[Q] Is it time for HTC to change it up? - General Questions and Answers

We have come to love HTC for their brilliant designs, powerful hardware, and impressive software advancements, but as a long time HTC fanatic I can't help but feel like HTC is resting on their laurels. I am an EVO 4g owner at the moment and had the privilege to play with an EVO 3d. The 3d is a great device but the advancements are not that apparent at first glance. More specifically sense. If you have ever spent some time with s sense 2.1 device it seems to be basically the same. The changes are mostly cosmetic. If I wanted more of the same I would go buy another EVO 4g. I a not angry or anything but I will be skipping the 3d. HTC hassle far not impressed with their dual core offerings and I will hold out for something else from another manufacturer. What I am saying is having an OS with "basically" the same "feel" is getting old. The power of the 3d has its appeal for custom roms but sense has lost a lot of its appeal primarily because stock Android has made vast improvements.

You wouldn't take a 3D over a regular Evo?
With all due respect, unless you're using apps that benefit from a dual-core processor, you're really not going to see a difference between your already powerful 1 GHZ Snapdragon in your Evo and the 3D's dual core.

I would take it if it were given to me but my point more specifically was about sense. The hardware is powerful, but the software HTC uses is getting to be old. That is all. They need to refresh it. Basically what I am saying is that I think its time for HTC to offer a new "experience" with their phones.

Did you miss sense 2.1/3.0 or something? How about the new unibody designs, or the improvement of the speaker grilles? Oh! How about making the first ever WiMax and LTE phones.
Good, cause it never happened. /s
You know who needed to change it up... Motorola. You know who changed it up? Motorola. HTC is constantly innovating, maybe not in a way that's obvious or important to you but there are many people who love HTC devices just the way they are. HTC is moving, constantly improving. The sense overlay on gingerbread is amazing. If you haven't used it yet, don't bash it. HTC is doing good things...

Wasn't the first evo basically an HD2 anyway?

BenKranged said:
Wasn't the first evo basically an HD2 anyway?
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Basically with a different cosmetic changes, different os on the nand, different radio, etc etc.
But I agree with the post on Motorola. HTC did change a lot with Sense cosmetically, but what do they really need to change internally? 2.3.3(or .4?) is the base os used for Sense 3.0. Motorola is still on Motoblur that is eh....Still not so well...

I have used sense 2.1/3.0 (MIKG is great ) and while it is good cosmetically it really doesn't add anything but umm...cosmetics. I am not talking hardware here as stated. Sense just doesn't do much under the hood. All of HTC's advancements are all on the surface.

I think HTC has to be a little more efficient with their widgets and I would be happy. A 4x4 widget to show me my bookmarks seems like a waste of space to me.

I don't understand the arguement that HTC is falling behind or needs to change things up. Virtually all other Android overlays have remained the same, also. Touchwhiz, Motoblur, etc. for the most part look the same since they were created. HTC Sense is generally accepted as the superior interface, so why change something that isn't broken? Certainly on the hardware department, HTC is on par with the rest of them and the software is robust and very visually appealing. The widgets are huge and amazing, why change it? I love the changes brought by Sense 3.0 including the 3D effects and Quick settings tab. Sure, its not a giant leap foward.. but how can you leap foward if you are already ahead?

bellerophon90 said:
I don't understand the arguement that HTC is falling behind or needs to change things up. Virtually all other Android overlays have remained the same, also. Touchwhiz, Motoblur, etc. for the most part look the same since they were created. HTC Sense is generally accepted as the superior interface, so why change something that isn't broken? Certainly on the hardware department, HTC is on par with the rest of them and the software is robust and very visually appealing. The widgets are huge and amazing, why change it? I love the changes brought by Sense 3.0 including the 3D effects and Quick settings tab. Sure, its not a giant leap foward.. but how can you leap foward if you are already ahead?
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I never thought of it that way, you make a very good point. Sense is a giant step ahead than all of the other UIs, maybe because they are so successful we expect them to always innovate?
What I would love from HTC is a very nice clock that is 4x1 and the ability to resize widgets. If they do that I am a happy camper lol .

agreed......hardware is blah

How many sense phones can u have? You won't buy an EVO 3d for the software if you own an EVO. Only for the spec increase. You already know what you're getting and what's the fun in that.

