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Apps & launchersReviewed

Stuck on "Loading Phone" After Installing a Launcher

Endless "Loading phone" after installing CarCar, Nova or another launcher? Turn off the system navigation bar (4545), set it as default. Carlinkit, Ownice.

Quick answer

Turn off the system navigation bar in the engineering menu (Settings → Other → Factory settings → 4545 → Other → System navigation bar → Off; code 1260 on Ownice) and set your new launcher as the default home app. Both community FAQs recommend it, and one TBox Ambient owner reported it cleared their endless "Loading phone" screen. On a TBox Ultra older than the 26 Dec 2025 firmware, also update, because older builds start the stock launcher first whatever you choose.

Symptoms

  • After installing a launcher, the box shows "Loading phone" (the wording varies by firmware) and never gets further
  • Tapping any button on the stock side bar brings the loading screen back
  • The box worked until you switched between CarPlay and Android Auto, or moved it to another car
  • Your launcher is set as default, but the stock home screen still appears first at every start
  • Google Play or another app opens by itself every time the box starts

Applies to

Connection to the car
CarPlay and Android Auto
Highest risk on this page
Advanced
Status
Workaround confirmed by the community

Why it happens

Carlinkit and Ownice boxes ship with a stock launcher and a system navigation bar down the left side of the screen. That bar belongs to the stock interface, and its buttons are wired to it. When you install another launcher but leave the bar switched on, or leave the stock launcher as the default, the two compete for the home screen and the box shows its loading screen in a loop.

The community FAQ for Carlinkit boxes puts it in one rule: after installing any third-party launcher (CarCar, Agama, Nova and others), turn off the stock side bar and make the new launcher the default, or you get an endless “Loading phone”. The launcher’s own team said the same in their topic: the loop happens with any third-party launcher on Carlinkit boxes since an earlier firmware update, and it is a box setting, not a launcher bug.

A separate problem looks similar. On TBox Ultra firmware before 26 Dec 2025, and on some older TBox Plus Android 13 builds, the box ignored the default home app at boot and always started the stock launcher first. That one is fixed in firmware.

Fixes, ranked

Turn off the system navigation bar and make the launcher the default

  • Advanced
  • Time: 5 minutes
  • Worked for 1 of 1 report
  • Recommended in the community FAQ

Warranty warning: this uses developer or engineering access. Follow the undo steps afterwards; some sellers refuse warranty claims on units with debugging left enabled.

  1. If the screen is stuck, swipe down from the top edge to open the notification shade and tap the settings gear. This was the route suggested to an owner caught in the loop.
  2. Open Settings → Other. The Factory settings entry is a small label at the top edge of this screen, not a menu row; owners missed it more than once.
  3. Enter 4545 (on Ownice boxes, 1260) and open the Other tab.
  4. Switch System navigation bar off. On recent firmware the same switch is also under Settings → Display → System navigation bar.
  5. Go to Settings → Apps → Default apps → Home app and choose your launcher.
  6. Reboot the box.
Settings → Other → Factory settings: enter 4545 on Carlinkit boxes, 1260 on Ownice. Reconstructed screen, labels may differ by firmware.
The Other tab after entering 4545: switch the system navigation bar off. Reconstructed screen, labels may differ by firmware.

This is the standing advice in two separate admin FAQs, one for the Carlinkit boxes and one for CarCar Launcher. One TBox Ambient owner reported that removing the side bar fixed their own loading loop, and passed the steps on to another Ambient owner stuck on the same screen. The FAQs are recommendations, not owner reports, so the count above is that one owner.

The switch sits in the engineering menu, which is why this fix carries an Advanced label: change only the one switch named here.

The switch can come back on. One Ambient owner found the loop returned after switching the box between Android Auto and CarPlay several times and suspected the switch had reset; another hit it after moving the box to a second car and back. Check it again after any protocol switch. If you rely on the floating button for “home” and “back”, read remove the navigation bar and floating button before you change anything else.

