GPS While Driving
Hotshot
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 10,459
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From: RVA
Here's the link to it:
SYNC Destination Mobile App| SYNC & SYNC with MyFord | Official Ford Owner Site
SYNC Destination Mobile App| SYNC & SYNC with MyFord | Official Ford Owner Site
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2011
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Another option that I haven't seen proffered was to use the built-in voice recognition of the factory nav system which allows you to set your destination via address, preset destinations (e.g. Home), and POIs (this is the primary reason why I grudgingly cough up the $150 every several years to buy map updates: to ensure I have the latest POIs) even while the vehicle is moving. There is a short "training" procedure you could perform to setup a specific profile for yourself (and several other drivers of your truck) that should make the system more reliably recognize your speech, but I've tried it without training a profile and it understood me just fine.
Regarding LockPick, although I haven't tried it, I did read somewhere some time ago that because of its method to circumvent the "safety feature" of the factory nav (which if I recall correctly, involves "faking" the system that it's not in motion), the GPS system may become inaccurate when the GPS signal is lost (e.g. in a tunnel) because it circumvents the built-in algorithms of the nav system that would continue to reliably track your position based on vehicle speed and other factors when the GPS signal is lost. So that, plus it's price point, has made me avoid it thus far.
I'm definitely going to try that smartphone app though and see how it works out...
Regarding LockPick, although I haven't tried it, I did read somewhere some time ago that because of its method to circumvent the "safety feature" of the factory nav (which if I recall correctly, involves "faking" the system that it's not in motion), the GPS system may become inaccurate when the GPS signal is lost (e.g. in a tunnel) because it circumvents the built-in algorithms of the nav system that would continue to reliably track your position based on vehicle speed and other factors when the GPS signal is lost. So that, plus it's price point, has made me avoid it thus far.
I'm definitely going to try that smartphone app though and see how it works out...
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2011
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Yep, I do it almost exclusively now.
But if you don't have the physical address AND your nav maps don't have the latest or updated POI's, you will need to use your smartphone or other means to get the address first.
There are many other functions you can perform via voice commands, such as climate controls. But usually it's much easier to use either the physical dedicated buttons on the steering wheel or console.
But if you don't have the physical address AND your nav maps don't have the latest or updated POI's, you will need to use your smartphone or other means to get the address first.
There are many other functions you can perform via voice commands, such as climate controls. But usually it's much easier to use either the physical dedicated buttons on the steering wheel or console.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2011
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Sync Destinations App
Aww dang...
To use the real meat and potatoes of the Sync Destinations app, such as uploading address destinations to the factory Nav, you have to be a subscriber to Sync Services: a $60 annual fee is required.
Ah, no. Not for me since there is nothing else of the service that I really need, and to pay $60 a year just to be able to upload an address that I find within the app when I can more easily look up an address via Google, Google Maps, or Apple Maps, and then use the voice recognition of the factory Nav to speak the address to set my destination.
Oh well. I can still use it's nifty Vehicle Finder feature to guide me back to my truck wherever I parked it (which requires I set the location first before I leave; something I'm prone to forgetting with more well known free apps).
To use the real meat and potatoes of the Sync Destinations app, such as uploading address destinations to the factory Nav, you have to be a subscriber to Sync Services: a $60 annual fee is required.
Ah, no. Not for me since there is nothing else of the service that I really need, and to pay $60 a year just to be able to upload an address that I find within the app when I can more easily look up an address via Google, Google Maps, or Apple Maps, and then use the voice recognition of the factory Nav to speak the address to set my destination.
Oh well. I can still use it's nifty Vehicle Finder feature to guide me back to my truck wherever I parked it (which requires I set the location first before I leave; something I'm prone to forgetting with more well known free apps).
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,710
Likes: 77
From: Central Florida
I'm not sure when Ford started charging for Sync Services. I didn't have to pay in my 2011 Fiesta or 2012 F150. In my more expensive 2015 F250 I had to pay the $60. Ford has iPhone software out so you can access features on your phone, like apple maps, through sync. I haven't had a chance to look into this yet.
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Senior User
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I've heard lots of horror stories of the first generation MyFord system; there were news articles highlighting all the problems and customer dissatisfaction and perhaps this was the source for the lagging Ford sales at the time. Since I'll be keeping my '11 for likely the next 5-7 years (I have other investment goals that I want to concentrate on now), I'm hoping that MyFord in the F-150's by then will be matured, reliable, and actually useful.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,710
Likes: 77
From: Central Florida
This is what I read. It looks like it is a software update to your Ford Sync that allows it to communicate with your phone.
https://media.ford.com/content/fordm...-vehicles.html
https://media.ford.com/content/fordm...-vehicles.html
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"The new software update is available for vehicles equipped with the second generation of SYNC, known as MyFord Touch in North America, ranging from model years 2011 to 2016."
MyFord Touch did come out in 2011, but not in the F-150 until 2013, and there is currently no upgrade path for "first" generation Sync systems to Sync 2 (second generation), and certainly not to the newest Sync 3 (third generation).
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