Photo: Ford
Ford has introduced a new feature with the 2017 Escape, the FordPass system with SYNC Connect.
Thanks to the new solution, available starting this May, owners will be able to lock or unlock their vehicles remotely, as well as locate them, schedule remote starts, and check the fuel level. It all happens through a secure smartphone app, available for both Apple iPhone and Android terminals.
Naturally, with all the smartphone integration these days, it would have been a shame not to include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so the SYNC 3 features both. The 2017 Escape is the first Ford vehicle to offer support for both systems through SYNC 3.
Ford has already confirmed that the Fusion will be the second model to receive this system, and the improvement is scheduled “later this year.” Eventually, the platform will migrate to the rest of the Ford lineup, so expect to see it in the Fiesta someday.
The SYNC Connect feature is not standard equipment, and it only becomes available with the technology package with the Escape SE, but clients of the Escape Titanium get the feature included in the top trim level. The first five years of use come at no cost to customers. After five years, a subscription will probably be required, but we do not expect the latter to be costly.
As we mentioned above, the app comes with two-step verification process to enable the protection of personal information. Customers will have to be in the vehicle for the first activation of the service, and commands will be required on both the smartphone and the touch screen of the vehicle. This way, the system is only accessible to the owner, and nobody can easily crack the encryption.
Two-factor authentication is hard to break in general, unless the owner falls for intricate phishing schemes and reveals personal information over the phone or other mediums, but one would have to be extremely unlucky and gullible at the same time to fall for these.
Remember, never give out personal information over the phone and do not enter your online banking details into websites which you access from an email, as these are phishing schemes.
Naturally, with all the smartphone integration these days, it would have been a shame not to include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so the SYNC 3 features both. The 2017 Escape is the first Ford vehicle to offer support for both systems through SYNC 3.
Ford has already confirmed that the Fusion will be the second model to receive this system, and the improvement is scheduled “later this year.” Eventually, the platform will migrate to the rest of the Ford lineup, so expect to see it in the Fiesta someday.
The SYNC Connect feature is not standard equipment, and it only becomes available with the technology package with the Escape SE, but clients of the Escape Titanium get the feature included in the top trim level. The first five years of use come at no cost to customers. After five years, a subscription will probably be required, but we do not expect the latter to be costly.
As we mentioned above, the app comes with two-step verification process to enable the protection of personal information. Customers will have to be in the vehicle for the first activation of the service, and commands will be required on both the smartphone and the touch screen of the vehicle. This way, the system is only accessible to the owner, and nobody can easily crack the encryption.
Two-factor authentication is hard to break in general, unless the owner falls for intricate phishing schemes and reveals personal information over the phone or other mediums, but one would have to be extremely unlucky and gullible at the same time to fall for these.
Remember, never give out personal information over the phone and do not enter your online banking details into websites which you access from an email, as these are phishing schemes.
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