An Edge Case in the Infotainment System
A software update left my car's touchscreen locked behind licence terms that wireless Apple CarPlay had covered. A small bug with a familiar testing lesson.
The morning after my car installed a software update, the touchscreen asked me to accept new licence terms. I couldn't, because Apple CarPlay was in the way.
The car is a BYD Seal, registered in 2026. The evening before, it had prompted me to install an update, so I accepted and left it to run. It took about 45 minutes and finished without complaint.
A button I couldn't reach
When I powered the car on the next morning, the infotainment screen showed the updated licence agreement: a scrolling list of terms with a Confirm button at the bottom. Until I accepted, nothing else was available. On the face of it, that seems fair.
Before I got to the bottom, my phone connected to wireless CarPlay and the CarPlay interface appeared over the top of everything, including the terms and the Confirm button.
I tried the system's digital home button, then every other control I could find, to get back to the car's own screen. Each attempt brought up the same message: the interface and all interactions were locked until the licence terms had been accepted. So I could see the UI and controls, as well as the whole CarPlay interface, but couldn't directly interact with any of it.
The car was waiting for me to press a button it had let something else cover, and it wouldn't let me move that something else out of the way.
Bug report
Wireless CarPlay covers the licence agreement after a software update, locking the touchscreen
- Environment
- BYD Seal (2026 registration), first power-on after a software update, phone paired for wireless Apple CarPlay
- Preconditions
- Software update installed. New licence terms waiting to be accepted. Phone in the car with Wi-Fi turned on.
- Steps to reproduce
- Install the software update and let it complete.
- Power the car on for the first time after the update.
- Wait for the licence terms screen to appear.
- Let wireless CarPlay connect before pressing Confirm.
- Try to leave CarPlay using its home button or any other control.
- Expected result
- CarPlay waits until the terms have been accepted, or the licence screen stays on top so Confirm can still be pressed.
- Actual result
- CarPlay covers the licence terms and the Confirm button. Any attempt to leave CarPlay shows a message saying the interface is locked until the terms are accepted, so there is no way to accept them.
- Workarounds
- Power the car down, restart it and press Confirm before CarPlay connects.
- Turn off Wi-Fi on the phone so CarPlay cannot connect, accept the terms, then turn Wi-Fi back on.
Two ways out
Restarting the car and quickly getting to the Confirm button worked, but only if I got there before the phone reconnected. Turning off Wi-Fi on my phone was the more dependable option, because it stopped CarPlay from connecting at all.
Both are easy once you know them. Neither is obvious when you're sat in the car first thing in the morning trying to do the school run, looking at a screen that tells you it's locked.
Two features, tested apart
I don't know how BYD tests its updates, so this is a guess rather than a diagnosis. It looks like two features that each work on their own and were never tested together.
The licence screen presumably does its job when it's the only thing on the display. Wireless CarPlay connects as soon as the car starts, which is exactly what it should do. The bug only appears when both happen at once: a blocking screen waiting for input, and an automatic connection that takes over the display before that input arrives.
That combination is easy to miss. If the update was tested on a car or rig without a paired phone nearby, the lock-out would never show up. The licence prompt also only appears on the first start after an update, so it isn't a screen anyone sees often.
When a screen blocks everything until the user acts, it's worth asking what else can appear on top of it. Phone projection, incoming calls, notifications and anything else that claims the display on its own schedule are all likely candidates.
The fix is probably small: hold CarPlay back until the terms are accepted, or keep the licence screen above it. Finding the bug took nothing more unusual than me simply using the car exactly as I would every other day of the week.