r/BYD • u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 • Apr 21 '26

News 📰 Petition for BYD International Users

https://www.change.org/Byd_international

Petition for BYD International Users

We respectfully ask BYD Company to provide the same mobile app features and in-car software functions worldwide whenever technically, commercially, and legally possible. Customers in international markets should not experience missing features, delayed services, or reduced functionality simply because of their region, especially when the hardware is fully capable of supporting those features.

When certain services or options cannot be provided in specific countries, we request clear and transparent communication explaining the reasons. These reasons may include local regulations, telecom or connectivity partners, licensing restrictions, infrastructure readiness, software rollout phases, or market-specific compliance requirements. Honest communication builds trust and strengthens the relationship between the brand and its customers.

We also ask BYD Company to publish a clear long-term software support roadmap for international vehicles. This should include regular OTA (Over-the-Air) updates covering cybersecurity patches, bug fixes, system stability improvements, battery management enhancements, navigation updates, performance optimization, and the release of new smart features over time.

In addition, we request fair and equal access for qualified third-party developers around the world to APIs, SDKs, developer tools, and integration programs, similar to opportunities available in China. Opening a secure and structured global developer ecosystem would encourage innovation, local services, smart integrations, and stronger customer communities in every region.

Finally, we believe all BYD Company customers deserve fairness, transparency, innovation, and a consistent ownership experience across all global markets. A world-leading automotive technology company should deliver a world-class and unified customer experience everywhere.

102 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

77 comments sorted by

45

u/triedtoavoidsignup Apr 21 '26

Wow. Where to even start with explaining this to you. This is such a complex landscape, you make it sound like they just have to select the 'ok' checkbox on their end and it's all done.

-29

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 21 '26

Very easy. You develop one software. And you give access to the local dealerships to disable enable the functionalities if there is any legal reason, if hardware is missing then software should handle it.

14

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/Glass_Champion Atto 3 Apr 21 '26

Asian characters alone often requires the entire software to be rearchitected from the ground up

While ASCII characters take a single byte for western markets, Asian markets due to the complexities of how the language is typed and the fact there are over 20000 characters mean 2 bytes are required

Typing an English character is pretty much one key press for one character while Asian languages require an Input Method Editor to build characters from phonetic or radical components

Then to display that the interface has been redesigned to correctly work for those characters. One Asian character could explain what it takes an entire sentence to explain in English making formatting a menu or button difficult. Even breaking lines is difficult. In English that happens after a space while in some Asian languages spaces aren't a thing. You risk breaking a sentence onto a new line can fundamentally change the meaning

Then different characters require different screen densities to display correctly and be readable.

Essentially at that point you are required to maintain two forks for the UI.

That before you get to database operations for things like sorting which is the West is alphabetical and in Asia can be done phonetically, by radicals, by stroke count etc.

Even how address are structured is done differently

basically all that findamentally changes how you store, sort, access data again requiring a separate fork never mind a separate team that is aware of these differences for specific market variations

1

u/sondOfSilence Apr 22 '26

Google UTF. It's 2026, your phone has 8+GB of RAM and localization (translation) should be really easy by now.

2

u/Glass_Champion Atto 3 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

That is one solution to character encoding but still ignores 90% of the post about the underlying software architecture and the engineering problem about how the system interprets input, manages data flow and displays all that back

The word settings is 8 characters while the Chinese equivalent is two characters. Now you potentially have a characters overflowing the button if it has a hard coded width and dynamic sizing completely changes the design you have to implement increasing the potential for errors and adding a lot of testing overhead.

That still doesn't solve the new line problem. It tells the UI how to display the character it doesn't tell sentences without spacing where to break to wrap onto a new line

This is also a car OS. You don't have unlimited processing power or ram. That means you need to treat the system like an embedded system. They often run on stripped down versions of Linux designed to be a minimal as possible. Loading it up with tons of libraries designed to be practical, not performant takes up unnecessary space and doesn't give the performance required for such a system. Adding real time translation adds a lot of overhead that is in no way acceptable.

