HTC Sense 7.0 "G" version explained

Together with the latest and greatest HTC One A9 we saw the HTC Sense 7.0 "G" edition user interface for the first time. What exactly is the "G" version and how it differs from the "regular" version?

The future of Android Revolution HD

It's been quite a long time since I updated some of custom ROMs for HTC One series devices. This weekend I was able to release 2 major update for the HTC One M8 and HTC One M9.

HTC One A9 officially presented

No more leaks and no more speculations. The newest HTC Android device - HTC One A9 was officially presented today, at the HTC #BeBrilliant Launch event. Although it's hard to predict the future of the One A9 by looking only at the hardware specification, the device itself is described by many as controversial due to middle-end Snapdragon 617 SoC and iPhonish design. Is it justified? I'd say - NO.

First of all I'm still using "old" HTC One M8 as my daily device. I've never had One M9 and being honest I never "really badly wanted" to have one. In my opinion M9 has a great hardware but the design is a step back to the M7 days. With the M8 it was different. I literally felt in love in that piece of metal uni-body art ever since I touched it for the first time. This love continues, even tho my M8 looks like after one year of a high mountains climbing trip. Surprisingly, even the "C" letter detached from the back and lost somewhere. So it's just "H" & "T" now. But I still love it.

With the One A9 I feel like I could possibly use it as my next Android device. Even if the hardware may seems worse than One M9 is equipped with, my general opinion in that matter is simple: if you can't see a real performance difference in a real life operations between two devices, go for the one with a better design.

In my opinion Snapdragon 617 SoC is more than enough to satisfy 99% of customers. It's enough to handle newest games and it should generate much less heat than infamous Snapdragon 810. That means it will also throttle less. With AMOLED display it should find new fans among Samsung users too.

"The Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 617 processor with X8 LTE combines a fast and powerful octa-core CPU with integrated Snapdragon X8 LTE, full 1080p support, and dual-ISPs, designed to deliver the next high-end experiences." - link to Snapdragon 617 specs page.

The overall hardware specification doesn't look bad on the paper and I can't wait to see how One A9 behaves in real.

About the "almost iPhone design" argument - yes, it's true that it does look like an iPhone. Yes, it's true that HTC was first with such design. The question is - does it really matter? HTC One M9 design was unique and awful (sorry to say that). HTC One A9 design is not as unique, but it just looks good. It doesn't bring any innovation, but I'm sure it will find more supporters rather than the M9 design.

Unlike many of my friends I'm pleased with what HTC presented today. As a HTC One M8 owner the One A9 sounds like a nice upgrade option to me, the first good looking phone after the One M8.

You can find more details about the HTC One A9 on the official page - HTC One A9.

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How To: recalibrate battery life on HTC devices

This method is an official one, recommended by the HTC Technical Support Team. Finally we have some alternative to the old myth related with re-calibrating the battery by removing the batterystats.bin file from /data/system location, as it has no impact on the battery life.

So if you're having some problems with battery life, for example it rapidly or erratically discharges (the battery indicator says 18% left but then suddenly, 5 seconds later your device is OFF) this procedure should help, as it clears all battery stats, coordinates and normalizes charging. At least HTC Technical Support says that :)

The procedure is simple:

1. Make sure that Fastboot option is disabled in Power settings.
2. Turn off your phone.
3. Plug phone into HTC charger and charge for two minutes or more.
4. While charging, hold down volume-up + volume-down + power button and continue holding. Phone will turn on and off repeatedly every 15 seconds or so while continuing to hold all three buttons.
5. Keep this going for 2 minutes, then release all buttons when phone is ON.
6. Now, let phone charge fully normally (with phone either on or off) and battery level reporting, charging and battery life should be normalized.

So... have you tried it? Did it help? Let me know!

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The Truth About Kernels and Battery Life by flar2

When it comes to Android kernels, the number one topic of discussion these days is battery life. But there are many myths about the relationship between kernel and battery life. At one extreme, there are those who make outrageous claims about radical changes to battery life minutes or hours after installing a kernel. At the other extreme are those who think the kernel makes absolutely no difference at all to battery life. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

HTC Sense 7.0 - Internet Browser

HTC has just started rolling out the new HTC Internet app update. Newest version is tagged as 7.1.2514183160 and it brings some Material Design touches. This HTC Internet browser is a part of the HTC Sense 7.0 interface. Let's take a look at some of the HTC Internet app features, but keep in mind that most of them were already available in the older version of the browser. The new HTC Internet is mostly about new design.

