Are Custom Skins Worth it (aka Sense) - Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]

<Rant>
Since the release of the htc desire here in the uk I have seen a explosion of my friends buying it/ getting android. Ive gone from knowing one person with a android to 10 in 2 months!
All very well and good but being a htc hero owner for nearly a year now I cannot more and more help think that the Sense/MotoBlur and other skins over the stock android really arent worth it.
This may fall on deaf ears here at xda with such a huge CustomROM development scene but every time google release a new android version, I have less and less reason to root and flash a customROM onto my phone!
Back when android was 1.5/1.6 it was a ugly looking beast which HTC sense did brilliantly to fix. It was the first android phone to make me (and many others) go "wow". Such that is the pace that android and its manufactures travel at, within a couple of months the hero dropped from #1 to #4 of top android phones. The main reason being of course the android pace of upgrades
since 2.x android has looked good, its picked up sense features and really is not that far behind the sense experience (apart from KB).. I could happily live without sense if i was on 2.x and would much prefere to have a update within 2 weeks then 6months that htc(and other companies) seem to provide.
The problem is I now want a incredible or a evo4 but I would prefere to be able to buy it with a Stock Android build that google will support like they do on the Nexus one.
Am I the only one who feels this?
</Rant>

It's a trade-off. With the evo you do have the option to use the stock android launcher though. But it still is up to the rom scene to do most of the work regarding updating the rom. Though HTC has stated that they will have, at least the evo, sense available for with 2.2 before July (I think the unofficial date is June 26 or something).
(OT)
I though the UK only had GSM carriers/towers and didn't know there would be a GSM version of the evo, and I didn't know there would be a GSM incredible(Verizon branded in the US)

I haven't heard or read anything about the HTC EVO or Incredible being produced in GSM versions. HTC have continuously stated that there won't be any GSM models of either phone. As far as I'm aware, anyway.
Do you have any links/sources that say otherwise?

Make sure you take note on the extensive time it takes to update a device with a custom UI. Learn from the eris, which JUST got its first official OTA, and even that was released pretty buggy. Even the Droid took a while, but that's just a Moto issue, and it didn't take near as long as others, as it has had 2 OTA's since it's release. Lets just hope HTC has worked out the kinks in their compilation and distribution of working software.

Related

[Resolved] Can HTC Legend be rooted to put Froyo on it?

Hi,
I need a bit of help making up my mind. The HTC Legend fits my budget quite nicely, and I like it. I've played with both the Legend and the Desire, and while I do think the Desire is better, I'm quite happy with the Legend at the price I'm getting it at.
My only question is this - assuming HTC never releases Froyo for the Legend (and this seems to be likely), would it be possible and advisable to root it and put Froyo on it? If yes, my decision becomes so much easier.
I'm asking this because it'll be disappointing buying a fairly new phone and seeing it not supported at all in the future.
Thanks all.
It's definitely possible to root the Legend and Froyo can technically be ported to any Android device with the right know-how, so really it's a matter of time before someone does.
I think there will be an official Froyo update for the Legend - it's not that old and the Hero is still going to get Eclair despite its age (although it is a more popular phone).
This article seems to indicate that an update is coming soon although it's weirdly worded and it makes it sound like it's an Eclair update coming to the Desire and the Legend - which is what's already on there. Hopefully it's not just a minor patch.
If HTC go ahead an release an official update you can expect Sense, updated drivers and thereby better use of the hardware than custom ROMs.
Thank you for that. I'm in Australia and there's a good chance that we might get the Nexus One end of June. I've decided to wait for that and compare the plans between the N1 and Legend before committing. If the N1 is much more expensive, I'll get the Legend immediately.
On a separate note I can't wait until Google makes updating phones a bit more straightforward, or forces HTC to pull their socks up when it comes to passing on the updates to consumers.
Thanks again.

[Q] Nexus One benefit of 1st to get updates is a big advantage?

