The USB cable just needs to have all 4 wires, not just the power connections for charging.

 

This ^^^ for a man that knows what he is talking about.

Also for the people that are complaining about having to plug the phone in via USB, Plug it in and have a location set on your phone, drive a couple of miles and then feel the back of your phone. Its hot and without having the ability to charge at the same time, you will run out of battery power real quick !

 

You guys have helped me a lot with understanding Sync 3 and AA. Can you tell me if I can use Google Voice for texts? I use it exclusively on my phone for texting.

 

It's a picky SOB about cables. Get one off the "supported cable" list and you should be good. I got one of the 3' Anker cables off amazon and haven't had issues since. It has to be a data cable and it also has to fall within spec for resistance across the wire, so avoid long cables.

 

​​​​​​Yes google voice will work through AA for dictating a text message. It's glitchy though. AA needs a lot of work to really be a useful tool. Google maps is great if you really need it. But I was disappointed with the media apps and their functionality in AA. I have returned to just a Bluetooth connection. I still get phone calls and it plays my media better, still responds to steering wheel controls.

 

plugging in your phone is so 1999! heck i dont even plug in to charge my phone anymore with wireless charging.

 

Weird. During my playing around with Bluetooth connection vs USB I found the BT connection to have very weak audio on my truck. When I went with AA and Google Play Music the audio volumes were similar to Sirius and AM/FM.

 

If you use spotify the integration is much better than trying use your phone and bluetooth.

 

Unless Ford/SYNC make changes in version 3.0, Spotify is no longer integrated into or supported by the SYNC 3 system or the Ford AppLink App.

 

Well the good new is this thread is about android auto, not sync 3. Android auto has the spotify integration that works much better then the sync 3 integration did.

 

Sorry. I just don't know the terms. What do you mean by "integration"?

 

Basically a built in function of the truck. If you use Spotify and are using android auto it has the app on the trucks screen that you can interact with instead of trying to do it on your phone while driving.

 

Well, if you look at the original post by the OP, you`d see that it is about SYNC 3 and how AA works with it plus that`s not what you said in your posting hence the reason I said what I said about Spotify.

Have a great day.

 

Thanks, now I understand. Can I play the music I have loaded on my phone through spotify?

 

With the SYNC 3 system, "certain" apps are designed to be integrated into the SYNC 3 system so they can be "controlled" by the SYNC system either from the buttons on the steering wheel or the buttons on the dash whereas other apps that you like can still be used but only through bluetooth or USB and you`ll have to use your actual phone to control those apps.

On your phone, go to the Google Play store and look for the Ford App Catalog app and download it to your phone.

It`s free so don`t worry about that.

After you download it, you`ll be able to see all of the apps that are available to be controlled via the SYNC 3 system in your truck.

You can also go to the Ford Owner website and see all of the apps that are available.

I hope this explains the integration for you.

Have a great day.