Related

Sense 3.0

Just saw the New Sense 3.0 on the newly announced Sensation. Will our Desire S going to have a taste of that new UI?
Sent from my HTC Desire S
It depends on how the hardware can cope with the new sense. Probably, but not likely
So indeed the answer is no... Have a look at engadget website (I am not allowed to post links yet...)
"HTC Sense 3.0 will only support Sensation, EVO 3D, Flyer and newer devices, older hardware left behind"
Okay, I've already read the article. But what would be Android's next version? Will it have hardware specifics too?
titus1 said:
Okay, I've already read the article. But what would be Android's next version? Will it have hardware specifics too?
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The Desire S has 2.3.3 Gingerbread, which is currently the latest version of Android for phones. As for Ice Cream (of unknown numbering), there's no telling what hardware requirements Google may impose, so we won't know if Ice Cream will make its way to the Desire models.
TheUndutchable said:
So indeed the answer is no... Have a look at engadget website (I am not allowed to post links yet...)
"HTC Sense 3.0 will only support Sensation, EVO 3D, Flyer and newer devices, older hardware left behind"
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That's not entirely true. In their first tweet, which everyone is quite well aware of, HTC said that Sense 3.0 won't be supported on their older models (including the Desire S) due to the limitations of their older hardware.
However, in a later tweet, which many people may have overlooked, they mentioned that while they can't port the whole Sense 3.0, they have been trying to port other improvements that aren't so performance-dependent to the older models.
As a result, while older hardware may not be able to run Sense 3.0 to the satisfaction of their QA division, there are other features that can be brought in. In fact, from the leaked HTC Desire Gingerbread ROM, we know that HTC is trying to bring, amongst other things, the very useful Fast Boot feature to the old HTC Desire. Fast Boot does not eat up additional CPU cycles or occupy extra RAM in order to realise its benefits, so it is an ideal candidate for them to bring to their older models without hampering their performance.
Lastly, if it helps you sleep better, rest assured that the developers at xda are working hard at porting the inevitable leaked ROMs to the old models, though the quality of the experience is anyone's guess.
The guys in the desire hd forum have a leaked sense 3.0 rom....stumbling block seems to be the screen resolution.
Im sure sense 3.0 will be unofficially supported on most of the 2010/2011 htc devices
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Tapatalk
Whether it gets it officially is one question.
But this article shows that people are already trying Custom ROMS on the Desire HD with it.....so once our device is unlocked/rooted it will only be a matter of time
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/desire-hd-gets-the-first-ever-pyramid-port-yes-sense-3-0-too/
the hd2 with old outdated hardware even got the port. so clearly htc is lying abt compatability. they just want the new sense on their latest flagship phones so ppl will buy it.
The reason for haddware capability is that the sense takes up 3gb storage, the sensation has 4gb rom, but 1gb accessible; the 3gb is used up by the rom + sense
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
olyloh6696 said:
the hd2 with old outdated hardware even got the port. so clearly htc is lying abt compatability. they just want the new sense on their latest flagship phones so ppl will buy it.
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This has been discussed ad nauseum on xda, but it always bears repeating to note that the HD2 is anything but outdated. A 1 GHz single-core processor and 512 MB RAM is a very common spec in the current range of phones. By the same yardstick, we would be calling the Galaxy S and HTC Desire 'outdated' as well.
I won't discount the possibility that they're doing this to increase the appeal of the Sensation, but let's keep in mind that Sense 3.0 has only some incremental updates. People won't go for the Sensation just for some cool 3D animations and a fancy lockscreen, and for the same reasons, a lot of us won't miss it too. Besides, they do need some differentiating factor for their flagship model that takes advantage of its hardware.
well the reason i consider the hd2 outdated hardware is that it has the 1st gen cpu snapdgragon, which has been suceeded by the mich more powerful effiecitne 2nd gen. S if htc ae limiting the update on the dhd for
'a weak hardware'(2nd gen cpu) than the hd2 (1st gen) gets the update working smooth
so clearly it isnt much of a hardware requirement!
I agree with you. There's nothing to stop us from running Sense 3.0 on our current phones, but to my knowledge, the Sense 3.0 port isn't always that smooth on the DHD, let alone the HD2. The obvious problems with screen resolution aside, it's true that it's working so far, but such tests have so far been done at a low level of activity (fresh boot), and without all the cached programs and background processes one would expect in a typical Android phone that is used on a daily basis. When you start factoring in the demands of placed upon a phone to complete everyday tasks, lags and other issues will start cropping up, especially with an interface as heavy as Sense 3.0.
I mean, you could run AutoCAD on your home desktop now, and it might even work with something simple like drawing a rectangle, but that doesn't mean it'll continue to work so smoothly when you're using it for a normal workload, like designing an automobile. Sounds somewhat exaggerated, I know, but hardware does matter where a smooth user experience is concerned.
Madrenergic said:
I agree with you. There's nothing to stop us from running Sense 3.0 on our current phones, but to my knowledge, the Sense 3.0 port isn't always that smooth on the DHD, let alone the HD2. The obvious problems with screen resolution aside, it's true that it's working so far, but such tests have so far been done at a low level of activity (fresh boot), and without all the cached programs and background processes one would expect in a typical Android phone that is used on a daily basis. When you start factoring in the demands of placed upon a phone to complete everyday tasks, lags and other issues will start cropping up, especially with an interface as heavy as Sense 3.0.
I mean, you could run AutoCAD on your home desktop now, and it might even work with something simple like drawing a rectangle, but that doesn't mean it'll continue to work so smoothly when you're using it for a normal workload, like designing an automobile. Sounds somewhat exaggerated, I know, but hardware does matter where a smooth user experience is concerned.
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good point. anyway, at the end of the day, it really depends what the user prefers; the latest best software to compromise for a slower, slightly laggy phone, or for the official updates.
IMO, i will be quite happy with what htc have to bring to the Desire S (their version of 3.0) I'm not to bothered about the fancy 3d spinning cubes, but i'd like the new lockscreen, and weather widgets (we should hopefully get the new weather thing as the WP7 HD7has it on a single core 1st Gen Snapdragon CPU)
olyloh6696 said:
good point. anyway, at the end of the day, it really depends what the user prefers; the latest best software to compromise for a slower, slightly laggy phone, or for the official updates.
IMO, i will be quite happy with what htc have to bring to the Desire S (their version of 3.0) I'm not to bothered about the fancy 3d spinning cubes, but i'd like the new lockscreen, and weather widgets (we should hopefully get the new weather thing as the WP7 HD7has it on a single core 1st Gen Snapdragon CPU)
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Definitely. That's why we love xda. There's just so much choice and freedom to do what we want to our phone that suits our tastes. I hope the devs here manage to hack Sense 3.0 so that everyone can flash it to enjoy. I, on the other hand, have to be content with what Samsung gives me. Cheers.

SGS II regret................