Hi,
I know that the Google Nexus One gets the Android updates faster then the others, some like the Hero got the Froyo update much later but in general especially in the latest Android Phones how much later they get the updates? This N1 advantage is so very significant that makes one choose it instead of eg the HTC Desire wich is 95% equal?
Regards
RB
i think so,this is the reason why i choose n1 but not Desire~~however,user the latest rom is more important than others~
Anymore opinions? Desire users did you already been offer the latest 2 part update with minor bug fixes?
Read an article a few days ago that the HTC Legend is only getting Froyo this month but only in Europe
Even if the sense shell makes the android in it different that is a long time! but off course this have HTC speculation also and probably that is the biggest the reason of the delay because HTC software designers already proved that they are good. But i think that maybe Sony is even worst.
I myself couldn´t live no more without Java.

Is the Desire S the ugly sister?

Last year we had the Original Desire, it wasn't long before it was rooted and had plenty of support.
This year we had the Incredible S, The Desire S and the Sensation and its like the Desire S has been forgotten about.
I think it's because the phone is so similar to the incredible s with the incredible s being slightly better. Also by naming it desire s you expect it to carry on the legacy of the original desire which i don't think it pulled off that well.
dan-fish said:
I think it's because the phone is so similar to the incredible s with the incredible s being slightly better. Also by naming it desire s you expect it to carry on the legacy of the original desire which i don't think it pulled off that well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It didn't carry the legacy of the Desire at all, I'm regretting getting it, it is a fantastic phone but its never gonna get any decent level of support.
Spoke to someone in the trade.They think the desire s will be abandoned by htc meaning no support or updates.Its a major flop hence the cheap deals.They cant give them away.
Problem is it was released at the wrong time, there will be little to no support from hackers either I suspect.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App
still a sick phone though.
prolly once the s-off-ing gets released, more people will develop/port to desire S.
my guess is most roms could be ported over easily to DS from IS and DHD
I wonder is the Incredible S having the same issues thanks to the Sensation? I think the Galaxy SII is the Desire of 2011, it'll be the one getting all the support I reckon.
I just hope it'll get S-Off'd so I can root my device
That's all and people are doing that
It's a mid-range phone, so most people will get it, but very little of the dev community on xda will get it unless they are trying to make major developments on it which sucks D:
Is HTC not supposed to be unlocking the boot loader? Or is this just going to be on new phones?
I thought it was just new phones.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App
Phillmitchell said:
Spoke to someone in the trade.They think the desire s will be abandoned by htc meaning no support or updates.Its a major flop hence the cheap deals.They cant give them away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that very much. The Desire S is stable with no generic problems, updates to sense 3.0 will come in due course, it is something they are working on. Incredible S has not received any updates since the 2.3 update, while the Desire S launched with 2.3. I fail to understand what the fuss is all about
atomicsoul said:
I doubt that very much. The Desire S is stable with no generic problems, updates to sense 3.0 will come in due course, it is something they are working on. Incredible S has not received any updates since the 2.3 update, while the Desire S launched with 2.3. I fail to understand what the fuss is all about
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