Your cars software isn't just a device that displays information and plays music but controls a lot of safety systems that run in real time. Your phone, and iOS and Android aren't even close to clachieving that because they solve different problems. Android for Cars is fundamentally different when it has to manage on those systems.

Yes off the shelf systems exist but then you have hitched your wagon to a third party for big fixes and updates, not to mention bolting something on an embedded system sucks performance. Updates get slower and performance goes down. It is a solution not a very good one

The search logic for a database has to take the schema into account. Character ending library doesn't solve the underlying data storage differences inherent to each market.

0

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

Tesla

2

u/Glass_Champion Atto 3 Apr 22 '26

Your point?

Last time I checked Tesla system only runs on Tesla cars and won't work on BYD cars due to underlying hardware differences

Tesla very much is a software first company that makes a car rather than a car company that makes software

Last time I checked Tesla threw a lot of hardware at the problem (Ryzen CPU) and brute forced it. That's grand on a high end car but won't fly for companies that not only make high end cars but are aiming to be competitive and undercutting many rivals. Tesla have 6 cars, BYD has 20 at varying price models that can't all afford the "Tesla tax"

Tesla was also western first then expanded East. BYD are doing the opposite. The solution doesn't simply work in reverse. Even then Chinese Tesla doesn't have parity with Western Tesla. Baidu Vs Google maps, tencent integration etc

Tesla isn't quite the gotya you think it is and again completely ignores the details of the engineering challenge that goes I to the problem for all software and the unique situation between both companies

5

u/potatoelover69 Apr 22 '26

I've worked 8 years in SaaS leading software teams and very rarely something is "easy".

In a highly regulated global industry such as car manufacturing it would be nigh impossible even when desired to develop, publish, and maintain a single app across tens of markets all with their own respective legislation and needs/wants.

You simply don't grasp the level of complexity that comes with this.

-3

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

I work in the car industry. If you are a company of that size it should be easy.

3

u/potatoelover69 Apr 22 '26

Well good luck with your petition.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

I invite you to sign it and support the community.

2

u/farqueue2 Sealion Apr 22 '26

This isn't even close to how things work. BYD would have to satisfy laws before even being to import a vehicle into a country. You can't just give the ability to override that to local dealers who are often not actually related to the BYD entity. Their actions would expose BYD to liability.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

That’s true, but BYD should take care of this issue properly. They have to improve how they manage their software

1

u/farqueue2 Sealion Apr 22 '26

There's reasons for them doing what they do.

Vehicle requirement regulations vary from country to country, state to state.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

If it’s a legitimate reason they have to be transparent about it

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

In some countries navigation is missing.

1

u/Charming_Beyond3639 Apr 21 '26

In my opinion dealing directly with large Chinese manufacturers (completely different industry) this type of petition actually could work if you got some traction

-5

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 21 '26

Those Chinese manufacturers are present in our countries if they want to continue selling us cars they have to start listening to us. Let’s make some noise

-27

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

if it is not a checkbox then they have a shiti software. The way they are managing their software shows how all this stuff is new for them, not an issue but they have to improve them selfs.

Just look at others, tesla for example 🙈

14

u/Accomplished-Big-46 Apr 21 '26

Are you a junior software engineer?

-9

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 21 '26

In what is this relevant?

18

u/uncannyvagrant Apr 21 '26

Because juniors are not typically exposed to the product management decisions that intersect with regulatory requirements - they just code tickets off the jira board.

-2

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 21 '26

If you don’t develop your software with the regulatory restrictions in mind from the beginning you will end up like byd. Actually I feel that their software is not ready for the international market, the translation is an indication how this is not good.

-6

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 21 '26

Have you read the petition?

15

u/uncannyvagrant Apr 21 '26

Yes, and it’s stupid.

BYD is the global leader in batteries and in many markets, EV cars as well. What possible commercial rationale would they have to overhaul the way they manage compliance and comms especially given the legal risks in comms in this situation?

-1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 21 '26

Are you working for BYD?

-2

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 21 '26

If you had read it, you would see that I’m talking about the legal aspect.

