Ford Sync 3: Pandora Crashes when connected to Ford Sync with latest update

[matt715]

I have a 2017 Ford F-150 and when I bought the truck in February, Pandora worked fine streaming both wired through Android Auto and wirelessly via bluetooth on my Samsung S10e and then my Samsung S23. Sometime in early spring, I updated the app and now it usually crashes within 10 seconds to a minute when connecting wirelessly. I do normally get the Ford screen on the phone when connected, but there have been times when it doesn't display. Wired, it's a crapshoot, whether it works or crashes on my phone, but the connection is more stable. I no longer have the S10e to try.

If I do get it to work wirelessly, sometimes the song will change but the information and picture don't. Sometimes it displays the song time info bar and sometimes it doesn't. The other thing I noticed is that the album name is no longer in line with the rest of the info. It used to display like this:

Title
Artist                                                                       <Album Art>                                            
Album
Sometimes song time bar
                                                       <Controls>

Now it displays like this with the spacing formatted strangely:

Title         
Artist                                                                        <Album Art>

Album                                               <Controls>

I've uninstalled and reinstalled Pandora multiple times cleared the data and cache multiple times, tried different USB cables, and updated Ford Sync, with no improvement.

I have been getting messages on my phone even when I'm not using Pandora that the system sees a bug and is going to put the app to sleep or has encountered a bug.

I tend to think this is a Pandora software issue, and not an issue with the Sync software since it happened after an update. Another user is experiencing the same issue on Reddit.

Any ideas?

[matt715]

I was wrong in my post from before with where the time bar is located, it's actually at the top of the song info, but that doesn't change any of the other information.

Here is a screenshot of my error message on my phone after it crashed this morning. I did clear the cache and it didn't help.

[DKOnLine]

My wife and I have been having the same issue when connecting to our 22 Ford Escape.  2 different phones, same problem 

[matt715]

I ended up rolling my app back to the version in this post and everything seems to be working fine again. This is definitely a problem on Pandora's side.

[Kklpp420]

I am having exact same issues.....my samsung s23+ keeps trying to deep sleep pandora and its basically all I use the phone for....I have 2015 buick enclave and use only Bluetooth for playing thru my phone I've tried to connect but I don't believe it's compatible....this just recently started happening with the crashes and deep sleep issues..

[TannerPandora]

Hi @Kklpp420 

Have you already tried disabling the battery optimization on your Samsung? If this feature is enabled, it can cause performance issues or interfere with playback when the app is backgrounded.

Please try the following steps:

• Open your device Settings and then Apps.
• Scroll to find Pandora or use Search in the upper right hand corner.
• Select Battery
• Next select Unrestricted.

Please note that these are general steps. Because of the numerous Android devices, we're unable to provide steps for every device.

[Kaminski77]

I've had similar issues since upgrading to a Samsung S23- in my case, anytime I hit the "thumbs up/down" it causes the app to crash and I need to completely restart Pandora. It also no longer connects to the Sync app version (wirelessly) until i restart the truck.  Sometimes the songs will play and the station cycles, but the info displayed remains the same from the initial song.  Neither issue happened prior to upgrading phones 

[TannerPandora]

Hi @Kaminski77 Welcome to community. Sorry to hear this is happening when connecting to your truck. I'd like to pass this along to our engineering team for investigation.

Can you send over some information about your Samsung:

• Android version (Settings > About Phone):
• Pandora version:
  • Open Pandora, go to Profile, then select Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the screen for the version number.

Thanks for the help!

[realaden]

I am experiencing the same issue. I am going to try to downgrade pandora to an older version and see if that fixes the issue. 

When connected to bluetooth, Using the available PANDORA Mobile APP in my vehicle 2020 Navigator with Sync 3, When Pressing the thumbs up/down, pandora crashes and I have to restart the pandora app on my phone. I tried in a different vehice with sync 3 and the same happened. I downgraded the app to older version, also reinstalled and still same issue. I have a samsubg galaxy Note 10plus and I read somone with a Galaxy S23 was having the same issue. So the issue is not the phone.

Moderator Edit: Merged posts

[TannerPandora]

Hi @realaden

Welcome to community!

Sorry to hear you're having trouble with Pandora and the Ford Sync 3 system. I'm happy to pass this along to our engineering team for further review and investigation. You mentioned that you rolled back your Pandora to an older version and still trouble, can you let me know which version that was?

Thanks for your help!