I've owned my 2025 XLT for 2 weeks and I already hate the 12" vertical screen and lack of knobs

[Blue Wolf]

Have you tried Calm Screen? Go to the second icon (settings) on top of the display (looks like a truck), select it, and in the middle of that screen below a picture of your truck, their is a button "Calm Screen." Select it and it removes most of the display.

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[daedalus]

C’mon, man, you didn’t want a giant billboard stuck on top of your dash?

I too prefer vertical screens, although I’d take some extra physical buttons, as well.

You know how weird that would look with an extra iPad hung off of a Ram Mount next to it? I agree a few extra buttons would be nice or a menu to pop up the list of soft buttons, so I can use the whole screen for Waze, or better yet Waze and rear camera view

 

[TurboRanger]

Put something over the light sensor on the dash it's a bump in the middle
it will go in dark mode

 

[ggmartin900]

I set mine to dark mode and use the clock widget in CarPlay. I personally love the design and having it integrated flush into the dash.

 

[HeadlessPonch]

My XLT has the 10" screen. My only real issue is the tiny time stacked on top of the tiny temperature in the upper right corner. I can't see that with my old eyes. Couldn't put them next to each other instead, make them a little easier to see?

Similar issue with my Samsung: Can't change the size of the notification bar, even in accessibility options.

My wife does have issues with the touch screen. Same as with her phone, she has a tendency to swipe up instead of tapping, so I have fun watching her get frustrated trying to change radio stations.

 

[NJ Braptor]

I've been pretty happy with the lowest brightness setting, but ditto. Why can't you turn it off??

I vaguely recall there being a way to turn off the screen, albeit through multiple taps. I have to go try to find it again in the system. Perhaps the "R" button would preserve that setting as well?

 

[RonM_TX]

The one button I want is for Screen Off. I live in a rural, very dark part of the world and these bright center screens suck on a dark night. They don’t dim enough, either. Jeep provides a hard Screen Off button the JL and it is wonderful.

Have you tried dark mode. Really makes the screen much less distracting.

 

[Johnnypedals]

My XLT has the 10" screen. My only real issue is the tiny time stacked on top of the tiny temperature in the upper right corner. I can't see that with my old eyes. Couldn't put them next to each other instead, make them a little easier to see?

Similar issue with my Samsung: Can't change the size of the notification bar, even in accessibility options.

My wife does have issues with the touch screen. Same as with her phone, she has a tendency to swipe up instead of tapping, so I have fun watching her get frustrated trying to change radio stations.

I agree. The time and temperature is so small that it's all but impossible to see at a glance. There's alot of space along the top to make it more readable. Better yet why not put it in the main instrument cluster like they do on the higher trims?

 

[ShadowDragon24]

The one complaint I have with the HVAC is you have to use the touch screen to change air flow modes and to switch the compressor off and on. Where I live it is common to need the heat in the morning and the AC in the afternoon, and I don't like the heat blowing on my face or the AC blowing on my feet so I'm constantly using the touch screen for that.

Then I like to kill the compressor a minute or two before arriving at my destination as this gives the evaporator a chance to dry out before shutting down which helps to eliminate mold and the resulting odors in the HVAC.

the fan speed knob that says ac in the middle. press that to turn off your compressor.(if your in defrost, it still runs anyways. majority of modern vehicles it does) AC doesnt mean cold air. it conditioned air. and majority of rugs since the 80's/90's kick on the ac compressor and run it as a dehumidifier to dry out the air. thus conditioning the air.

 

[purdyd]

Put something over the light sensor on the dash it's a bump in the middle
it will go in dark mode

you can set it to dark mode all the time like @ggmartin900 or me.

one thing I like about the calm screen is it gets rid of the ford specific icons.

I wish ford would give the option to hide those icons in CarPlay or android auto.

calm screen also has the time and temperature and on my lariat at least the temperature is displayed on instrument panel

and with the advent os iOS 26 you can now display widgets in CarPlay, 2 in iOS 26.2

and one of those can be a nice large clock


https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/thre...arplay-widgets-clocks-weather-and-more.22994/

 

[Setac641A]

Not that I would ever buy a VW, but they at least listened to their customers. They're transitioning back to mechanical knobs, switches and levers. Ford needs to do this.

 

[rang_stang]

The one button I want is for Screen Off. I live in a rural, very dark part of the world and these bright center screens suck on a dark night. They don’t dim enough, either. Jeep provides a hard Screen Off button the JL and it is wonderful.

What do you think about the volume knob that just shuts off the entire infotainment? It drives me absolutely crazy on my JL that there’s no button or knob to pause/stop media, you can only do it through the screen.

 

[bigb]

the fan speed knob that says ac in the middle. press that to turn off your compressor.(if your in defrost, it still runs anyways. majority of modern vehicles it does) AC doesnt mean cold air. it conditioned air. and majority of rugs since the 80's/90's kick on the ac compressor and run it as a dehumidifier to dry out the air. thus conditioning the air.

That button shuts down the whole system including the fan.

 

[ShadowDragon24]

That button shuts down the whole system including the fan.

No it does not, that would be the power button in the temperature control knob. and the single zone xlt the ac button is not in the fan speed dial, like I said. its a button next to the volume knob

 

[bigb]

No it does not, that would be the power button in the temperature control knob. and the single zone xlt the ac button is not in the fan speed dial, like I said. its a button next to the volume knob

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