2017 FORD FLEX USB

Navigation Preferences
Action and Description
Menu Item
Navigation Preferences You can adjust how the system provides prompts.
Guidance
Prompts
Then select any of the following:
A tone sounds followed by voice instructions.
Voice and Tones
Only voice instructions are given.
Voice Only
Only a tone sounds to prompt you.
Tones Only
Mobile Apps
You can enable the control of compatible
mobile apps running on your Bluetooth or
USB device on SYNC 3. In order to enable
mobile apps, SYNC 3 requires user consent
to send and receive app authorization
information and updates using the data
plan associated with the connected device.
The connected devices sends data to Ford
in the United States. The encrypted
information includes your VIN, SYNC 3
module number, anonymous usage
statistics and debugging information.
Updates may take place automatically. Note:
All Mobile Apps may not be
compatible with the system.
Note: Standard data rates will apply. Ford
is not responsible for any additional charges
you may receive from your service provider,
when your vehicle sends or receives data
through the connected device. This includes
any additional charges incurred due to
driving in areas when roaming out of a home
network. Action and Description
Menu Item
Enable or disable the use of mobile apps on SYNC 3.
Mobile Apps
Disabling mobile apps in the settings menu disables automatic
updates and the use of mobile apps on SYNC 3.
You can view the status of mobile app permissions in the settings
menu.
Once Mobile Apps is enabled, you have the following options: This provides information on the current state of available app
updates.
Update Mobile
Apps
There are three possible statuses:
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing SYNC™ 3

Website
owner.ford.com Website
www.syncmyride.ca
www.syncmaroute.ca Cell phone issues
Possible solution
Possible cause
Issue
Refer to your device's manual about audio
adjustments.
The audio control
settings on your cell
phone may be affecting
SYNC 3 performance.
There is back-
ground noise
during a phone
call.
Try switching your cell phone off, resetting
it or removing the battery, then try again.
Possible cell phone
malfunction.
During a call, I
can hear the
other person
but they cannot
hear me.
Make sure that the microphone for SYNC
3 is not set to off. Look for the microphone
icon on the phone screen.
To restart your system, shut down the
engine, open and close the door, and then
lock the door and wait for 2-3 minutes.
Make sure that your SYNC 3 screen is black
and the lighted USB port is off.
The system may need to
be restarted.
During a call, I
cannot hear the
other person
and they cannot
hear me.
Check your cell phone's compatibility.
This is a cell phone-
dependent feature.
SYNC 3 is not
able to down-
load my phone-
book. Make sure you allow SYNC 3 to retrieve
contacts from your phone. Refer to your
cell manual.
Possible cell phone
malfunction. You must switch on your cell phone and
the automatic phonebook download
feature on SYNC 3.
Try switching your cell phone off, resetting
it or removing the battery, then try again.
Make sure you allow SYNC 3 to retrieve
contacts from your phone. Refer to your
cell manual.
Limitations on your cell
phone's capability.
The system
says "Phone-
book down-
loaded" but my
SYNC 3 phone-
book is empty or
is missing
contacts.
If the missing contacts are stored on your
SIM card, move them to your cell phone's
memory.
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing SYNC™ 3

Cell phone issues
Possible solution
Possible cause
Issue
Replying to text messages using SYNC 3 is
not supported by iPhone.
Text messages from WhatsApp and Face-
book Messenger are not supported.
Your cell phone must support downloading
text messages through Bluetooth to receive
incoming text messages.
This is a cell phone-
dependent feature.
Audible text
messages do
not work on my
cell phone. Because each cell phone is different, refer
to your device's manual for the specific cell
phone you are pairing. In fact, there can be
differences between cell phones due to
brand, model, service provider and software
version.
This is a cell phone limita-
tion. USB and Bluetooth Stereo issues
Possible solution
Possible cause
Issue
Disconnect the device from SYNC 3. Try
switching your device off, resetting it or
removing the battery, then reconnect it to
SYNC 3.
Possible device malfunc-
tion.
I am having
trouble
connecting my
device. Make sure you are using the manufacturer's
cable.
Make sure to correctly insert the USB cable
into the device and your vehicle's USB port.
Make sure that the device does not have
an auto-install program or active security
settings.
Make sure your device is unlocked before
connecting it to SYNC 3.
The device has a lock
screen enabled.
Make sure you are not leaving the device in
your vehicle during very hot or cold
temperatures.
This is a device limitation.
SYNC 3 does
not recognize
my device when
I start my
vehicle.
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing SYNC™ 3

USB and Bluetooth Stereo issues
Possible solution
Possible cause
Issue
Make sure you connect the device to SYNC
3 and that you have started the media
player on your device.
This is a device-
dependent feature.
Bluetooth audio
does not
stream. The device is not
connected.
Make sure that all song details are popu-
lated.
Your music files may not
contain the correct artist,
song title, album or genre
information.
SYNC 3 does
not recognize
music that is on
my device. Try replacing the corrupt file with a new
version.
The file may be
corrupted.
Some devices require you to change the
USB settings from mass storage to media
transfer protocol class.
The song may have
copyright protection that
does not allow it to play.
Convert the file to a supported format. See
Entertainment (page 381).
The file format is not
supported by SYNC 3.
Update media index. See
Settings (page
410).
The device needs to be
re-indexed.
Make sure your device is unlocked before
connecting it to SYNC 3.
The device has a lock
screen enabled.
Disconnect the device from SYNC 3. Try
switching your device off, resetting it or
removing the battery, then connect it back
to SYNC 3.
This is a device limitation.
When I connect
my device, I
sometimes do
not hear any
sound. To listen to Apple devices through USB,
select AirPlay from the devices Control
Center, then select Dock Connector.
To listen to Apple devices through
Bluetooth Stereo, select AirPlay from the
devices Control Center, then select SYNC.
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing SYNC™ 3