Hi Guys
I bought the SGS II but i started to regret this decision after a couple of days
Everyone wants something out of a phone and Sensation might be a perfect fit for one person, while the SGS II for another
I owned the desire HD before and I really appreciated how smooth the interface was, and the number of business widgets readily available with sense (email, calendar, people, friend stream). I also appreciated how social networking is integrated into sense
In all honesty SGS II is a beast when it comes to speed, but it UI is way behind sense. Out of the box it does not offer the widgets i want,and 3rd party widgets are not as good or do not offer functionality or integration with sense
Amazingly, SGS II UI also becomes laggy when you fillout 7 screens with widgets. I had 7 screens of widgets on the DHD and the scrolling was very smooth
SO MY QUESTION IS
is this smoothness retained in sense 3.0. Do they still have the same nice sense widgets integrated with the system and is sense still smooth even after you fill out 7 screens with widgets ?
Thx
Yes everything is integrated very well. So far no lag with filling 7 screens with widgets
idesmond said:
Yes everything is integrated very well. So far no lag with filling 7 screens with widgets
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same here. 7 Screens filled. No lag
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e with my finger using telepathy
Went from Desire HD til Sensation, and I am very pleased.
The form factor of the Sensation, although the difference is not huge on paper, is all in favour of the Sensation. It's much more manageable, and feels better in my hand.
The build quality is better, and to me it feels like an "improved" Desire HD, where all small quirks have been fixed (like battery and Sim card covers, and power/volume buttons)
In short the Sensation feels like a better quality device.
I have always liked Sense, and Sense 3.0 is a very good improvement, with nice new features. (I used Sense 3 addons on my DHD, and I would never go back to Sense 2.1 now)
It is to early for me to conclude battery performance, since the battery only have 2-3 cycles completed, but I have complaints on performance so far.
Speed of dual core is also hard to comment, as my Desire HD ran custom ROM, so it was fast. The Sensation does not feel slow at all, but about the same as the single core 1Ghz DHD. My guess is that when HTC opens the bootloader and custom ROMs are created, it will be noticably faster!
To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if Sense 3.0 is ported to SGS II and TouchWiz 4.0 is ported to Sensation
I've always said I don't really mind what software the phone is running (as long as it's Android!) because I or another dev can port the software I'd like
i personally hate widgets and sense. So on my sensation I went with launcher pro and like 2 widgets. I dunno its just personal preference i guess everything is.
redbullcat said:
To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if Sense 3.0 is ported to SGS II
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You should be surprised if that happens, because Sense has never been successfully ported to a non-HTC phone. Mildly functional versions have made it to the original Motorola Droid and some Galaxy S variants, but they have never been daily drivers. There are just too many proprietary HTC bits for developers to reverse engineer.
karnovaran said:
You should be surprised if that happens, because Sense has never been successfully ported to a non-HTC phone. Mildly functional versions have made it to the original Motorola Droid and some Galaxy S variants, but they have never been daily drivers. There are just too many proprietary HTC bits for developers to reverse engineer.
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That was all before HTC opened the DEV Center for Sense, it may get quite a bit easier to work with Sense.
karnovaran said:
You should be surprised if that happens, because Sense has never been successfully ported to a non-HTC phone. Mildly functional versions have made it to the original Motorola Droid and some Galaxy S variants, but they have never been daily drivers. There are just too many proprietary HTC bits for developers to reverse engineer.
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Always time for a first, though