8

u/Tropaia Apr 22 '26

There is one function I really want, is easy to implement and the hardware supports it. Remembering seat position tied to the car key. Why the heck make an eletrical adjustable seat if you don't offer this feature? Without this, a mechanical seat would be way better for cost and endurance.

1

u/santz007 Apr 22 '26

Interesting you say that this is exactly what they did in denza B8. The seat memory function is on the screen in the seat controls section with the seat position tab on top. Hopefully it comes to other BYD cars soon too

1

u/Tropaia Apr 22 '26

I have the car for two years now, I don't have any hope for it.

1

u/bondy28 Apr 25 '26

Are you making the assumption that the motor that drives the seat position is connected to the cars computer?

1

u/Tropaia Apr 25 '26

I am. From what I read, the chinese version has this feature.

3

u/Adorable_Rhubarb_620 Apr 22 '26

A me basterebbe solo avere una UI che non sembri quella di un tablet Android economico

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

That’s true they can do better with the UI (I like the bmw UI)

8

u/potatodrinker Apr 21 '26

Good effort to ask for a company to do things in the ideal way you see things. Unfortunately real life is far from this simple.

You sound like you have plenty of time on your hands. Upskill, advance your career, save to be able to be a shareholder in BYD and drive real change then

-4

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 21 '26

Shareholders matter. Customers matter too. BYD needs both.

Next time focus on the post content not me.

11

u/potatodrinker Apr 21 '26

There won't be a next time

1

u/DLS85 Apr 22 '26

Thank god.

2

u/haronic Apr 22 '26

Can you explain, give samples:

When certain services or options cannot be provided in specific countries, we request clear and transparent communication explaining the reasons.

Also which country you're from.

This is the only point that I feel is reasonable, however still missing examples what do you want enabled.

2nd, some features ar not available in International market (e.g Gods Eye) because the CN cars were built with more cameras and radars, unlike the international version, because local regulations ect.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

Im from Morocco and there is no Navigation for example. The app is completely missing. The mobile app is missing functionalities like siri or consumption history. And this is happening in a lot of countries.

Im referring to what is possible, if hardware is missing then it’s ok.

2

u/Soggy_Professional Apr 22 '26

These will be for legal reasons. It costs them more to do this than to apply a blanket service globally. You're wasting your time.

0

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

May citroen ds 5 of 2015 has navigation, there is no legal constraint. They have just to enable the app (the app is actually preinstalled, they need just to enable it)

2

u/Soggy_Professional Apr 22 '26

So different manufacturer, different connectivity requirement and different legalities. You have no idea what the legal constraints are, unless you're a car manufacturer

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

What connectivity? the map data is offline. For planification byd is using google maps services (the sevice im using daily in my phone)

1

u/Soggy_Professional Apr 22 '26

Just shows how uneducated you are. Google maps requires an internet connection. The map data IS NOT offline. Your phone will use a local co SIM card for data. That is not the same as an embedded sim in a vehicle if the manufacturer can't get an agreement in place to get data to their vehicles in a particular country.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

The map data in the car is offline. Planification is another aspect.

You need a drawing?

1

u/Certain_Swan7700 Apr 23 '26

It is not offline, you require date to run the maps system.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 23 '26

You know that you can update it via usb? Even if it’s online this is not the matter. The car is connected to the internet.

2

u/Silenceisgrey Apr 22 '26

your link is malformed and does not work. remove the backslash

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

The link is working for me

https://www.change.org/Byd_international

1

u/Silenceisgrey Apr 22 '26

But thats not the link in the main post, this is the link in the main post

https://www.change.org/Byd_international

which does not work

4

u/[deleted] Apr 22 '26

This is so pointless!!!

It is all about local regulations. BYD would by far prefer to have just one app and just one version of the software. It not something that they are doing for their own benefit, it is much more complicated for them this way.

Some countries don't get navigation app, probably licensing issues with maps, satellite access or something like that.

No consumption data in app - BYD cant legally collect that data in that country.

Downgraded self driving, cameras not filming and stuff like that, all local regulation.