AppLink issues
Possible solution(s)
Possible cause(s)
Issue
to SYNC 3 in order to find
AppLink-capable apps on
your device. iPhone users
must also connect to a USB
port with an Apple USB
cable.
Make sure you have down-
loaded and installed the
latest version of the app
from your phone's app store.
Make sure the app is running
on your phone. Some apps
AppLink-enabled apps are
not installed and running on
your mobile device.
My phone is connected, but
I still cannot find any apps.
require you to register or
login to the app on the
phone before using them
with AppLink. Also, some
may have a "Ford SYNC"
setting, so check the app's
settings menu on the phone.
Closing and restarting apps
may help SYNC 3 find the
application if you cannot
discover it inside the vehicle.
On an Android device, if
apps have an 'Exit' or 'Quit'
Sometimes apps do not
properly close and re-open
their connection to SYNC 3,
over ignition cycles, for
example.
My phone is connected, my
app(s) are running, but I still
cannot find any apps. option, then select it and
restart the app. If the app
does not have that option,
select the phone's settings
menu and select 'Apps',
then find the particular app
and choose 'Force stop.' Do
not forget to restart the app
afterward, then select
"Connect Mobile Apps" on
SYNC 3.
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing SYNC™ 3

AppLink issues
Possible solution(s)
Possible cause(s)
Issue
Unplug the USB cable from
the phone, wait a moment,
and plug the USB cable
back in to the phone. After a
few seconds, the app should
appear in SYNC 3's Mobile
Apps Menu. If not, "Force
Close" the application and
restart it.
You may need to reset the
USB connection to SYNC 3.
My iPhone is connected, my
app is running, I restarted
the app but I still cannot find
it on SYNC 3.
Increase the Bluetooth
volume of the device by
using the device's volume
control buttons which are
most often found on the
side of the device.
The Bluetooth volume on
the phone may be low.
I have an Android phone. I
found and started my media
app on SYNC 3, but there is
no sound or the sound is
very low.
Force close or uninstall the
apps you do not want SYNC
3 to find. If the app has a
"Ford SYNC" setting, disable
that setting in the app's
settings menu on the phone.
Some Android devices have
a limited number of
Bluetooth ports that apps
can use to connect. If you
have more AppLink apps on
your phone than the number
of available Bluetooth ports,
you will not see all of your
apps listed in the SYNC 3
mobile apps menu.
I can only see some of the
AppLink apps running on my
phone listed in the SYNC 3
Mobile Apps Menu. Voice command issues
Possible solution
Possible cause
Issue
Review the cell phone voice commands
and the media voice commands at the
beginning of their respective sections.
You may be using the
wrong voice commands.
SYNC 3 does
not understand
what I am
saying. Refer to the audio display during an active
voice session to find a list of voice
commands there.
Wait for the system to prompt you before
you state your command.
You may be speaking too
soon or at the wrong
time.
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing SYNC™ 3

Voice command issues
Possible solution
Possible cause
Issue
SYNC 3 applies the phonetic pronunciation
rules of the selected language to the names
stored on your media player or USB flash
drive. It is able to make some exceptions
for very popular artist names (for example,
U2) such that you can always use the
English pronunciation for these artists.
You may be saying the
foreign names using the
currently selected
language for SYNC 3.
The SYNC 3
voice control
system is having
trouble recog-
nizing foreign
tracks, artists,
albums, genres
and playlist
names from my
media player or
USB flash drive.
SYNC 3 uses a synthetically generated
voice rather than pre-recorded human
voice.
SYNC 3 uses text-to-
speech voice prompt
technology.
The system
generates voice
prompts and
the pronunci-
ation of some
words may not
be accurate for
my language. SYNC 3 offers several new voice control
features for a wide range of languages.
Dialing a contact name directly from the
phonebook without pre-recording (for
example,
“call John Smith ”) or selecting a
track, artist, album, genre or playlist directly
from your media player (for example, "play
artist Madonna").
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing SYNC™ 3

General
Possible solution
Possible cause
Issue
SYNC 3 only supports four languages in a
single module for text display, voice control
and voice prompts. The country where you
bought your vehicle dictates the four
languages based on the most popular
languages spoken. If the selected language
is not available, SYNC 3 remains in the
current active language.
SYNC 3 does not support
the currently selected
language for the instru-
ment cluster and inform-
ation and entertainment
display.
The language
selected for the
instrument
cluster and
information and
entertainment
display does not
match the
SYNC 3
SYNC 3 offers several new voice control
features for a wide range of languages.
Dialing a contact name directly from the
phonebook without pre-recording (for
example,
“call John Smith ”) or selecting a
track, artist, album, genre or playlist directly
from your media player (for example, "play
artist Madonna").
language
(phone, USB,
Bluetooth
audio, voice
control and
voice prompts). SYNC 3 System Reset
The system has a System Reset feature that can be performed if the function of a SYNC
3 feature is lost. This reset is intended to restore functionality and will not erase any
information previously stored in the system (such as paired devices, phonebook, call
history, text messages, or user settings). To perform a System Reset, press and hold
the Seek Up (>>|) button while pressing and holding the Radio Power button. After
approximately 5 seconds the screen will go black. Allow 1-2 minutes for the system
reset to complete. You may then resume using the SYNC 3 system.
For additional assistance with SYNC 3
troubleshooting please call or visit the Ford
Website. Ford Support
United States: 1-800-392-3673
Customer Relation-
ship Center
Canada: 1-800-565-3673
owner.ford.com
Website
www.syncmyride.ca
www.syncmaroute.ca
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Flex (), enUSA, First Printing SYNC™ 3