htc sensation with native ICS

I hate sense. I hate it so much that I am ready to get rid of the phone even though overall it is a great phone. Who in their right mind thinks dragging a circle into a ring is intuitive? Most of my friends cant figure out how to anser my phone and they own other android phones. I have now had this phone for about 6 months. My previous phones were the Nexus One, which was awesome, and had i not dropped and broke the screen I would still be using that phone. T-mobile replaced it with a galaxy s which was a complete POS which led to this phone. I want to root my phone, and install ice cream sandwich (ICS), or at least native android but I do not want sense. Every thread I have found on here all seem to include the sense with ICS. Can someone point me to a ROM that will meet my needs?
To root: [Guide] to Installing S-off, Unlocking, ClockWork, Root, SuperCID & S-on
I'm currently running ARHD 4.1.9 with a no sense add on script.
This link here: [ROM] Android Revolution HD™ 5.0.2 XE | ICS | Sense 3.5 | High Quality & Performance
will direct you to the downloads for a good ICS rom install.
This link: ARHD No Sense Script
Is the add on you flash straight after you flash the rom to remove the sense script (don't reboot CWM or 4EXT flash straight after). It will give you standard android with Go Launcher EX.
It's good as a daily.
Soon enough, CM9 will be available if you're willing to wait. It's AOSP 4.0 and apparently it's progressing nicely. Now, I don't want to ask this, but why buy an HTC if you hate Sense? I know AOSP is out there, but there are better phones with AOSP (GNexus, for example). I mean, half of the Sensations have "WITH HTC SENSE" right on the battery housing.
I don't get it. HTC makes Sense, it's what differentiates HTC from others, why buy an HTC if you hate Sense?
Edit: I want to make it clear, I'm not trying to hate or be a condescending douche, I'm just trying to see a different perspective. I actually don't mind Sense, but it depends how it's done. None of the 3.5 roms run great for me, ARHD 3.x seems to be the only rom that does Sense right. Smooth and fast, lag free.
mattbutsko said:
Soon enough, CM9 will be available if you're willing to wait. It's AOSP 4.0 and apparently it's progressing nicely. Now, I don't want to ask this, but why buy an HTC if you hate Sense? I know AOSP is out there, but there are better phones with AOSP (GNexus, for example). I mean, half of the Sensations have "WITH HTC SENSE" right on the battery housing.
I don't get it. HTC makes Sense, it's what differentiates HTC from others, why buy an HTC if you hate Sense?
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Because they make great hardware? Because the Sensation is way better in terms of build quality, materials quality and weight balance than the Galaxy S II(which was the other phone I was considering). I've had several HTCs (Qtek 9100, HTC Diamond, HTC Desire, HTC Sensation) and they are all exceptionally well built.
The Diamond was the first phone where they started bundling some crappy "shell"(early version of Sense, but the name was different) on top of the Windows OS. It was really pointless for me, so I just disabled it(it was much easier back then - Settings > Today > Plugins, and you're ready ) After the Diamond I used an Nokia E51 for a while, and then bought the Desire... a nice phone indeed, but something was not right... After I downloaded and flashed CM6 for the first time I never went back to Sense again, Sense just looks ridiculous to me...
And when I bought the Sensation I used it for around 5 minutes with Sense, just to give it a try, but it was still the same $#!7.
So I, and a lot of other more advanced users, hate Sense. It is what differentiates HTC for the beginner and average user. For the advanced user the competitive advantage of HTC is their materials and build quality. And and HTC makes a great device to run CyanogenMod on(the best Android distro).
PS The Nexus S is a great phone, but I wanted the extra screen real estate and the dual-core CPU. The Galaxy Nexus is even better, but it wasn't available when I bought my Sensation. The HTC Nexus One was available when I bought my Desire, but it was 120 Euro more expensive, and I really dislike capacitive buttons(sadly, they seem to be the standard these days)
So this is basically why someone would buy HTC, and hate Sense
mafiabs said:
Because they make great hardware? Because the Sensation is way better in terms of build quality, materials quality and weight balance than the Galaxy S II(which was the other phone I was considering). I've had several HTCs (Qtek 9100, HTC Diamond, HTC Desire, HTC Sensation) and they are all exceptionally well built.
The Diamond was the first phone where they started bundling some crappy "shell"(early version of Sense, but the name was different) on top of the Windows OS. It was really pointless for me, so I just disabled it(it was much easier back then - Settings > Today > Plugins, and you're ready ) After the Diamond I used an Nokia E51 for a while, and then bought the Desire... a nice phone indeed, but something was not right... After I downloaded and flashed CM6 for the first time I never went back to Sense again, Sense just looks ridiculous to me...
And when I bought the Sensation I used it for around 5 minutes with Sense, just to give it a try, but it was still the same $#!7.
So I, and a lot of other more advanced users, hate Sense. It is what differentiates HTC for the beginner and average user. For the advanced user the competitive advantage of HTC is their materials and build quality. And and HTC makes a great device to run CyanogenMod on(the best Android distro).
PS The Nexus S is a great phone, but I wanted the extra screen real estate and the dual-core CPU. The Galaxy Nexus is even better, but it wasn't available when I bought my Sensation. The HTC Nexus One was available when I bought my Desire, but it was 120 Euro more expensive, and I really dislike capacitive buttons(sadly, they seem to be the standard these days)
So this is basically why someone would buy HTC, and hate Sense
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Sense 3.0 is the thing what made me buy HTC Sensation... believe me, even my wife bought a Xperia Arc "after" using my old Desire HD for a while... and she made me sell it at a loss after a weeks time...and got a Sensation XE...
If you hate Sense so much, go for SII ..... but i simply cannot live without Sense ... there is so much in it...
Why should I buy SII when I don't like the hardware? Crappy plastic, horribly light, otherwise a decent phone. I don't mind Sense being loaded when I buy the phone, as long as I can install whatever I want after that. After all I do realize that Sense is a major selling point for HTC. A lot of non-technical users love it, and there is nothing wrong with that. A lot of non-technical users also like Windows, and that's why the PC business is what it is today, but still I wouldn't use it even for a day
Also, when you say that there is so much in Sense you obviously haven't tried CyanogenMod... there are settings and customizations which I(and probably you also) didn't even suspected to exist, while using Sense...
Have a nice day, and use whatever makes more sense to you, after all that's why we use an open system
Not all HTC phones have Sense. I guess you miss my post about having a Nexus One? That is an HTC phone.. No sense, just native Android, and it was flawless. I had 4 samsung galaxys and they all had problems within 4 months and 1 of them lasted 2.5 months before it failed. So basically I had 1 fail after 2 months then every one after that had issues within a few days to a week of getting it in the mail. After reading the reviews of the galaxy nexus, i am not interested. Same cheap feel as the current and previous galaxy and they still have the same problems as the previous versions. I just read a thread about how tapping the galaxy nexus phone causes it to buzz/vibrate. I had the same problem with 2 of my galaxy phones, not to mention none of them worked with GPS even after installing the samsung "fix", and then resorting to changing the server settings ect.. Samsung makes great displays, too bad the only quality part is the screen. This phone was sent to me as a replacement to my galaxy so I really didnt buy it. Other than HTC, at this point there really is no alternative. In my opinion no other manufacturer makes a quality phone so that is why i choose HTC as a manufacturer. I also knew if I didnt like the phone, once rooting was available I could root it and install native android which is why I am here.