@others i am pretty sure the phone will get updates in the future...
& alpharevX team is working on software s-off & have succeeded they will release it in public soon...
Alsoo you can't say anything about it not getting updates no more
I recieved an OTA update just now (like literally 15 minutes ago) and all it adds is **** i don't want. (bloatware). Yayyyy
new software number now = 1.47.161.2
I, like others on this forum, don't really see what the problem is. I came from a Hero and got the Desire S based on its merits as a handset straight out of the box, not what it could be with rooting and modding. As a straight out of the box experience, I've been overjoyed with the performance, look 'n' feel and general use of this phone. I did pay to borrow an XTC clip and s-off'd it quite quickly and as a tinkering handset, it's even better. The important thing is I would have been happy with it as it was... the s-off and root just makes a great handset even greater
The recent (albiet buggy) ports of Miui and Gingerbread/CM7 are evidence that the Desire S has a rich and rommy future
I'm guessing that everyone posting in this thread has a Desire S in which case...
If as me you like the device (which was why I bought it in the first place) then great, I can't see any need to continue adding to this thread.
If you don't - then buy another device or IMO don't continue adding negative posts to threads like this that will mainly be read only by other Desire S owners. It's still too early to predict/guess the level of support the device will get in the future and as the last month should have shown us no-one can accurately predict what HTC will do!
We all have the device and probably will all have it for at least one year, in some cases maybe two so either way we'll have to live with. So let's at least try to be positive!
Best phone Iv had. Coming from the HD2, and more recently the Galaxy S2, I cam honestly say this phone is near perfect. I diched the Galaxy S2 in the end because the touchwiz was in my opinion behind the HTC sense interface. The S2 was buggy and battery life lousy. The des S's build quality it brilliant, has a really quality feel to it. The 3.7 inch screen is also just right.. Hits the sweetspot between portability and usability. Personally I feel the 4" plus screens make the handset to big... Feels like taking a step back. Sure, the S2s hardware beats the desires in everyway, but when it comes to usability.. The desire kills it. For starters, theres no lag when waking up the phone..shockingly there is with the s2 which boasts a dual core processor. To sum up, I feel that the desire s is an awesome handset, not the most powerful, but it's reliable, does the things you want it to and more outa the box..and once s-off'd and sense 3 components added, I feel the phones near perfect. If I had to suggest just one improvement, I'd say keep the phone exactly as it is..but add some dual core muscle.
There.. That's my two pence worth.
No phone will get manufacturer support for more than 18 months or so in the new retail world. As to whether enough modders buy it to make it better, I really don't care much. I'd like HTC to fix a few niggles, but basically that's about it. I don't particularly care if it is upgraded to Android 3.0 either.
I came from the original Desire which I rooted and tried numerous different roms infact I got addicted to flashing not one week would go past without me trying a new Rom
My main qualms with the desire were lack of internal memory and I couldn't wait for gingerbread and sense 2.1
Now the DS has all these features as standard and people are still not happy in time all the custom roms will come you will be able to root and be s-off I'm sure when the original desire came out all these didn't turn up over night
So people please be patient
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA App
I feel that the Desire S is the most attractive HTC phone in general.
I agree, it's pretty looking, robust, not too big.

