I'm shopping for a new cell phone today. What's the best AT&T service cell phone I can buy that will take advantage of all the Ford SYNC capabilities?

 

I phone was the only one I could get full functionality with. My Android failed to use work with some functions.

 

iPhone. I'm using a 4S. You can get an 8GB iPhone 4 for free with a contract. That is the best deal, but I have ~1400 songs, zero movies and TV shows and 149 apps. That all takes up right at 16GB. If you aren't going to use it as your MP3 player, you can probably get an 8GB phone and be fine. However, one of the cool things about having the iPhone and Sync is the ability to have all of your music at your fingertips. You may also get away with fewer apps, but there are plenty of cool ones that you end up using.

There are also some features that don't work on the iPhone 4 according to Apple. Some of those are:

1) Turn by Turn Directions -- Shouldn't matter much since you have Sync and Nav
2) Facetime over cellular network -- Video Phone feature, not important to me
3) Siri -- Annoying to me and I turned it off anyway.

There may be others but those were the only things I saw in footnotes.

Alternatively, you can buy an older, used iPhone (eBay) and then get AT&T sim. Someone else here probably has a 3GS and can tell you if it works. One thing about going older though is that at some point Apple quits supporting the older phones with iOS updates and then you find that you can't update your apps and new apps won't work on the older iOS.

There is a cool iPhone app called Ford Sync Destinations. It allows you to send an address to Sync and then navigate to it. The beauty of this is that you can use Safari, White Pages, Yellow Pages or a variety of other apps to find a location or address on your iPhone and then copy that address and paste it into Ford Sync Destinations. At that point, you send it to Sync Services.. When you get in your truck, you press the voice button and say "Services." When it connects, then it will ask you if you want to navigate to the address. Say "yes" and off you go. That app means you can virtually eliminate the need to ever type an address into the touch screen.

Incidentally , you can also send an address from MapQuest to Sync Services and then follow the above guidance when in your truck.

 

While I don't have nav, my Samsung S3 does all the functions fine. The S4's are out now but I would like to think they are still fully compatible.

 

With my iphone, and the last update in sync, my bluetooth audio functions work well now. I can even use pandora, or spotify. (Through the app on the phone) and it works correctly. I see what track is playing (from the app) on the sync screen, can change track, but if i want to go further into the program, i have to do it via the app itself.
(iphone 5 if it matters)

 

I have the Galaxy S4 which is a nice unit and works well with Sync...Bluetooth for phone with contact list as well as play music. Pairs up and down on it's own effortlessly getting in and out of the truck.

 

I've been leaning toward the Galaxy S4. Glad to hear it's working for you. Thanks for all your responses guys!

 

The S4 may well offer full functionality my S2 however did not. I "FIXED" the problem and got rid of the truck with Sync. I really didn't need another woman fussing at me cause she didn't understand what I said.

 

My S4 works great with SYNC.

 

mine too, altho we can't get text read to us. This appears to be a private protocol that most phone suppliers are unwilling to pay royalty for.

Sam

 

Interesting, mine does the txt read back.

 

My truck is a 12, do you have Nav?

 

Mine is a 2013, no NAV

 

Haha or just don't get it with that feature to begin with. Interesting how difficult it was to find a truck WITHOUT Sync but I did.

 

SYNC and Phone Compatibility | SYNC Support | MyFord Touch | Ford.com

Shows you how the phones from different manufacturers and carriers work with SYNC.