To everyone arguing why sense is good: Just because YOU like sense doesn't mean the rest of us do. Why are you even responding in this thread? The name of this thread isnt "Convince me why Sense is good" If you aren't going to provide information relative to the topic, please stop responding. Your responses are starting to turn this thread into an argument and that is not the intention of this thread.
dleach1407 said:
Just because YOU like sense doesn't mean the rest of us do. Why are you even responding in this thread? The name of this thread isnt "Convince me why Sense is good" If you aren't going to provide information relative to the topic, please stop responding. Your responses are starting to turn this thread into an argument and that is not the intention of this thread.
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woah! Sounds like you're going to pop a blood vessel! If you hate sense that much.. You can use the "no-sense" scripts which should do the job for the most part! You wouldn't have to deal with that stupid ring haha, try that. You lose most sense features (which isn't what you're looking for anyway) and it's still good! Some guys have developed roms that they just get rid of sense for. Check those out once you root your phone. I would advise not going for ICS yet or the roms with sense 3.5 until they're stable (That's just my opinion though) Sense 3.0 gives me 1day + of battery life and I'm not even being careful with it. Sense 3.5 gives about 18 hours with less usage and effs with my gps a bit. When you root it, my suggestion is sense 3.0 rom DE-SENSED and go from there!
The guy who posted right after you showed you what to do as well and that's for ICS
For answering the phone, u may either drag the answer call ball into the ring
or just simply drag the ring like unlocking the phone
Sense is HTC's biggest weapon
without sense, HTC may die decades ago
I guess that makes sense. I never really noticed their hardware was that much better, but sounds solid to me.
KAwAtA said:
woah! Sounds like you're going to pop a blood vessel! If you hate sense that much.. You can use the "no-sense" scripts which should do the job for the most part! You wouldn't have to deal with that stupid ring haha, try that. You lose most sense features (which isn't what you're looking for anyway) and it's still good! Some guys have developed roms that they just get rid of sense for. Check those out once you root your phone. I would advise not going for ICS yet or the roms with sense 3.5 until they're stable (That's just my opinion though) Sense 3.0 gives me 1day + of battery life and I'm not even being careful with it. Sense 3.5 gives about 18 hours with less usage and effs with my gps a bit. When you root it, my suggestion is sense 3.0 rom DE-SENSED and go from there!
The guy who posted right after you showed you what to do as well and that's for ICS
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No, not mad at all but Im sure you saw only 1 post was on topic, (the one you mentioned and the one below was kind of on topic) the others were people trying to explain why they like sense and basically telling me if I didnt like sense I should have bought a samsung. I have had this phone for 6 months, and gave it a chance (which was stated in the first post). I have used sense for 6 months and I still dont like it. I don't need other peoples opinion on why sense is good, or how their wife made them sell their phone. What does any of that have to do with me rooting my phone and installing ICS, or a rom without sense? None of those replies address the point of this thread. I want this thread to stay on track, not turn into a "I love sense" VS "I hate sense thread". I think its pretty obvious, that is the direction it was headed.
Thank you for the information. I will probably try simply removing sense from the phone first as you suggested. I dont need ICS, I just figured since I was going to root, ICS would be better. I also know ICS is coming soon with OTA. I might simply wait for that, then remove sense. I am assuming the script will work for the OTA since it works to remove sense 3.5 from the current rom floating around.
See how you get on with CM7. It's not ICS and development may have ceased in favour of CM9, but for me it's clean, fast and solid.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1258543
holy crap thats a long thread... 500+ pages? WOW! Seems like a lot of people are using that. Thanks!!!
Everybody throws around the word intuitive. I like the way the lock ring works, and do find it intuitive to me. For others. Not so much. For those who have no desire to figure anything out for themselves, and would rather be told every move to make, then there is an entire company dedicated to doing just that. The name rymes with Snapple
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
rumors are rumors. there was a thread or post somewhere stating that sense on ics will toned/slimmed down since ics already has most of the features. I believe sense 3.5 was added to ics so they can work out the bugs. Well only time will tell though. Lets just see when it gets release lol.
masondoctorjt said:
Everybody throws around the word intuitive. I like the way the lock ring works, and do find it intuitive to me. For others. Not so much. For those who have no desire to figure anything out for themselves, and would rather be told every move to make, then there is an entire company dedicated to doing just that. The name rymes with Snapple
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
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While I respect your opinion, I have to disagree. But again I dont understand why this is becoming a "Why I like sense" thread...
The rings are not intuitive. It requires you be familiar with the phone (which by definition makes it not intuitive) and as much as I dislike the Iphone and apple products in general, I can pick up any Iphone no matter what generation and use it without issue, and I sure as heck dont have to "figure out" how to answer the phone when it rings. Same goes for any native android phone, but the vast majority of people who pick up my phone have to ask how to unlock it. Having a red decline button and a green answer button requiring them to be pulled into a ring is not intuitive. However, a green button that says answer and a red button that says decline that you press to perform the action stated on the button, I find intuitive. I have no problem answering the phone, or using the phone, but I have found certain things about sense I just dislike as a whole, especially after using native android on my nexus one. The lock/unlock ring, and answer buttons are just the tip of the iceberg. In my opinion, all android phones should have the option to use native android, or the manufacturers GUI and I hope Google implements that.
dleach1407 said:
To everyone arguing why sense is good: Just because YOU like sense doesn't mean the rest of us do. Why are you even responding in this thread? The name of this thread isnt "Convince me why Sense is good" If you aren't going to provide information relative to the topic, please stop responding. Your responses are starting to turn this thread into an argument and that is not the intention of this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude. Calm down. I don't particularly like Sense either, but it sure is pretty and fun to play around with for a bit.
The bad news is there's no real 'native' (I assume you mean AOSP) ICS out there yet. There's the 'Voldemort ROM' that we're not allowed to discuss or link to here, but it's not usable yet. If you're really desperate for ICS, you could try out Virtuous Inquisition from the development section. It's the Sense-ICS leak but it's had almost all of Sense stripped out. It's far far better than I was expecting it to be, but it's not without its bugs.
Your best bet would be to just install CyanogenMod 7 and wait for KMobs to release CM9 for us - when it's ready.
Edit: Hah! I didn't even see there was a second page!
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas and happy new year in advance. I pray to God that our Sensation should get all the upgrades as early as possible like native ics.

