FAQ

An app that replaces the stock home screen on the centre display of BYD cars. On the Sealion 7 and Seal it can also take over the instrument cluster behind the wheel. It puts values the car already knows — battery, tyres, trip data and so on — where the stock screens never showed them, and it controls the car through the same calls the stock apps use.

The Sealion 7, ATTO 3, Dolphin and Seal. The Sealion 7 and Seal get the cluster too; on the ATTO 3 and Dolphin the launcher stops at the centre screen and the cluster stays stock. Other models have not been tested.

It is free. If you find it useful you can support it; support goes to running the server and making updates. The launcher works the same whether you support it or not.

No. It is an unofficial app with no connection to the vehicle manufacturer — not sponsored, approved or affiliated. It does not touch the firmware; it only replaces the home screen. You install and use it at your own risk, and you should not operate it while driving.

No key is needed for the release build, but it is for BYD Owners LAB regular members only — tapping download checks your cafe nickname. A key is only needed for test (debug) builds, which are for chasing a problem together while it is being fixed.

Yes. Put the iPhone on the same Wi-Fi as the car and install the APK over wireless ADB with the atvTools app. On an Android phone, use Bugjaeger. You do not need a computer.

You don't need to. Switching wireless ADB on automatically is built into the launcher. If you want adb from outside at a fixed address (Tailscale), install AdbKick; with both switched on they take turns and do not collide.

Try again with wireless ADB switched on. Even after an uninstall and reinstall, settings come back from the automatic backup.

When the head unit powers fully off and on — including when the car cuts power while parked — the car drops wireless ADB and the accessibility registration. Under Settings › System › System readiness, run Wireless ADB «Turn on in one go» and Self-grant «Run self-grant» once, and switch on «Turn on when the launcher starts»; the launcher then restores them by itself. A red dot beside the clock on the home screen means one of them is off.

Choose Beetle Launcher under Settings › System › General › «Default home app», or tap «Take back to Beetle Launcher». If wireless ADB or accessibility is off, the launcher may not be able to take the default back, so check System readiness as well.

Check the «Cluster» row in Settings. «Stock + camera» keeps the stock cluster and only shows a camera while the turn signal is on, so the launcher deliberately leaves the cluster alone. Switch to «Beetle» or «Beetle + nav». The cluster is replaced on the Sealion 7 and Seal.

The window is not ready yet. You need all three: switch on Settings › Navigation & media › App window › «Free-form window» and restart the car once; Beetle Launcher as the default home app; and wireless ADB open. If any is missing, navigation opens full screen.

Where you can, use just one. Apps that handle the same things — home screen, cluster, wireless ADB, auto-start — can get in each other's way. Problems that come from mixing apps are something even the developer cannot know about or reproduce, so they are hard to fix. If something looks wrong, switch the other app off for a while and check again with Beetle Launcher alone.

No. Installing over the top keeps your settings. For the case where you uninstall and reinstall, settings are written outside the app whenever they change and restored after the new install.

The «Close app» button at the far left of the dock closes the launcher and returns to the stock screen. To stay on stock for a few days, set Settings › System › General › «Default home app» back to stock. There is no need to uninstall.