Clear App loading if Google Play opens at every boot

  • Safe
  • Time: 2 minutes
  • Worked for 1 of 1 report
  1. Open Settings → Other → App loading.
  2. Look at what is selected. If it shows Google Play, or any app you did not mean to autostart, choose None.
  3. Set your launcher under Default apps → Home app instead, as in Fix 1.
  4. Reboot.

App loading is an autostart slot: whatever it names opens every time the box boots. A TBox Ambient owner found they had picked Google there by mistake, thinking it chose the default app store, and that explained why the store kept opening. Owners of an Ambient, an Ultra 1, an Ultra 2 and an Ultra 4 have asked the same question; the replies pointed to this setting, and the launcher’s developer also said it lives in the box settings, not the launcher. None of those askers reported back, so they are not counted.

On TBox Ultra, update to the 26 Dec 2025 firmware and clear App loading

  • Advanced
  • Time: 10 minutes after updating
  • Recommended in the community FAQ

Warranty warning: this uses developer or engineering access. Follow the undo steps afterwards; some sellers refuse warranty claims on units with debugging left enabled.

  1. Check the firmware date in Settings → About. If it is older than 26 Dec 2025, update first; see the local FOTA update guide.
  2. After the update, open Settings → More → Apps → Default apps → Home app and choose your launcher, or accept the launcher’s own prompt to become default.
  3. Open Settings → Other → App loading. If you had put your launcher there as a workaround, set it back to None.
  4. Reboot and confirm your launcher comes up first.

The Ultra FAQ records this. On older Ultra firmware any third-party launcher started after the stock one, and the workaround was to put the launcher in App loading. From the 26 Dec 2025 build the default home app works normally, and the FAQ warns, in capitals, to take the launcher out of App loading and set it to None. No owner has reported back on it in the threads, so the badge shows the FAQ recommendation only. It is labelled Advanced because it includes a firmware update.

TBox Plus Android 13: update when the stock launcher still starts first

  • Advanced
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Recommended in the community FAQ

Warranty warning: this uses developer or engineering access. Follow the undo steps afterwards; some sellers refuse warranty claims on units with debugging left enabled.

  1. Confirm your launcher is already the default (Settings → Apps → Default apps → Home app).
  2. Set the stock launcher as default again before updating; see set the stock launcher before any firmware update.
  3. Install the latest official TBox Plus Android 13 firmware with a local FOTA update.
  4. After the restart, set your launcher as default again and reboot.

The CarCar Launcher FAQ lists this: on a TBox Plus with Android 13, if the stock launcher starts at boot even though the third-party one is the default, update to the latest firmware. No owner has reported the result in the threads. It is labelled Advanced because any firmware update can go wrong with the wrong file or card.

Things to try (unverified)

  • Uninstall the launcher to get out of the loop. One owner found that uninstalling the launcher cleared the loading screen, and that the loop came back right after installing the launcher again. That confirms the cause but loses the launcher; prefer Fix 1 once you are back in.
  • The pin-hole on the case. One owner stuck in the loop noticed the small hole on the box and was wary of pressing it. Nobody reported that it helped here; on Carlinkit boxes it is tied to protocol switching, covered in switching between CarPlay and Android Auto.
  • Recheck after a factory reset. A reset brings back the stock bar and the stock default, so repeat Fix 1 afterwards.

If nothing works

Note the box model and firmware date (Settings → About), the launcher and its version, whether App loading is set to None, and what the screen shows: a still “Loading phone” text, or a loop between the stock home screen and the loading screen. A short video helps.

Launcher-specific faults go to the launcher’s developer; box behaviour goes to Carlinkit support ([email protected]). If the box hangs on the loading screen with no third-party launcher installed at all, the cause is elsewhere: start with power, as described in AI box keeps rebooting. If apps lose their logins after you install a launcher, see apps log out when the launcher starts. For choosing a box with a launcher in mind, start here.

Related fixes

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Changelog

  • Last reviewed against new community reports:
  • Confirmed by 2 community reports on Carlinkit TBox Ambient.
  • 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.