Tommy Chapman
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© 2026 Thomas Chapman
138
644MV6
    • Prototype
    • Design
    • Development
    • 2025
    • Swift
    • Node.js

Ford’s iPhone app gives you just one tiny square widget, and that’s it. Kind of lame, right? You’d think that after spending tens of thousands on one of their vehicles, they’d at least give you something more useful or visually interesting on your Home Screen. It’s such a basic, uninspired implementation for a company that talks a lot about "connected vehicles."

This is the FordPass widget: a neat little square that shows my truck’s parked, has 80km distance til E, and 14% fuel. It’s simple, functional… And kind of disappointing.

It feels like Ford designed this once and never looked back. No medium or large options, no extra details like tire pressure or lock status, no quick actions, just this tiny static tile. On an iPhone that supports rich, dynamic widgets and “liquid glass” effects, it sticks out as dated.

Ford nails the hardware—the vehicles look incredible—but the software side? It feels stuck in neutral.

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The Other Guys

What do the other manufacturers offer? Well, it varies, and it doesn't necessarily fall the way you would expect it to (Mercedes, what are you doing?).

Mercedes's widget uses too many font styles and places emphasis on quick actions which unfortunately contrast too severely—it's a bit sad.Mercedes's widget uses too many font styles and places emphasis on quick actions which unfortunately contrast too severely—it's a bit sad.

Mercedes's widget uses too many font styles and places emphasis on quick actions which unfortunately contrast too severely—it's a bit sad.

Kia made an attempt.Kia made an attempt.

Kia made an attempt.

BMW’s widgets are gorgeous. Like Mercedes, BMW have opted for quick action buttons but have used contrast with a lighter touch.BMW’s widgets are gorgeous. Like Mercedes, BMW have opted for quick action buttons but have used contrast with a lighter touch.

BMW’s widgets are gorgeous. Like Mercedes, BMW have opted for quick action buttons but have used contrast with a lighter touch.

BMW's widgets also come in many variants.BMW's widgets also come in many variants.

BMW's widgets also come in many variants.

644MV6

This is how Ford’s widgets could look.

Mine actually makes good use of the space—a proper wide layout that shows off the Ranger Raptor like it deserves. It’s got everything at a glance: odometer, range, oil life, tire pressures—all laid out cleanly and without wasting a pixel. Meanwhile, Ford’s default widget still looks like it was designed for iOS 14: tiny, cramped, and barely useful.

Style-wise, this one just feels right. The typography’s consistent, the photo gives it personality, and the whole thing blends perfectly with the iPhone’s modern aesthetic. It’s slick, functional, and actually looks like something you’d want on your Home Screen—not just tolerate because there’s no alternative.

Widgets are personal things—displaying an image of the user's vehicle leverages their pride in their choice to buy your product. Style the widget accordingly!

Dark mode variant with "Arctic White" vehicleDark mode variant with "Arctic White" vehicle

Dark mode variant with "Arctic White" vehicle

Light mode variant with "Arctic White" vehicleLight mode variant with "Arctic White" vehicle

Light mode variant with "Arctic White" vehicle

Dark mode variant with "Code Orange" vehicleDark mode variant with "Code Orange" vehicle

Dark mode variant with "Code Orange" vehicle

Light mode variant with "Code Orange" vehicleLight mode variant with "Code Orange" vehicle

Light mode variant with "Code Orange" vehicle

Wait, you built it?

I've attained a lot of experience in building widgets for other projects, so this wasn't challenging and quite straight forward.

What did stretch my expertise was the desire to acquire real data via Ford APIs. So far as I'm aware, Ford doesn't provide a public API for people like me to consume. As a result, I had to get creative and try something new: Playwright. After convincing Ford's web services that I'm not a bot, I was able to automate an auth flow from which I can scrape tokens.

I host a small API proxy of sorts to provide the widget with data. When said widget requests data, this proxy service boots up a headless browser through Playwright, performs the auth flow if necessary, collects the auth tokens, and queries one of Ford's APIs, which they make use of on their own website for logged in users.

So, not only do I have real time data, I get to control the widget entirely in its appearance and function—not something most Ford drivers can do!

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Idle Hands...

It occurred to me that I could be collecting historical data to track the health of the vehicle and my fuel usage over time.

So, I went to work.

For each of the available metrics, I have a graph. From the historical data, other derived stats can be made such as fuel economy, so I can see how un-economically I've been driving. Part of the incentive for doing this work was borne out of suspicion the dealership gave me bad oil at the last change. I felt it was aging faster than usual. I've been disavowed of that notion thanks to this work.

It'd be great if manufacturers just made this available. 🤪