So, who want's to see some Sense 4.0 with ICS

http://www.slashgear.com/htc-ville-caught-on-video-with-sense-4-0-31211379/
I don't like it. HTC must have been high out of their minds to take Sense this far. The animations are unnecessary.
I agree, Im not really liking it. The dockbar, IMO, looks like garbage. All those animations seems like it lags the UI as well
the animation is nice. but i don't like the launcher, sense's 3.xx launcher is better that.
I like the animations. The dock and the actual device are ugly. Sucks. HTC messed up on this one. For sure il be getting the amaze instead now. I rather have sense 3.0 on android 4.0.
coupetastic-droid said:
I like the animations. The dock and the actual device are ugly. Sucks. HTC messed up on this one. For sure il be getting the amaze instead now. I rather have sense 3.0 on android 4.0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why if you can just root it an hopefully downgrade lol
i honestly do like thgis sense. i mean sure the launcher is a bit iffy but i like it and if it gets ported to our phone i wont mind using it as a DD
O__o what happened????
Software: it doesn't even look like Sense anymore...
i agree, the animations, while nice, look like they hog a bunch of memory, and aren't necessary... if it lags on a device like that, imagine how it would run on our Glacier..LOL
Hardware: reminds me of the Galaxy Nexus, specially from the side lol
it doesn't look as pro and nice as the Sensation... i mean.. wow.. single LED light? the Sensation has two...
much rather get the Sensation instead.
quite disappointed... hope HTC changes it before the official release.
Eww ugly
I'm a Rom Flip Flopper
I was concerned that Sense 4.0 would look too much like previous versions and not allow enough of ICS' great UI to show through. The leaked video was a pleasant surprise!
I like the new status bar, clock/weather widget, and dockbar. All three are a nice change from previous versions which were pretty close to identical going from the Cupcake version of Sense that came out on the Hero all the way up to Sense 3.5 on the Runnymede and Rezound. Finally something different!
Like most people I did not at all like the needless animation in the Settings window, but I'd still be interested in running 4.0 on the MT4G or any future device.
Not a big fan of Sense in general, but it does seem HTC has gone overboard with this one. The phone itself looks pretty sleek though, wonder how cool it would be running AOSP ICS.
I haven't seen the video yet, I'm throttled, but judging by the comments. It's possible that it's just a beta or something, I'm just guessing.
If I helped, give thanks, if you please.
........Death before dishonor........
Team MS
I actually like it, it sure looked like a beta to me. There is no way HTC is going to release something that laggy
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
I think it looks pretty good. I definitely like the new launcher. I hated the rosie dock.
I thought it looked pretty cool. Cant wait to see a finished product
I could care less about the lag; it's the UI itself that annoys me. This has resource hog written all over it. And, Sense got uglier. All this resource rape is unnecessary; people have made exact replicas of Sense using images and other widgets, and it uses a ****lot less resources than Sense's framework (not to mention, the framework is modded to hell). HTC is just getting unnecessary now.
I think HTC should of just watered it down, a lot. Keeps beats and add universal support. Animations are nice so keep those, and have HTC Widgets, and apps and that's it. Stock ICS with minor tweaks.
sent from my Virtuous Unity
GazaIan said:
I could care less about the lag; it's the UI itself that annoys me. This has resource hog written all over it. And, Sense got uglier. All this resource rape is unnecessary; people have made exact replicas of Sense using images and other widgets, and it uses a ****lot less resources than Sense's framework (not to mention, the framework is modded to hell). HTC is just getting unnecessary now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna have to disagree with that. Sense has so many little touches are throughout the UI...far too many to list. There's no way to replicate the Sense experience with themes and widgets.
It's sort of like generic cola...it tastes ok and a little like real Coke, but there's no way to duplicate genuine ice-cold Coca-Cola Classic (or Pepsi ).
TeeJay3800 said:
I'm gonna have to disagree with that. Sense has so many little touches are throughout the UI...far too many to list. There's no way to replicate the Sense experience with themes and widgets.
It's sort of like generic cola...it tastes ok and a little like real Coke, but there's no way to duplicate genuine ice-cold Coca-Cola Classic (or Pepsi ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+100%
you're absolutely right.
people may have made "replicas" of it, but nothing beats the real thing.
just like how those people in China make those fake Android phones/iPhones and sell them
Looks great, but I'll always trade the looks of sense for the responsiveness and better battery life I get from an AOSP or CM build.
After looking at this, if sense REALLY turns out to be that way, I'm hoping some smart guy will make a rom for it without all the needless animations and resource hogging things.
I was really dissapointed that Touchwiz phones were more popular than Sense phones for 2011. I thought HTC would learn from that, but it seems they've gotten worse. I've been kind of excited for a Sense 4.0 rom but now im just probably gonna use my core droid 3.5 rom til my contract is up. If a nexus phone doesnt come to T-mobile... I will be forced to buy the only thing i see good enough....... a galaxy S 3 phone.
btw: I just saw this video today so im late XD.

