Video Streaming is Coming - Email from Ford

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

I got an email today about video streaming coming in a future update.

I'm not sure if they sent it to me because I own a Lightning, or because I'm still on the mailing list for my old Mach-E, but I'm guessing it will be available on all Sync 4 models.

For what it's worth, I definitely wasn't willing to pay $10 per month to stream Amazon Music because I can already do that with CarPlay, but the idea of enjoying a video while at a charging station is not a bad thing.

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[F150ROD]

Most likely the Mach-E.

 

[sotek2345]

I got the same e-mail, but also got the update on our Mach-e on Saturday. Beyond paying for Ford streaming, you are also supposed to be able to connect to WIFI for it to work. I tried quickly when we got the update, but couldn't get the car to connect to my phone's hotspot.

 

[F150ROD]

Some of us are still waiting on PAAK @Ford Motor Company

 

[TaxmanHog]

I'm not sure if they sent it to me because I own a Lightning, or because I'm still on the mailing list for my old Mach-E, but I'm guessing it will be available on all Sync 4 models.

Did you apply to be a Beta tester?

 

[lightspeed]

Don't want, don't need, it's a distraction. Fix all the stupid software glitches first and do the things people are asking for. If people want to watch a video they can bring their ipad. If they want to play games they can bring their Switch. Just make charging faster and more reliable.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

Did you apply to be a Beta tester?

No, but it looks like the only people here that got that email were also Mach-E owners.

Don't want, don't need, it's a distraction. Fix all the stupid software glitches first and do the things people are asking for. If people want to watch a video they can bring their ipad. If they want to play games they can bring their Switch. Just make charging faster and more reliable.

One thing I can say is that the developers who work on the Infotainment system will likely work independently from the team that works on things like power optimizations.

That said, I bought a dongle on IndieGoGo a while back that lets me push anything I want to the display, including video streaming Apps like YouTube and Netflix. Technically, it makes the entire display an Android tablet, so I could even play games on the screen too, but so far, I only used it once just to test it out.

I think Ford is implementing this mainly because Tesla has it and I've seen drivers use it while charging. Like I said, I can already do it, but I've never actually used it other than testing, but I can definitely see the potential for family members who complain about waiting for a fast charger on long road trips.

 

[lightspeed]

Anyone who travels with kids these days knows that they already have their own entertainment devices. They are not sitting patiently in the car for 3 hours so they can watch a video on the car-screen for 40 minutes during charging. The car-screen movies and games are pure gimmicks for nothing. I'm sure you're right that the entertainment group is a small team, move them all to more important things. It's not even the right aspect ratio for most content!

 

[ChrisCon]

Just wanted to mention that I stream YouTube every single day with my android Mmb device through Apple CarPlay and it’s wonderful . I pay for the wifi hotspot so it doesn’t use any data off my iPhone . Sadly I can’t buy a workaround for not having PAAK yet .

 

[Whammy Bar]

I just put YouTube (via Cartube) on for my kid through regular Android auto. No dongles or anything. /shrug

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

I just put YouTube (via Cartube) on for my kid through regular Android auto. No dongles or anything. /shrug

I use an iPhone, so I needed to use the dongle to use Android Auto. Basically it's an Android Phone without actually being a phone.

 

[JRTN34]

My wife and I miss not having youtube/netflix on the Lightning like we do in our Tesla. Not just when charging, since we only occasionally road trip. However there seem to be many other times when we're waiting in the car and sharing a video on the central screen is much better than using a phone. So, I'm looking forward to this and PAAK. Not that I wouldn't like faster charging, but that is far from a major complaint even when we do road trip. When road tripping we depart at 100%, bring it down below 10%, charge to no more than 80% and repeat. No complaints with the time that has taken, reliability of the charging networks on the other hand, we really miss Tesla there too.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

My wife and I miss not having youtube/netflix on the Lightning like we do in our Tesla. Not just when charging, since we only occasionally road trip. However there seem to be many other times when we're waiting in the car and sharing a video on the central screen is much better than using a phone. So, I'm looking forward to this and PAAK. Not that I wouldn't like faster charging, but that is far from a major complaint even when we do road trip. When road tripping we depart at 100%, bring it down below 10%, charge to no more than 80% and repeat. No complaints with the time that has taken, reliability of the charging networks on the other hand, we really miss Tesla there too.

Thankfully the Tesla SuperCharger networks will be open to us soon, so we'll have big bump in the number of reliable fast chargers soon.

As for streaming Netflix and YouTube, I use an iPhone, so I can't do it with that, but I can do it with the Android Dongle I picked up for about $100 rather than paying the $10 per month Ford will be asking for.

The Android dongle looks like an ordinary USB flash memory device, but it's actually a fully functional Android device without a screen. It uses Android Auto to provide the screen input and output. Once you pair it with either your phone or the truck's WiFi hotspot, you can download and run anything in the Android Play store, including streaming services and games.

I only used it a couple of times to see how it works and it works perfectly.

It's got an 8 core CPU, 4 GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, plus you can add media on a MicroSD card.

 

[LightningShow]

The Lightning won’t charge significantly faster until charge stations can deliver over 500A. The low pack voltage is demanding for the current crop of DCFC. Supposedly CCS is only be good to 500A but apparently some newer hardware is pushing 600A, so maybe there’s a little glimmer of hope there.

 

[FordLightningMan]

Can I watch something on my phone when I am waiting in the truck? Of course I can.

Is it anywhere near as fun as watching something with my passenger on a shared screen? Not at all.

Wham Bam Tesla Cam on YouTube is the go to for watching while we wait in my Tesla. It will be great when the functionality is added to the Lightning

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