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.