Ford Offers Voice-Controlled Radio So You Can Share Music With Friends

Ford has announced this week that it will be giving drivers access to iHeartRadio using voice controls through its SYNC AppLink. The radio service features over 800 of the nation’s most popular live broadcast and digital-only radio stations from 150 cities, plus user-created custom stations. The SYNC-enabled iHeartRadio smartphone app will be accessible using steering wheel-mounted controls or simple voice commands in vehicles that offer Ford SYNC with AppLink.

The service has many features tailored to improve the driving experience. You can create a custom station, stop or start a song, and find traffic reports based on location through the phone’s GPS. The app enables drivers to use voice commands to quickly and easily find exactly what they want to listen to by saying “genre,” “city” or “personality” to search by the type of music, station location or host. iHeartRadio also lets users connect hands-free to their Facebook Timelines so they can share music with friends. Julius Machwicki, SYNC product manager, said:

Smartphones now account for half of all new mobile phones and people increasingly expect to take control of when and where they listen to their media. With the AppLink-enabled version of iHeartRadio, Ford drivers can listen to their favorite stations even if they aren’t local, get recommendations and share what they listen to through Facebook.

iHeartRadio