diff --git a/Phone App/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/drivervault/phoneapp/car/CarStrings.kt b/Phone App/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/drivervault/phoneapp/car/CarStrings.kt
index eab198e..fd97a9f 100644
--- a/Phone App/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/drivervault/phoneapp/car/CarStrings.kt	
+++ b/Phone App/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/drivervault/phoneapp/car/CarStrings.kt	
@@ -40,7 +40,12 @@ class CarStrings private constructor(
 
     companion object {
         private const val BASE = "en"
-        private val PLACEHOLDER = Regex("""\{(\w+)}""")
+        // Both braces escaped, as in i18n.dart's twin of this pattern.
+        // Android compiles regexes through ICU rather than java.util.regex,
+        // and ICU refuses a closing brace that opens no quantifier — a lone
+        // "}" here throws PatternSyntaxException the first time CarStrings
+        // is touched, which on a head unit is a screen that never draws.
+        private val PLACEHOLDER = Regex("""\{(\w+)\}""")
 
         /** Loads the files for the account's language, falling back to English. */
         fun of(context: Context): CarStrings {