ICS 4.0 Update Not Until April 2012?

http://www.themobileindian.com/news/3587_Android-4.0-update-to-come-in-April-2012:-Reports
As reports point out, the updates will arrive by 2nd quarter (beginning April) of 2012 and it is again going to be Samsung devices which will get these updates first. The official word from Samsung is that the six devices to get the update first will be Galaxy S II, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, Galaxy Tab 7.7, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 and all of these devices except Galaxy Note (which is coming to India on 2nd November) are already available in India.
Samsung has also said that since it had been working closely with Google on ICS, they expected to beat competitors to the market with upgrades for existing devices.
HTC has also publicly announced the plans for the updates, but it is expected to be late to the party as their phones are heavily modified version of Android and therefore will take more time to include their Sense user interface into the new updates. It will be a more uphill task since some of the features that were available only through Sense UI are now part of Android 4.0 by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. That would be very upsetting if it took that long for an official ICS update.
And to think I actually left my device S-on and unrooted in hopes of getting this update before Christmas. Shame on me.
As soon as we get CM7 stable, I'm done with stock. Done with HTC Sense. Done with waiting for HTC and T-Mobile to get us updates (I know I'm late to the party )
Lol you thought we'd have an update this year, that's kind of funny dude. HTC is good with updates, but not that good. And I've been running cm7 since the cm team dropped it on September 11 and its very stable. Just because they call it an alpha doesn't mean it's buggy or laggy.I think it runs very well like the nightlies. But if I were you bud I'd s-off and root because when the galaxy nexus is released, Google will be releasing the source code for ICS and there will be ICS roms asap and cm9. Or just get the galaxy nexus like I'm planning on doing if you want ICS lol but seriously, you'll have ICS soon, it just won't be official.
Sent from my Sensation using XDA App
The moment ICS gets dumped on XDA, it's gonna be a race to see who mmcan get it stable first. A "friendly" competition, if you will. #yearightlol.
Sent from my HTC Sensation
I am confident that we'll have CM9 running on our phones long before HTC deigns to give us their Sensified interpretation of ICS.
I remember the Galaxy S situation last year......
Same phone as NEXUS S , but the updato to Gingerbread (released in mid dicember) is arrived in May
I'm probably not gonna wait around for HTC.
soon as stable ICS rom becomes available from our wonderful developers I'm upgrading.
lot of the Sense features are on ICS anyways.
nory82688 said:
Lol you thought we'd have an update this year, that's kind of funny dude. HTC is good with updates, but not that good. And I've been running cm7 since the cm team dropped it on September 11 and its very stable. Just because they call it an alpha doesn't mean it's buggy or laggy.I think it runs very well like the nightlies. But if I were you bud I'd s-off and root because when the galaxy nexus is released, Google will be releasing the source code for ICS and there will be ICS roms asap and cm9. Or just get the galaxy nexus like I'm planning on doing if you want ICS lol but seriously, you'll have ICS soon, it just won't be official.
Sent from my Sensation using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How long does it take to turn source code into a stable ROM? I'm not a programmer or developer so I have no idea lol.
I'm gonna stick with my sensation, but I'm scared to unroot and flash haha.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
It will be a more uphill task since some of the features that were available only through Sense UI are now part of Android 4.0 by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, that may cost HTC some sales if other phones will get similar features to Sense.
we will get offical ICS if apple devcies get iOS 6 !!
htc should just send ICS for sensation..then after 3 months bring Sense 4.0
Based on past experience, HTC won't release an update until a few months after a new flagship device shipped with a new Android version is launched.
So let's say HTC announce a ICS flagship device in late Dec or early Jan, which will be shipped earliest a month after that. Say early Feb. Add two months to it, April sounds plausible.
As soon as ICS source code is released, probably within days you will start seeing custom ICS roms popping up here. Most of which will be crappy and unstable (although everyone will claim "lighting fast! Super stable!" in their thread title). I would say a month after ICS source code being released, quality ROMs will start rolling out.
LPChris47 said:
http://www.themobileindian.com/news/3587_Android-4.0-update-to-come-in-April-2012:-Reports
Wow. That would be very upsetting if it took that long for an official ICS update.
And to think I actually left my device S-on and unrooted in hopes of getting this update before Christmas. Shame on me.
As soon as we get CM7 stable, I'm done with stock. Done with HTC Sense. Done with waiting for HTC and T-Mobile to get us updates (I know I'm late to the party )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate the break the bad news to you, but the Sensation is now officially the "red headed step child" for both HTC and the carriers around the globe. It was intended to be the flagship Android device when it was released last June, but HORRIBLE quality control lead to massive shipments of faulty devices. HTC still won't admit the issue, although the carriers now openly mention it and will even offer you an LG or Samsung device as a replacement no matter how long you have had your Sensation. With the new Nexus device about to ship, and a handful of other ICS devices on the way, HTC is in a world of hurt. They didn't get awarded the contract for the Nexus phone and the Motorola/Google merger is going to crush their bottom line. Let's also not forget about the snooping software HTC "mistakenly" installed on this phone, which they have just started rolling out updates to remove. In summary, the Sensation was intended to be a market leader. Due to multiple internal/external issues at HTC that never happened, and now they (HTC) are trying to play catch up. The other issue is that HTC has newer phones on the market which have pushed the Sensation to the back of the line when it comes to upgrades. The Sensation is caught in the middle of the newer phones who are competing against the newest version of Android. Sure, ICS will likely come out for the Sensation by Spring/Summer, but at that point the phone will be a year old and nobody will care.....