HTC profits PLUMMET...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402691,00.asp
HTC profits plunge 70% over the past year, and I have a few ideas why.
1) Build quality clearly took a backseat to production numbers. Just take a look at the AWFUL devices (such as the Sensation) that HTC has produced recently. Dust under the screen, cheap components, and shoddy assemblies are not good for business!!
2) SENSE!!! Anyone think it was/is a coincidence that as soon as HTC started forcing Sense on all its phones the numbers took a dive? I dont, and clearly the market agrees with me. Sense is probably one of the worst conceived and implemented "enhancements" to ever hit android and that has obviously hurt HTC big time.
3) Trying to compete as an iphone replacement. Lets be honest, the iphone IS the 800 pound gorilla in the room. However, by churning out 20 "different" yet basically identical phones in 12 months HTC is only diluting its brand. Further, the Sense based "enhancements" only appeal to small minded folks who would choose an iphone, not real android fans. Sure, Sense (and IOS) look 'pretty' but neither provide any functionality. In addition both Sense and IOS are bloated, slow, and take for ever to get updates.
In summary, HTC tried to be everything to everyone and it backfired. They should go back to building QUALITY phones with proper software. Let the little kids, teens, and tweens go buy iphones, and let Sense die a FAST death! FIX THE BUILD QUALITY and people will buy your devices!! I dont know what else I can say about that. If HTC insists on making multiple phones, at least provide SOME level of differentiation! 20 phones that look identical is not a product set, ITS CONFUSING TO CONSUMERS.
Thank you and have a nice day.
HTC had a bad year ( and it's their fault ) but the good thing is that they 've learned. They are focusing on the ONE series this year and I must say those phones are the best available right now ( each in its league ).
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
Well said......i used to b an htc fan nd i jumped to sammy lately due to the dilution.u referred to. Very similar phones within a very short period of time. What were they thnkng? They had no time i bet to innovate due to the demand for productn. Htc remind me of dubai.....grew too big in too little time! Now the dive comes.....but they forecasted that to say the truth. I mean expeert would have recommended that htc continue doing wat they 1st started to do......quality in low numbers....low cost meant high return! I guess their board got greedy at one time. I really doubt they can turn thngs arnd seeing how ruthless the market is. No place 4 mistakes.
Although I do agree with you in some case I also strongly disagree in others.
I'm a really big android fan and I really like sense I think it's the best OEM skin but I also like AOSP a lot , so that is just an opinion. I consider it one of the best skins its the most bloated one too. And your statement about iOS being slow, bloated and taking forever to update... Wtf iOS is definanatly not slow and its one of the smoothest ,and all of the supported iPhones and iOS devices get updates on the same day that it is released.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G with Beats Audio using xda premium
i've gone back and forth between stock android and sense, and i often prefer sense. i'd like to think i'm not small-minded.
Oh...well ,it's fun while it last. My next phone I wanted the best looking screen. If T-Mobile USA release the One X, I would have bought it in a heart beat. But it's not going to happened, so I'll wait for Samsung 1080P screen hehe.
Sent from my Sensation 4G using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
Sure they made some mistakes in 2011, but they've learned and we can already see the results in the One line which has come out to glowing reviews everywhere. As long as HTC can stand their ground and refuse carriers' requests for custom designs (which I believe is what was behind the scatter-shot approach they took last year) they will be fine. I still think HTC's build quality is the best in the Android world (I have had none of the problems people have mentioned with my Sensation aside from the dust, and my current phone has been dust-free for several months now), and nothing on the One series looks to change that.
And, I must say, having used Sense 3.x, 4, and AOSP, the latter isn't all that people make it out to be. In my daily use I can still find areas where Sense (especially 4) does things better - for example, in the lock screen, music player, browser, and home screens. I have not seen any speed advantage to AOSP over Sense that doesn't require a benchmark to show, and there is nothing I can do in stock ICS that I can't do in Sense. Also, I find the AOSP minimalist look becomes tiresome after a couple days, while Sense 4 does not, while looking just as nice. Caring about the aesthetics of the UI is not "small-minded" as long as one doesn't give up functionality - and Sense 4 does not.
Every big company has their software ontop of android running its a normal thing while i agree that sense is bloated but i disagree where you say its slow ...
I was running stock and didnt feel lag at all + the custom sense widgets are good looking if you'd ask me ...
The main reason why its falling its because they make too much device in short time and they don't put enough effort into them id rather love to see them release very few devices a year but work really hard on them ...
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
This article was a reality check and EVERY HTC Executive should read it.
Obviously you have only used HTC for a while now. I actually totally disagree.
I owned a Samsung Galaxy i9000 as my last phone. To give you an idea of how the top phone of the market performed at the time:
1) Everyone suffered terrible lag. This was never fixed. Sometimes the phone would just freeze up for a minute. Happened to me once when I wanted to take what would have been a great picture
2) The RAM was so limited because of the requirement for the CPU/GPU, that there wasn't enough to webbrowse for longer than 20mins without the phone crashing
3) The GPS on none of the units worked that well. Over time they added what appeared to be smoothing algorithms, but, at the end of the day, it was mostly unusable for driving, because the signal constantly dropped.
4) A huge amount of units had failing flash quite quickly. My phone (which wasn't an i9000M) had this problem.
5) No OTA updates, and the PC software to do updates was terrible. Seriously, this is something HTC perfected years ago.
6) TouchWiz was complete garbage. To give you an idea of how garbage it was, by default, the apps weren't even sorted alphabetically.
I suspect that a large number of these problem is caused because since Samsung manufactures their own components, it would look bad if they used their competitors components.
Also, you complain about Sense, but Sense is actually EXCELLENT. Only recently has the AOSP interface been half decent, and in comparison to other phones, it has been amazing.
HTC also regularly updates their phone software, of even their older phones. On the i9000, we got 2.1 and 2.2, and they were bloody difficult to install because Kies didn't work on many computers (no OTA supported either). And other manufacturers like Sony Ericson do an even worse job for software. iPhone's get all the updates, BUT, on the other hand, iOS can't play FLAC files, and you HAVE to go through their app store.
Sorry, but, I TOTALLY disagree. The popularity of phones appear to have more to do with advertising than anything else these days, and Samsung's boost is simply because of their collaboration with Google. But, in all honesty, the i9000 should have been recalled.
andrewluecke said:
Obviously you have only used HTC for a while now. I actually totally disagree.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is incorrect. In fact, I was one of the first importers of HTC phones (to the US) over a decade ago when they were just getting into Windows Mobile. I have probably had, sold, or used every HTC model that was compatible with US GSM or CDMA bands since the year 2000. As such, I speak from YEARS of experience and I can honestly say I am disappointed. Clearly my disappointment is not something I alone feel, since a 70% drop in profits indicates something is SERIOUSLY wrong.
