Ford Sync 3 USB connection broken with IOS 11.2.5

upgraded to 11.3 (after back up and archive) Now works as before 11.2.5. Shouldn't be this difficult!

Apple fixed. 11.2.6. mine works fine now.

I can also confirm that it’s fixed via iOS beta 11.3. It’s a wonder if they will fix it prior to 11.3 being released as it won’t be released until spring from what I’ve seen and heard.

Also, it appears at least for me CarPlay was unaffected, just the USB and Bluetooth portions. It’s all working great on iOS Public beta 11.3

Upgrade to iOS11.3.. It won’t be out until the spring, but Apple released the public beta almost immediately after supply get to developers, so you can get it now. It actually is more stable on my iPhone X than 11.2x. Just search on the Apple site for Apple Beta Program and you will find a link with easy to understand directions.

This will solve your problem, but don’t be too hard on Apple. I worked with a support technician back and forth for several months to try to solve this problem when I bought my 2017 Lincoln, and he went over and above the call of duty to try to figure out what was going on. I should say that I was having connectivity issues only in Ford products, and did not have these horrible connectivity and cover art problems in the cars of friends or in our Range Rover. I also had similar problems In rental cars made by Ford and into previous Ford’s that I have owned. This is a long-standing issue because even though Sync3 is no longer supplied by Microsoft, I suspect there is a great deal of Microsoft code remaining in the interface systems at least.

@Techmato and @galvez-architect: I'm curious if you guys are able to play audio to Sync 3 through USB now that you're on 11.2.6. Because that's what 11.2.6 seemed to fix. That was definitely broken in 11.2.5 and has yet to fail now that I have 11.2.6.

What's iffy is the behavior of Applink as you've mentioned above. I sometimes see the apps pop up then disappear from the Apps screen, and when they do stay up on the screen, an app like Alexa+Ford sometimes works and sometimes ignores my request. It seems hit and miss on apps though I will say that it works better on my Sync 3 v2.2 vehicle than it does on my Sync 3 v2.3 car.

The 11.2.5 update did break Applink connectivity in Fords. This has been corrected with the public beta 11.3. Of course update public beta at your own risk

Let me clarify: this is an ongoing problem for Sync properly interfacing with iOS. Sync 3 2.0 and 2.3 worked pretty well except for occasional metadata -related issues with the iPhone X, and broke with the iOS 11.2.5 update. Previous versions on earlier iPhone model series had the same problems. Trust me, I think I’ve invested more time, research, and troubleshooting to these ongoing issues between Apple and Ford than anyone except Apple engineers, including Ford’s Sync team. You can and should update to iOS 11.3 Beta if you want full functionality before the general release. History has shown o er many years that Ford will not address the issue outside of major system updates.

I can attest that the Public Beta of 11.3 fixes the sync issues. You just have to be aware that you will have to re-setup any of your blue tooth connections. Not just the Sync, but any other head-sets or speakers you connect to your iPhone.

A lot of what you described, I'm seeing as well. And I'm pretty sure it's a combination of iOS 11.2.5 AND Sync 3, v2.3

I think it's related to v2.3 because I have two 2017 Ford vehicles: an Explorer and a Fusion. The Explorer is still on Sync 3 v2.2 and everything USB-related works great. The Fusion updated to 2.3 over the air the other night, and that's where I'm seeing the problems similar to others here. Here's what I see:

1) Plugging into either USB port gives me the "Connected to <device>" message, but after I change to that source, I get the message: "The media device is not available" after about 10 seconds. Yet the phone charges correctly.

2) Sync 3 apps are not found/loaded on Sync 3 Applink even though they are running on the phone (Pandora, iHeartRadio,...)

3) CarPlay works just fine, when activated. No disconnects. Everything works as expected.

4) Bluetooth on or off doesn't seem to correct the problem

and the strangest of all:

5) If I reboot the phone running 11.2.5, everything works great upon restarting!! All Applink apps show up as expected, I can recognize the USB device and listen to audio from all apps - just the way it's supposed to work! However, as soon as I unplug USB from the device and plug it back in - BOOM - back to the same problems described above.

Curious if anyone suffering these problems can get it to work after a fresh iOS restart.

So, I understand Beta 11.3 fixes this, but I despise running Beta iOS versions. I'm hoping all this will be ironed out in Sync 3 v3.0. At least it better be as I'm anxiously awaiting Waze native integration. At this rate though, we'll probably get 11.3 before we see 3.0 drop.

Ok I have some developments, however they are somewhat half baked. In short Apple car play works awesome. I love it I wish I didn’t have to plug it in to get it, such is life always room for improvement. However the Bluetooth is completely broken. I have done at least 4 complete resets and installs with sync3, my iphone8 and myford pass. (Including hard resets for all) both systems have the latest software/firmware. Still no change, it connects for about 10 seconds and then cuts off and tries to reconnect. Which it does and the cycle repeats. While in the process of adding and disconnecting my phone none of the buttons work or are delayed 20 seconds. I did some more research and found a discussion on a Ford 150 forum who noticed problems with the “no gps” icon on the screen coupled with the above behavior. After much Sturm und Drang with multiple f150s and their trips to the dealers on this forum, they discovered it was a bad APIM module, within Ford Sync3. The posters had these modules replaced and now everything works. I find it interesting that if it is the case my APIM module went out, that it roughly corresponded with the 11.2.5 update. However since my phone updates all the time and often with little thought from me, they may have little to do with each other, it may be that’s just when it went back. My memory now colored with that possibility, now sees possible signs like having intermittent “No GPS” icons on my baby screen before the failure, and that it seemed maybe to work after that update for a day or so then stopped. It is hard to be sure I live and work on a small island off the coast of Texas, and drive a whopping 2.5 miles to work. (I’m never in the truck that long to come to any proper conclusions) I will go to the mainland on Monday and have the dealership look at it. They are aware of APIM problems but are required to do their do diligence before doling out a $450 dollar part. We will see (thank God it is still under warranty)!

I concur, the issue happens on Sync 3, version 2.2,

2016 focus RS.

Beta 11.3 does fix the problem, and seems reasonably stable. Sad that Apple deployed such an obvious flaw in 11.2.5.

Great News! If you update to iOS version 11.2.6, AppLink connectivity will be restored.

I had similar problem with my IPad. Bluetooth and USB worked fine prior to iOS 11.2.5 update last Friday. Next day, Bluetooth connection still worked but usb would n work. After much troubleshooting, I finally decided to roll back to iOS 11.2.2 and reload 11.2.5 And perform a restore. Once restore was complete, hooked back up to sync and both Bluetooth and usb worked great.

Great news! Well, it seems like it's at least good news:

11.2.6 which just came out this evening seems to have addressed most of the problems - at least for me.

Before, I could not change sources to the USB device in 11.2.5 - now it allows me to play the USB source without any problems. So, that's the great news.

The not so great news is that it looks like external apps are working better than they were before. When I first tried it, they all popped up (Ford+Alexa, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Stitcher) and they all seemed to work. When I tested the unplug and replug, USB audio still worked great, but the aforementioned apps were a little sketchy. I couldn't get all of them to reappear on the Apps screen and when I tried Ford+Alexa, it listened to me, but didn't respond.

So, in the end, this is way better than it was with 11.2.5. All I really wanted was my Apple Music and Podcasts and both are working reliably now.

Go get your 11.2.6.

It’s the OS not the hardware.

11.3 will solve the problem. 11.3 Beta 2 released today.

Sent from my iPhone