Introducing the HTC One M9+

The most anticipated phone after the HTC One M9 is finally here! Let's take a closer look at what HTC offers in the M9's "big brother":

Android 5.1: Unwrapping a new Lollipop update

It seems that Android 5.1 is finally out! The Android team just posted on their blog that new update is ready and it brings quite a lot of changes, including stability fixes, performance improvements and offers a few new features like support for multiple SIM cards, Device Protection and high definition (HD) voice on compatible phones. 

"Whether you want to share your phone with a family member or better manage your mobile costs, Android Lollipop 5.1 now lets you use more than one SIM card on a device with multiple SIM slots."

"With Device Protection, your lost or stolen device will remain locked until you sign in with your Google account - even if someone resets your device to factory settings. This feature will be available on most Android phones and tablets shipped with Android 5.1 in addition to Nexus 6 and Nexus 9."

"High Definition voice calling is now on your mobile phone. Get crystal clear calling with HD Voice between compatible Android 5.1 devices like the Nexus 6 on T-Mobile or Verizon."

"Android 5.1 Lollipop also provides enhancements such as the ability to join Wi-Fi networks and control of your paired Bluetooth devices directly from Quick Settings."

Source: Android Official Blog

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HTC Sense 7.0 - Priority Ringtones

Continuing observations regarding the new HTC Sense 7.0 features it's time to take a look at another very interesting aspect of the new HTC user interface - the Priority Ringtones. Priority Ringtones probably replaced the "DND" (Do Not Disturb) function as I can't find it any more in the Quick Settings menu. So how does it work?

HTC Sense 7.0 - Photo Editor

When you look at the HTC Sense 7.0 UI you might think it's not very different from the HTC Sense 6.0. In fact - apart from a few very obvious features like Sense Home with Smart Folders - most changes are either under the hood or are a part of extended functionality of a particular system component. One of such new extended functionality is HTC Photo Editor, which doesn't come as a separate, standalone app, but as a part of the HTC Gallery app (com.htc.album). And it has some really nice features!

HTC Sense 7.0 - Sense Home with Smart Folders

HTC "Sense Home" system is one of the greatest HTC Sense 7.0 feature I found so far. It's basically a widget where you can place apps and games icons from your app drawer or even create a new typical folder. "Sense Home" widget is connected with locations service and it automatically detects the location of your device, changing in a real time the content of the widget to "Home", "Work" or "Out". Want to know more? Keep reading!

HTC Sense 7.0 - Wallpapers

Earlier today you had a chance to read more details about HTC Sense 7.0 custom navigation bar. You are already familiar with the new HTC Sense Themes too, and now we want to show you brand new HTC wallpapers you can find in the newest Sense UI. Of course it's nothing really major, but I enjoy exploring new HTC Sense 7.0 features and sharing it with you!

HTC Sense 7.0 - Custom Navigation Bar

You've probably heard already about the new cool HTC Sense 7.0 feature called Themes Generator. In fact that's not the only surprise in the newest HTC custom user interface. In the sixth version of the Sense UI HTC opted for extensive configuration options of the Android Navigation Bar. Now in addition to the existing three main on-screen buttons you can choose a 4th button with a specific function.

HTC Sense 7.0 - Themes Generator

One of the new HTC Sense features is the HTC Themes Generator. And it's not only about the colour schemes of the UI elements. This time HTC went further and decided to create a various of different icons for each theme. It seems that HTC really listens to its fans, because the possibility to customize the look of the user interface is one of the biggest requests since years. HTC Sense 7.0 is definitely an evolution in a good direction!

HTC One M9 in all flavours! [Gallery]

If you didn't have a chance yet to see the official, high quality images of the newest HTC flagship - HTC One M9 here's the full gallery. Enjoy!

Utopia in Progress: HTC One M9, HTC Grip & HTC Vive

HTC aims to improve lives by empowering consumers through smart technology to build deeper, more meaningful connections with the things that matter most in their lives. HTC is also expanding its vision beyond the traditional smartphone and tablet space, to bring the award-winning design and category-shifting innovation to new markets.

HTC One M9 official specification

HTC One M9 is finally released! A great looking newest HTC high-end smartphone. Even if it's just an evolution in terms of the design, keep in mind that the HTC One M8 was multiple times rewarded for its design. So instead of making a complete change in this matter, HTC decided, once more, to keep the winning design and only make a few little changes. I believe this is a good move and the HTC One M9 will lead the leadership among other 2015 smartphones. Also, keep in mind that the whole hardware is way better - new SoC, improved camera, increased RAM memory and more! Details below!

HTC One M9 Launch Event live-stream

The day we’ve been all waiting for since the HTC One M8 launch event. Because what can be better then HTC One M8? Of course HTC One M9. Below you can find the official live-streaming video from the HTC One M9 Launch Event in Barcelona. Have fun!

HTC Sense 7.0 - can we expect any of these?

