I purchased the note A1 and began set up a home launcher to use it in conjuction with the left side button. I downloaded another app that let me set up side swipe actions. So if I swipe left from the left side ot the table, It went to the home launcher. The button on the left side is hardwired and cannot change-- always taking you to notes. That was fine with me. I like using both the left button and swipe, to navigate.
I ran into a problem, however. Using the launcher I set up a widget to use DARK MODE, not realizing that the TCL has not imnplemented this feature. By forcing a system-wide state (like Dark Mode) on a device where that feature is "half-baked" or removed from the OS framework caused the com.android.settings process to crash in a loop. In the future, I am going to avoid any widgets that toggle System-level settings (Dark Mode, Battery Saver, or Display Scaling).
I don't think it was the Swipe App's fault as such apps usually run as an "Overlay." While these apps may lag or interfere with gestures, they almost never cause a system cache error or a settings lockout.
When I tried to access system settings, I was unable to, not letting me in. Apparently there was a problem with the system cache. Because there IS NO VOLUME BUTTONS, I was unable to do a hard reset by pressing on the power button and volume button. Fortunately, I was able to get a replacement.
Is anyone aware of a pinhole on the device that can be used to reset it in conjunction with the power button?