I had a similar thing happen on a 2002 Sierria. My problem was caused from road salt corroding away the rivites that held the pads to the backing plates.
I went through this when I purchased my 2021 RST at the end of February. Before I went to the dealership, I wrote out a budget for the purchase based on their advertised internet price. The dealer had a $999 add on protection package that was not listed on their website. When the sales manager told me I had to pay it, I said that puts it over my budget. I then got up to leave. The sales manger then said we will take it off. I do not believe they would do that today.
I have an Android phone. I did not like Android Auto. I disabled it through my phone settings.
I just did a quick internet search & several articles came up on disabling Apple Car Play.
I had the same feelings toward the new body style the 1st couple of years they were out. Then I started seeing some that looked good. Then I saw the 2021 RSTs & really liked them. I bought one 2 months ago. I had radio issues at the start. Those were fixed. It gets better mileage than any truck I have ever owned. No regrets.
Do you have the owners manual? I have a Silverado. There is a process in the Silverado manual, under keys, doors and windows for deleting all remotes & starting over. The manual says it take about 30 minutes to complete.
Your dealer should have reprogrammed all of the remotes to give you access to all the features of the Denali.