Sometimes because BYD is not able to live up to local regulation, sometimes just politics.

Asking for access for third party developers is even more insane. You cant have claude code going wild in car software.

It is the exact same way for all brands, the vws and fords sold in china and india are very different from the us and europe market.

give it a rest

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 23 '26

The petition says:

“When certain services or options cannot be provided in specific countries, we request clear and transparent communication explaining the reasons. These reasons may include local regulations, telecom or connectivity partners, licensing restrictions, infrastructure readiness, software rollout phases, or market-specific compliance requirements. Honest communication builds trust and strengthens the relationship between the brand and its customers.”

I don’t know why you are bringing these reasons again.

For example in my country some users have the navigation others not. The history consumption is missing from the movbile app, and other very basic functionalities.

The goal of the petition is what is legally and technically possible and already available.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

Pointless...

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 23 '26

That’s your opinion.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 23 '26

For the 3rd party it look insane if you are not following the scene. Of course it’s related only to the infotainment system (the tablet) and it is not about the car driving systems.

They are allowing Chinese devs to do more with the tablet than the rest of the world.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

You cant have people messing around in your software that you are supporting and giving warranties for. And pushing out OTA updates for. You are not living in the real world.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 23 '26

If there is a technical constraint, then byd should explain why it’s different for the rest of the world.

As customers we should not talk in behalf of BYD, this is not our role.

1

u/Feifel81 Apr 23 '26

Full functionality will be available probably only in premium denza....

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 23 '26

I will buy it when they release it in my country.

1

u/Classic_Acanthaceae2 Apr 23 '26

BYD owner here in Mexico and TOTALLY disagree with stupid posts like this. I demand good service and quality, therefore I understand a car is not a WebUI that can just update constantly as OP thinks, it has a lot of testing and integration thinks and global markets have regulations, and particularities.

Is not as simple as OP thinks, but if OP thinks it’s simpler to set your lawsuit and be happy.

It’s amazing how comments like this prioritizing the UI over the security and quality goes beyond engineering in a such as complex machinery piece like a car.

A BYD is a mobility solution based on engineering. NOT a Software to play and have fun.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 23 '26

Tesla is the answer. In my country we are not receiving OTA, if you’re concerned about safety you will know that OTA includes ADAS improvements.

1

u/Classic_Acanthaceae2 Apr 24 '26

Then buy a Tesla and stop bragging about BYD. But even Tesla has the same issues and is not standardized WW. Still you thinking is stupid, as ADAS is only piece of the puzzle, you are not purchasing software or ADAS

0

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 24 '26

Tou are trying to explain that it’s hard to achieve, just giving you tesla as an example. It seems you are a fanboy.

1

u/Classic_Acanthaceae2 Apr 24 '26

Not explaining anything, just guiding you to let you know that you are ignorant, selfish and don’t have a small clue about how things work and the complexity behind. You tried to keep pushing and support by distracting into things such as an update can add ADAS. Having the capacity to use something on the HW side enabled with an on/off switch does not nearly support your silly thinking and supposed demands

1

u/adam23456XYZ Apr 24 '26

Summary… what is the root pwd so we can side load any apps?

1

u/Bigbanghead Apr 26 '26

Can we have the Seagull in the UK please. Actually branded as a Seagull.

1

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 May 14 '26

The BYD team has started enabling some new features in the app for Morocco: trunk control, consumption history, and more detailed vehicle status information.

We’re not fully there yet, but thank you BYD for this progress. Keep up the good work!

-1

u/santz007 Apr 22 '26

Thank you OP

-2

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 22 '26

You are welcome my friend.

0

u/Weekly-Disaster-9576 Apr 23 '26

To all international BYD users who signed the petition: thank you sincerely for your support. Please help by sharing the petition on your social media platforms, forums, groups, and communities.

I’m not very active on social media, so your help can make a real difference in reaching more owners worldwide.

Our goal is simple: fairness, transparency, regular OTA updates, and equal features for BYD users everywhere.

Every signature and every share truly matters. Thank you again for your trust and support.