webmaster said:
I hate the break the bad news to you, but the Sensation is now officially the "red headed step child" for both HTC and the carriers around the globe. It was intended to be the flagship Android device when it was released last June, but HORRIBLE quality control lead to massive shipments of faulty devices. HTC still won't admit the issue, although the carriers now openly mention it and will even offer you an LG or Samsung device as a replacement no matter how long you have had your Sensation. With the new Nexus device about to ship, and a handful of other ICS devices on the way, HTC is in a world of hurt. They didn't get awarded the contract for the Nexus phone and the Motorola/Google merger is going to crush their bottom line. Let's also not forget about the snooping software HTC "mistakenly" installed on this phone, which they have just started rolling out updates to remove. In summary, the Sensation was intended to be a market leader. Due to multiple internal/external issues at HTC that never happened, and now they (HTC) are trying to play catch up. The other issue is that HTC has newer phones on the market which have pushed the Sensation to the back of the line when it comes to upgrades. The Sensation is caught in the middle of the newer phones who are competing against the newest version of Android. Sure, ICS will likely come out for the Sensation by Spring/Summer, but at that point the phone will be a year old and nobody will care.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your insight
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
lol. nice thoughts! but for some years here in xda, whos still waiting for these "updates" when there are devs that surely be porting this as soon as source comes out? @[email protected]
and to add to that, haven't you learned that HTC is like a brick itself? like the unlocked bootloader they promised? so many people asking them about that and trying to tell them stuff, but they decided to play by their book and it just ended up xda devs coming up with a different way to unlock the bootloader. so, don't trust them, they put some crazy stuff on your phone and won't tell you that they bugged your phone for some unknown reason. thats why there's xda-developers
i dont think it will be that late ,january at the latest we should have something, beta, leak , CM8
Google I/O 2012 is on April 24 and i think they will launch another version of android then
i thought their said the that ics will come to others devices after 2 months its released! well i wont say nothing the fat lady aint sang yet
Im not really worried about the ICS update from HTC. I myself have been lucky and have had ZERO issues with my sensation, but as fast as the quality devs here can roll stuff out we will have 4.0 before too long, and this being a back of the line phone? i dont buy that. It can be considered an entry level dual core phone, but with the custom ROM's and mods available for this thing, it has the ability to blow more powerful phones off the chart.
I must admit im waiting for the Nexus Prime, but until then i'll enjoy the sensation, and probably always will.
webmaster said:
I hate the break the bad news to you, but the Sensation is now officially the "red headed step child" for both HTC and the carriers around the globe. It was intended to be the flagship Android device when it was released last June, but HORRIBLE quality control lead to massive shipments of faulty devices. HTC still won't admit the issue, although the carriers now openly mention it and will even offer you an LG or Samsung device as a replacement no matter how long you have had your Sensation. With the new Nexus device about to ship, and a handful of other ICS devices on the way, HTC is in a world of hurt. They didn't get awarded the contract for the Nexus phone and the Motorola/Google merger is going to crush their bottom line. Let's also not forget about the snooping software HTC "mistakenly" installed on this phone, which they have just started rolling out updates to remove. In summary, the Sensation was intended to be a market leader. Due to multiple internal/external issues at HTC that never happened, and now they (HTC) are trying to play catch up. The other issue is that HTC has newer phones on the market which have pushed the Sensation to the back of the line when it comes to upgrades. The Sensation is caught in the middle of the newer phones who are competing against the newest version of Android. Sure, ICS will likely come out for the Sensation by Spring/Summer, but at that point the phone will be a year old and nobody will care.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you have some kind of source for these claims? I've not heard a peep about this stuff from other users here or any news sites.
They didn't say anything about releasing the source in july right? Hopefully it releases the same time as Galaxy Nexus. I don't see why I would want an OTA when there's a CM9
unfnknblvbl said:
do you have some kind of source for these claims? I've not heard a peep about this stuff from other users here or any news sites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/google-to-buy-motorola-mobility/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1114612
I could provide you countless other links, but in this case Google truly is your friend!
If I'm not mistaken we would have to wait for HTC to release the source for an Android 4.0 compatible kernel to be able to run CM9 on Sensation. Or maybe the devs can patch together an Android 2.x kernel for compatibility? I'm no programmer so I'm not sure what I just said makes any sense... but apache (provides the CM7 kernel for Sensation) said that they based their kernel on source code from HTC, I guess due to the aSMP CPU in Sensation.

