Using smileys on your smartphone can cause serious problems with the Ford Sync system’s speech-to-text functions. This self-help article reveals ways to correct these problems.
Since late 2012, there have been numerous issues with the iPhone 5, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S, as well as the Samsung Galaxy, HTC Evo, and other smartphones having connectivity issues with the Ford Sync system. User forums for these smartphones and the Sync system have been filled with people whose connectivity issues affected the base model, MyFord and MyFord Touch Sync systems. The problem was that something was seriously affecting the accessibility for users to sync their phone book contacts with voice commands. If you pressed the “Voice” icon on your steering wheel and said “Phone” and then “Call + (your contact name)”, then your synchronization system might respond, “Call Point on Cellular”.
Some of the issues were caused by smartphone users downloading and using any of the Emoji apps. The word emoji in Japanese means ideograms, you know, those little emoticons like smiley faces, frowning faces, etc.
The new Apple iOS even allows iPhone 5 users to go to their Settings folder, General Settings, the Keyboard tab, and then the next menu to select “Keyboards.” Then you can tap on “Add New Keyboard” and add an emoji keyboard. However, this is the kiss of death for your Sync system.
The problem is that the cute smileys you see on your smartphone screen like a smiley face are in fact long strings of programming language that make Sync’s text-to-speech go crazy. When given a voice command to call a contact, the system will say “Cell point on cell” and then dial the first contact listed in your phone book.
If this has happened, please review EVERY phone contact and remove any smileys. Also remove any superfluous exclamation marks, periods, commas, hyphens, etc. that you may have in your phone’s contact list. Be sure to even check your device name! Some overzealous users renamed their phones with smiley faces in the device name. Check that everything has been erased again. Then go to Bluetooth settings and remove Sync from your phone.
If you have an iPhone, do a soft reset. This is done by holding down the “Home” button, the large button at the bottom center of the front screen, while holding down the Power button on the top edge of the phone on the right side. Hold down these buttons until the Apple icon appears. Then release the buttons. Let the phone idle for a few minutes. You can long press the power button and then slide the onscreen button to turn off the phone. Leave the phone off for a few minutes. Then press the power button and let the phone turn on again.
Then go to your vehicle. Go to your phone settings and remove your phone from the list of Bluetooth devices. Then turn off your vehicle. Open the hood and find the car battery. Loosen and remove the black (negative) battery cable) for about five minutes. Then replace the cable and tighten the clamp. Close the hood and restart the vehicle. Allow a few minutes before restarting the AM radio and resetting the clock. Then go to your phone settings and re-pair your phone. Watch this video for instructions on how to pair a phone.
Yes, this is a lot to do. This is why you really need to clean Emoji apps and emoji keyboards from your phone files. Emoticons are cute, but they defeat the whole purpose of having a Bluetooth-enabled hands-free communications system. Maybe it’s time to say goodbye to smiley faces! Very sorry!