As I said in my OP, HTC can fix this problem fairly easily. All they need to do is FOCUS and produce a GOOD product that people actually want. I personally think the whole "one" line is garbage, and I eagerly look forward to its demise in 18 (or so) months when Google forces ALL manufacturers to use a STANDARD (ie stock) version of Android. Until then, we will have a fractured, unsupported, miserable selection of phones. Check out the following graph for a better understanding of what Sense and other "enhanced" overlays have done to Android.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/10/27/android.support.seen.lagging.iphone.by.wide.margin/
Those stats are a few months old, however the fragmentation has only gotten worse with ICS. Enjoy!
Stock markets are like roller coasters. Htc has been on a roll up as of late...so now it's down time! Next year it will be back up...nothing to worry about
Interesting chart at the end. But i actually agree. HTC needs to focus more of what they make. One high-end and one cheap model, and possibly one with keyboard like Desire Z would suffice.
But they release too many models and in fact i just knew long ago that it was a poor business model evolving, and there would be too many phones to keep updated in the end. Thats was one reason why i dropped out of Android/htc for a while coz i thought the phones that kept coming in loads of models was just "experimental" pieces to flex muscles with tougher and rougher specs, with little care about them. And thus the fear of losing updates could easily be a reality.
Hats off to Apple anyways that keeps their products healthy for some years before they are discontinued.
Sensationaly sent from my Sensation.
Sindroid said:
Interesting chart at the end. But i actually agree. HTC needs to focus more of what they make. One high-end and one cheap model, and possibly one with keyboard like Desire Z would suffice.
But they release too many models and in fact i just knew long ago that it was a poor business model evolving, and there would be too many phones to keep updated in the end.
Sensationaly sent from my Sensation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spot on - how many different handsets did they release last year? Way too many.
Different UIs like Sense actually help sell devices. While a lot of folk here might go for the native aosp look, it's very dull and uninteresting to the average user (compared to iPhone and even WM7). It's really only the different manufacturers UIs that differentiate product offerings, otherwise wouldn't they all look the same?
cr1960 said:
Spot on - how many different handsets did they release last year? Way too many.
Different UIs like Sense actually help sell devices. While a lot of folk here might go for the native aosp look, it's very dull and uninteresting to the average user (compared to iPhone and even WM7). It's really only the different manufacturers UIs that differentiate product offerings, otherwise wouldn't they all look the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree they would all look the same and a android phone wouldn't be so special anymore for example people would stop buying android phones if they were all running pure google rom... Because it would be all the same thing it would get quite boring..
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
I agree with your views about build quality.
HTC have cheapened out on the components. They are using cheap EMMC chips, which are prone to frying, thus bricking your phone, on their devices from 2011 (Desire S)
But I strongly disagree with everything else you say.
Liking Sense or not is subjective. But I can tell you that I bet at least 70% buy HTC devices for the Sense experience. It's HTC's way of differentiation from the rest if the Market. If every OEM released pure AOSP, they would all virtually be the same. Hardware would only be the key factor. HTC's hardware isn't as good as Samsung's (specs wise) but in 2010, it clearly proved that the Desire was better than the Galaxy S...
Why?
Because of the Sense UI experience.
2011, things changes. Yes the SGSII was the phone of the year, due to its mighty specs.
But Sense is not as bad as you describe it. If you detest Sense so much, why did you buy the phone?
Also, I want to layout out - I'm not an Apple Fanboy, but I strongly disagree with what you say. Seriously, iOS slow and bloated?
It's clean and fast. The only slow iOS devices I encountered was the iPhone 3G.
How is it bloated? Apple load up minimal applications on the device. To some extent I agree with you about Sense (by default they load up so much junk - still doesn't take away the fact Sense is a good UI though)
And iOS slow with updates? Are you kidding me? It's much faster than Android updates from OEMs. But that comes back to the point with HTC being crap at software updates. I agree with you there! They are so damn slow with the ICS update for other devices (even though I have no intentions of using the official update)
So yes, HTC have become worse. (But I think they are goog to get higher profits etc in Q2,3,4 due to their new One lineup)
But, I don't think its fair that you bash Sense UI. Or bashing iOS with incorrect/false facts.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium
shahkam said:
people would stop buying android phones if they were all running pure google rom... Because it would be all the same thing it would get quite boring..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a ridiculous statement and totally wrong. ALL Apple phones are exactly the same yet they sell millions of them. If all android phones ran the same OS it would be BETTER for users and they would sell MORE devices. That way manufacturers could focus their development around actually adding value. For instance, some would use a higher quality material, others would include a really great camera, others would build a physical keyboard, etc. Right now the manufacturers/carriers are focused on horrible overlays (cough, SENSE, cough...) that they never update. The end users is suffering now, and the Android fragmentation diagram I linked to is proof of this.
webmaster said:
Just take a look at the AWFUL devices (such as the Sensation) that HTC has produced recently. Dust under the screen, cheap components, and shoddy assemblies are not good for business!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me, my fiancee and my best friend all have Sensations and none of us have ever had any build quality problems. My biggest problem was the terrible battery life at launch, but with an Anker battery, successive Gingerbread updates, then a custom ICS ROM from here, it's all good.
It strikes me that HTC have invested millions into phones no-one has asked for. Sensation XE and XL with royalities going to Dr. Dre? What were they smoking when they thought that up? Do they not realise that top-spec HTC phones are for geeks such as myself, and geeks don't listen to Dr. Dre.
Well, I don't anyway.
And as for the One series... iPhone wannabes, complete with no SD-card slot and a fixed battery. Not the right direction to be headed imho.
I do agree with the large number of products being released hurt their image, but I'd have to think a large part of that was due to the huge popularity of the GS2 (and sebsequently the GNex) which leapfrogged Samsung ahead. And the iPhone is always the behemoth in the room. I like my phone, but I hated how they had 15 variations of it in the year. I can barely tell the difference between any of the Sensation models and the other HTC phones (thunderbolt, desire, desire HD, etc etc) all looked very similar and confused consumers.
I like where they are going, but my next phone will likely be a Nexus because I don't want the Sense overlay anymore--nothing against HTC though. If they made the next Nexus, I'd be stoked.
Big_Rich_1983 said:
And as for the One series... iPhone wannabes, complete with no SD-card slot and a fixed battery. Not the right direction to be headed imho.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No SD Card is a shame. But I do think spec wise they are going in the right direction. People slated the Sensation for having slightly lower specs than the GS2 e.g. in terms of RAM and Internal Memory and they seem to be rectifying that.

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