All I can say is don’t waste time with the Ford folks, look for answer you need with google search!

We plugged our sons iPhone 7 running an older ios in and carplay worked off the usb port like it used to for our phones. My wife and I are on iPhone 12’s running ios 16.2 have only been able to connect with Bluetooth, make calls and stream Bluetooth audio for a few weeks, assuming since we updated to ios 16. We have no app functionality with sync when plugged into either usb ports, it will only charge. Tried multiple suggestions on this thread with no luck so far.

i seem to have no issues on my sync2 or whichever sync is in my 2019 tranzit 250 as long as i have a standing apple music subscription, or at least one song synced to my phone through itunes

after that any app plays audio for me

i have a 2021 Ford Explorer & a iPhone 12 Pro Max running on the new IOS 16..0.02. The sync feature is glitchy, at times when I turn on the car it either won’t recognize a connected phone for Car Play or the Car Play itself won’t activate. I checked to see if Ford Sync needs an update but so far they haven’t released one. I can’t vouch that it connects on Bluetooth for Car Play because although it does connect to the car, it doesn’t activate Car Play. Thus I only get the basic phone functions & not the features such as using Apple Maps etc..

curious if anyone has contacted Ford on this, maybe it’s more a need to update Ford Sync to properly integrate with IOS 16?