iOS 4 "kills" Ford SYNC (iPhone OS 4.0 problem solved)

By Richi Jennings. June 23, 2010.

Monday's launch of iOS 4 seems to have caused some hair-pulling for Ford SYNC users. Yesterday's IT Blogwatch was something of a lightning rod for discussion about the issue. Read on for the solution (hopefully) to this iPhone OS 4.0 issue...

I first suspected something was up when I saw this comment from a worried-sounding anonymous poster...

Updaters and adopters beware! As of 6/22, this iOS update corrupted my Ford's Sync program to the point it won't recognize any USB devices any more. No basic troubleshooting has fixed this. ... I'm going to have to take my car in for service. ... It definitely bites!

Ouch. Sounds distressing. Still, probably a one-off, eh?

Errr... sadly, not, according to Scott:

My Ford F150 USB failed after I plugged in my newly updated iPhone 3GS to iOS 4. It wont recognize the iPhone nor will it even charge the phone.

And Katie is also wailing and gnashing her teeth:

Ford Edge ... won't allow my iPhone contacts to be uploaded into the car. So now, instead of saying "Call Mike Smith on cell" and having it dial, I have to say "Dial" "123-456-7890," wait for it to read the number back and say "Dial" again. While this is better than nothing, there are few numbers I remember any more thanks to speed dial.

Tommy M to the rescue? Perhaps. Here's his tip:

Turn on your vehicle, locate the fuse for SYNC ... and yank it out for 15-30 seconds. Once replaced, I was able to at least charge my iPhone 3GS running iOS 4. I also was able to get Pandora streaming through my system, but I still am unable to get my library to play. Let's hope Ford and Apple can clear this debacle up soon.

Debacle indeed. What Would Leo Laporte Do?

 
Did Tommy's tip do it for you? Leave a comment below...
 

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: TLV@richij.com.

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