With HTC Sense 7.0 right around the corner I thought of making some little "wish-list" of a features I would love to see in the refreshed HTC UI. If you don't know yet - HTC Sense is so far the most advanced and by many known as the best custom Android User Interface. Apple has its iOS, Samsung has its plastic and HTC has its Sense UI.

Xposed for Android Lollipop is out!

The day we've been all waiting for since Android Lollipop landed on the HTC flag-ship devices! Xposed (so far Alpha version) for Android 5.0 is finally here!

HTC One M9 - What do we know so far?

The HTC One M9 launch day is just around the corner. We've heard a lot of rumours already and saw a different renders presenting the concepts of the incoming HTC flag-ship device. The question is - what do we really know so far?

HTC One M9 "Hima" design concept

Just few minutes ago Phone Designer posted on their Facebook page a new concepts of the incoming HTC high-end device - HTC One M9 "Hima". The authors warned that the concept is based on the current leaks and they can't promise the final product will look exactly the same.

My thoughts? Actually I really hope it will look exactly the same! Pictures are just stunning!

The clock is ticking... [HTC at MWC 2015]

Since few years every March means a lot of fascination and excitement in the Android world. March is a special month for thousands of Android users, especially those using devices from the ambitious and inventive Taiwan manufacturer - HTC.

How To: Find a proper firmware variant for the HTC device

This guide is related to the previously published article - How To: Flash firmware package on the HTC device. The goal of this guide is to expose the problem of a matching firmware version for the particular HTC device. Please read it carefully and in case of any questions leave a proper comment in the comments section at the end of this article.

Every firmware.zip has 2 main attributes: modelid (MID) and cidnum (CID).

• MID contains a codename of your device. For example the "0P6B1000" is the international version of the HTC One M8, while the "0P6B13000" is the T-Mobile U.S. version of the HTC One M8.
• CID is the carrier software codename. For example the "HTC__J15" code represents the unbranded international version of the HTC One M8, while the "T-MOB010" code represents the T-Mobile U.S. software. Different CID numbers are usually used for mobile operators to include different regional settings, languages or to include some extra software (Wi-Fi Calling, Visual Voice Mail etc.).

Both MID and CID can be found in the android-info.txt inside each firmware.zip. This is how android-info.txt looks like (as an example I used firmware.zip from the international version of the HTC One M8):

Once you know the version of the firmware you have, you need to check if your device can be safely flashed with that particular firmware.zip. To check that:

1. Download this mini-sdk package and extract it to c:\mini-sdk
2. Connect your device to the PC
3. Boot your device in fastboot mode (vol down + power ===> fastboot)
4. Open a command prompt on the PC (cmd.exe), type and confirm each command with ENTER:
5. cd /d c:\mini-sdk
6. fastboot getvar all

This is an example output from the international version of the HTC One M8:

What you are looking for is the "modelid" and "cidnum".

• If your device is S-ON then both modelid and cidnum must match.
• If your device is S-OFF then modelid is critical to match, but cidnum can be changed either by changing CID of your device or by editing android-info.txt.
• Edited firmware.zip can't be flashed on the S-ON device.
• If your device is S-ON then you can't downgrade your current firmware version.

If both CID and MID numbers match you can safely flash the firmware.zip package - How To: Flash firmware package on the HTC device.

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How To: Flash firmware package on the HTC device

Flashing so called "firmware" is as popular these days as flashing "custom ROM". For HTC old-boys it's nothing complicated, but some fresh Android users might find it difficult to understand the differences between "firmware" and a "custom ROM". As a result they might be afraid to upgrade OS on their device or even accidentally hard/soft brick it. Before continuing please read this article: How To: Find the proper firmware variant on the HTC device.

HTC Sense 6.0 UI - Lollipop vs KitKat comparison

Earlier this month HTC has released Android 5.0 for the HTC One M8 together with the HTC Sense 6.0. New Over The Air (OTA) update started rolling out for WWE unbranded devices on Wednesday (28.01.2015), so during these few days I had a chance to look closely at the user interface changes after the update. I didn't expect many, because HTC Sense version is still the same, but Android Lollipop is quite a big platform upgrade, so some major and some little visual changes are all over the place.

I hope you'll enjoy reading!

HTC One M8 receives official Lollipop OTA update [WWE & T-Mobile]

If you were waiting for the official Lollipop OTA updates for your HTC One M8 – wait no more! Today HTC has started rolling out update for the .401 WWE (World Wide English) devices and - which is surprising - for the T-Mobile carrier in various European countries (f.g. 118 - PL, 111 - DE).

