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AI Box Fix

Apps & launchersReviewed

CarCar Launcher Licence After a Reset or Selling the Box

CarCar Launcher asks for a licence again after a factory reset or reflash? Scan its QR code from the account that bought it. Licences stay with one device.

Quick answer

Install CarCar Launcher again on the same box, open its Settings → Licence, scan the QR code with your phone and open it in the same messaging account you used to buy the licence; decline if the bot offers to sell you a new one. That restored the licence in five of eight reports after a reset or reflash. A licence belongs to one device and cannot be moved to another box.

Symptoms

  • After a factory reset, a firmware update that wiped the box, or a reinstall, CarCar Launcher shows a QR code and asks for a licence
  • Scanning the QR code opens the launcher's bot, which offers to sell you a licence you already own
  • The launcher shows a free trial again on a box you bought a licence for
  • You are selling the box, or bought one second-hand, and want to know what happens to the licence

Applies to

Devices
  • Any Android AI box
Connection to the car
CarPlay and Android Auto
Highest risk on this page
Safe
Status
Workaround confirmed by the community

Why it happens

CarCar Launcher licences come in two kinds: a free temporary one for the first month after installation, and a permanent one bought once. Both are issued for one specific device. The developers’ own licence notes say that after reinstalling the launcher from scratch you must scan the QR code in its settings again and go through their chat bot to activate a licence you already have.

The activation links three things: the box’s identity, the licence, and the messaging account that bought it. A factory reset, a reflash or a firmware update that wipes the box removes the launcher and its local record of the licence, but not the licence itself. Reactivation fails when one link changes: you scan from a different account, or the box’s identity changes.

Fixes, ranked

Reactivate on the same box with the purchasing account

  • Safe
  • Time: 5 minutes
  • Worked for 5 of 8 reports
  1. Make sure the box has internet (its SIM or your phone’s hotspot).
  2. Install CarCar Launcher on the same box, using the launcher’s own installer from Google Play.
  3. On your phone, open the launcher’s bot from the same messaging account you used to buy the licence, and check that the licence is listed there. One owner recommended its /license command for this.
  4. On the box, open the launcher’s Settings → Licence. A QR code appears.
  5. Scan the QR code with that phone and open the link in the purchasing account.
  6. If the bot offers to sell you a licence, decline. Wait a few seconds and check the launcher: the licence should appear.
The launcher's Settings → Licence shows the QR code you scan with the purchasing account. Reconstructed screen, labels may differ by firmware.

Five owners confirmed this after a reset or reflash. One reset the box, installed the launcher, scanned the code, and had the licence back in seconds. Another, worried before resetting, did it twice and restored the licence the second time. A third said the licence comes back after every reflash, and a fourth restored an old licence while buying another. A fifth was offered a new licence by the bot on the first scan after reinstalling, declined, and the launcher picked up the existing licence anyway.

Three owners could not restore theirs. An early buyer of the exclusive licence got a message to contact support after a reset; another, with a premium licence on two boxes, said the bot’s instructions did not help and email went unanswered. A third saw the box reappear with the same identifier but unactivated, and the launcher’s team replied that they would fix that bug. If you end up in that position, go to “If nothing works”.

Moving the box between cars, or selling it: the licence stays with the box

  • Safe
  • Time: 5 minutes
  • Worked for 2 of 2 reports
  • Recommended in the community FAQ
  1. Moving the box to another car changes nothing: keep the launcher installed and it keeps its licence.
  2. If you reset the box in the new car, reactivate it as in Fix 1 from your own account.
  3. Before selling, reset the box if you want, install the launcher, and activate the licence from your account, so the buyer receives a working launcher.
  4. Tell the buyer that after their own reset or reinstall they must either buy a licence or send you the QR code to scan from your account.

The launcher’s licence notes in its FAQ state the rule: one device, one licence, no transfer to any other device. Two owners in the launcher’s topic who reset their boxes regularly and swap them between cars reported no problems reactivating, as long as the device and the account stayed the same. One with two cars and three licensed boxes said the reactivation had never failed, and that most failure reports they had seen in the topic turned out less clear-cut once the details came out.

Selling follows from the same rule. The buyer can use the activated launcher indefinitely, but the licence remains linked to your account. A buyer who resets the box has to ask you to reactivate it or buy their own.

Things to try (unverified)

  • Check which account you are using. The launcher’s team said that most “lost” licences they saw belonged to people with several messaging accounts who bought in one and scanned from another after reinstalling. There is no unbinding of a licence; the launcher’s “unlink device” option only signs the account out.
  • Do not change the IMEI. Changing a device’s IMEI is illegal in many countries, and it also breaks the licence: one owner who did it on a head unit found the launcher treated it as a new device, issued a trial, and the account page no longer showed the licence. If your licence stopped working after a modem or IMEI problem you did not cause, such as a repair, contact the launcher’s support with the device identifier instead of changing anything yourself.
  • Read the official guide. The developers keep text and video instructions on the CarCar Launcher account and licence guide; owners pointed others to it when the QR code seemed to do nothing.
  • Factory reset after a firmware update. If you are resetting because of glitches after an update, do the reset first, then reinstall and reactivate the launcher once; see factory reset after a firmware update.

If nothing works

Collect what the developers need: the device identifier shown in the launcher’s licence screen, the account name you bought with, the purchase date and licence type, and what happened when you scanned the QR code (no reaction, an offer to buy, or an error). A screenshot of the bot’s licence list helps.

Contact CarCar Launcher’s developers through their support channel listed in the official guide; Carlinkit and other box makers cannot restore a third-party licence. After reactivating, set the navigation bar and default home app again as described in stuck on “Loading phone”, and if apps lose their logins at start-up, see apps log out when the launcher starts. If you are weighing a different launcher or box, start here.

Related fixes

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Changelog

  • Last reviewed against new community reports:
  • Confirmed by 7 community reports.
  • Page updated:

"Confirmed" means a community member reported that the fix worked on their unit. We have not tested it on our own hardware. How we verify.