Any news/rumors on an update?

Just curious if anyone has seen any news related to a new Verizon OTA being in the works to fix some of the bugs introduced with 5.01. Haven't personally seen anything about it but one can make a pretty easy assumption that at some point we will get another OTA.
HTC wouldn't need an entire update to address the bugs introduced in Lollipop.
App updates through the play store can correct the messaging app and keyboard app bugs.
I'm just about quite sure we will get an update to Sense 7 with Android 5.0.2 or maybe 5.1. The HTC One M7 was updated to Sense 6 shortly after the One M8 came out with it. You'd think HTC would want to use Sense 7 as leverage to milk sales, but they didn't seem to have that attitude last year. It was more like, "Okay, the M8 is out, let's get the M7 up to speed." The M7 even got a couple updates before the M8 did, but I forget which. It wasn't a huge lead, but it did happen.
xsteven77x said:
Just curious if anyone has seen any news related to a new Verizon OTA being in the works to fix some of the bugs introduced with 5.01. Haven't personally seen anything about it but one can make a pretty easy assumption that at some point we will get another OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dragontology said:
I'm just about quite sure we will get an update to Sense 7 with Android 5.0.2 or maybe 5.1. The HTC One M7 was updated to Sense 6 shortly after the One M8 came out with it. You'd think HTC would want to use Sense 7 as leverage to milk sales, but they didn't seem to have that attitude last year. It was more like, "Okay, the M8 is out, let's get the M7 up to speed." The M7 even got a couple updates before the M8 did, but I forget which. It wasn't a huge lead, but it did happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, u guys should consider yourselves LUCKY lol . Verizon M7's STILL don't have lollipop .. still running on 4.4.3. ...Yet every other carrier m7 have it already..
Big Red last to the party as usual...
Why would we be LUCKY? We're a generation newer. If anything, it's the M7 users who should be "LUCKY." If you were a Motorola user, you wouldn't get updates, period. If you were a Samsung user, your updates would end when the new model began. If you were lucky you might get one six months later. HTC committed to 2 years... They gave the M7 a year and a half. 5.0.x will be the last update... The VZW M7 came out in August 2013, so it got about a year and a half of updates. The M8 came out in March 2014, so we'll probably get updates through September or so.
But you know, Samsung can afford to lose fans. They probably don't care. Motorola, too. I have heard (and don't doubt) that Samsung SPENDS more on marketing in a year than HTC MAKES (profits, earns/grosses? I don't know) all year. HTC is the underdog here. They support Google's no-face-buttons design while Samsung is clinging to the iPhone form factor. HTC uses memory cards while Samsung (and Motorola) do not. HTC is making really nice looking (and sounding!) phones that should be the BASE MODEL at Motorola or Samsung. HTC is acting like they have money to spend, and maybe they do, but if we want them to do things companies can do when they're doing well... We need to support them. If you can afford to buy the next HTC One, buy the next HTC One. Encourage your friends and family to buy HTC. You probably won't make much difference just on your own, but if we all did it... who knows. Especially if you go to places like Android Police who suck up to Samsung and take pot shots at HTC whenever possible, and offer a little CONSTRUCTIVE criticism on that (I'm not a good one for this... I'm an @$$, I just call them Apple Police), maybe they'll change their tone, I don't know. But we're facing a duopoly of Apple and Samsung, and we need to support a third party... especially when the duopoly partners are making the same phone as one another. We should fight for options, especially if we think they are superior.
Hmm. Ya I think we will see at least one more major update for our phones before they abandon us for the m9. M7 users best days are probably behind them at this point.
Isn't this the beauty of Android??? Open source, rooting, modding etc..??? Being able to run custom ROMs on pretty much any Android smartphone out there? I have my old Droid RAZR sitting in a drawer at home that had 4.4.4 on it before my brand new HTC M8 last summer. Still keep it updated as a backup and still works perfect. I would imagine the same is available for the M7, so I doubt the M7's best days are behind it. Now... maybe official support via VZW or updates from them are done, but that's where XDA and the bunch step in.
I just flashed an AOSP 5.1 ROM

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