Android 5.0 Lollipop is available for the HTC One M8 since few days already - we wrote about it here: HTC One M7 & HTC One M8 Android Lollipop stock system dumps and here: HTC One M8 received Android 5.0.1 Lollipop with the HTC Sense 6 UI but since today the gates are open for owners of the unbranded WWE devices too! Previously OTA was available only for  the M8 Developer Edition variant.

OTA package for WWE devices is 782MB (4.16.401.10) and can be downloaded from here.

If you are looking for an optimized stock ROM with ROOT access just navigate to this thread and download latest Android Revolution HD for the HTC One M8.

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HTC One M7 & HTC One M8 Android Lollipop stock system dumps

Android 5.0 "Lollipop" has been unveiled on June 25, 2014 and it’s the latest version of the Android mobile operating system developed by Google. Only few months later the HTC One M7 - the best smartphone of the 2013 and the HTC One M8 - the best smartphone of the 2014 are already running Android Lollipop together with the most powerful Android custom UI - HTC Sense 6.0.

How to: Unlock external SD Card writing for all apps in Android 4.4 and 5.0

In Android 4.4 "Kitkat" (API 19) Google has changed the default permissions for the external SD Card (usually microSD). Since that Android OS version third-party apps have no more access to write on the SD Card. It's a bit problematic, because now you might not be able to use your favourite Files Manager to move or copy files on the external storage.

HTC’s Android Lollipop update roadmap

According to the HTC-Vietnam site, Android 5.0 Lollipop update with the HTC Sense UI on board is suppose to land on multiple HTC devices in 2015. Thanks to HTC's impressive update timing we can already enjoy Lollipop taste on the HTC One M7 and the HTC One M8 in both Sense and Google Play Edition flavours. Earlier in 2014 we already wrote about possible roadmap in this article: "HTC devices to receive Android 5.0 "Lollipop" update". Here are some fresh details:

How to: Fix no access to the virtual SD card after Android Lollipop update

This solution is based on the experience with some HTC and Nexus devices, however it will work on any device running Android Lollipop or newer/older Android OS with SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux) kernel security module.

What's the problem? Sometimes you might not be able to access the content of the internal userdata memory, also known as "virtual SD card" - located as /data/media/0 on the userdata partition. The "bad" workaround is to boot the device in a recovery mode and gain the access to all files from there, but this doesn't solve the problem at all.

Repair Process
Note: root required!

1. Download this mini-sdk package and extract it to c:\mini-sdk
2. Connect your device to the PC
3. Start up the device normally, wait until system is fully loaded
4. Open a command prompt on the PC (cmd.exe), type and confirm each command with ENTER:
5. cd /d c:\mini-sdk
6. adb shell
7. su
8. restorecon -FR /data/media/0
9. exit

What's going to happen? Restorecon is a program used to restore file(s) default SELinux security contexts. It can be run at any time to correct errors or to add support for new policy. With a corrected SELinux security context for the /data/media/0 you will be able to access the content of the virtual SD card again.

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HTC One M8 received Android 5.0.1 Lollipop with the HTC Sense 6 UI

The best smartphone of the 2014 – the HTC One M8 is already running Android 5.0.1 with the HTC Sense 6.0 interface. Thanks to the OTA update package from the 13th January HTC One M8 owners can already enjoy all the goodies that comes with one of the biggest Android platform update – Lollipop.

The UI is slightly refreshed, but it’s still HTC Sense 6.0 after all. However, HTC is already working on the HTC Sense 7 update that will become official together with the HTC One M9 premiere (if that’s the proper name).

Currently only the HTC One M8 Developer Edition is getting Lollipop OTA and it’s tagged as 4.16.1540.8. WWE Edition (.401) is around the corner too, and it should appear later this week. It will be tagged as 4.16.401.8. But don’t be disappointed, you can already have Android 5.0.1 Lollipop running on your device, even if it’s not the Developer Edition. Just head to this thread and install the latest Android Revolution HD 30.1 based on the 4.16.1540.8 update. It should work on most variants of the HTC One M8, except the U.S. models.

One of the biggest changes in Android 5.0 is ART (Android Runtime) - an application runtime environment used by the older Android mobile operating system. ART replaces Dalvik, which is the process virtual machine originally used by Android, and performs transformation of the application's bytecode into native instructions that are later executed by the device's runtime environment. ART brings improvements in performance, garbage collection, applications debugging and profiling. Among with a tones of security fixes and other major changes, Android 5.0 Lollipop also contains major new platform features for developers, with over 5,000 new APIs added for use by applications.

It's definitely one of the most important system update in the Android history. And since HTC One M8 is the best Android device up to date, it's a must have update for every HTC One M8 owner.

Android 5.0.1 Lollipop with the HTC Sense 6.0 for the HTC One M8 (4.16.1540.8) - link

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