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As surprising as it sounds, there are still recent phones that haven't been updated to Pie, and the HTC U11, H11+, and U12+ are among these few. However, the Taiwanese manufacturer is finally getting ready to roll out the new Android version to these devices, right on time before Q becomes available.
As we truck along into 2019 with Android Q on the horizon, there are still some phones from the last couple of years that have yet to receive their Pie updates. While typical slow-pokes like Samsung, Huawei, and Asus have brought most of their flagship devices up to the latest version, HTC has lagged behind — excluding, of course, the U11 Life late last year. But the company's official Twitter account announced today that the U11, U11+, and U12+ will get Pie in Q2 2019.
Android 9.0 Pie is finally here, and now comes the fun part - waiting for OEMs to update their phones. Google and Essential have already started rolling out Pie to their devices, and now HTC has announced which of its phones will get Android 9.0.
On the same day it released an update to its Edge Launcher, HTC today updated its screenshot tool to give it some very useful and overdue features. The new utility, melodiously named "HTC Screen capture tool," adds the ability to do Samsung-like scrolling screenshots, crops, and annotations with text and drawing.
In its thankless quest to prove the squeeze skeptics wrong, HTC updated its Edge Launcher today with more customization options.
Some promos are better left unpublished and HTC should have gotten to this conclusion after seeing this video for the U11+. Even if they paid Danielle a lump of cash and got an entire team to work for weeks or months on setting this up, filming it, and editing it, with heart-fluttering music to go, this video should not have seen the light of day for one main reason: it fails at its purpose.
HTC and Motorola are two of the few companies that we often see releasing kernel source codes for their devices in a relatively timely manner. Today is no exception with HTC publishing the kernel code for its forty-two-days old HTC 11+. The code clocks in at 417MB and there are 4 versions for different carriers. It joins the U11 in being the second Oreo 8.0 kernel code from HTC.
The upcoming HTC U11+ promises to be an interesting device (unless you live in the US, where it won't be released – sorry). It's apparently what became of 'Muskie,' the canceled HTC-made Pixel 2 XL, so we're expecting a premium smartphone that could be HTC's best yet. My initial reaction to it was very positive, anyway.
With every new phone launch, the manufacturer is expected to include a number of stock wallpapers for users to choose from. They're another way of differentiating from other OEMs and adding some extra branding flair to a device. The latest flagship phone to be announced by HTC is the U11+, which we've heard was once intended to be the canceled Google Pixel 2 XL (codenamed 'Muskie'). If it had been a Pixel, it would have had Google's Wallpaper app by default, but since it's not, HTC has come up with some wallpapers of its own.
Earlier this year, a device called 'Muskie' appeared in AOSP (alongside 'Walleye'), which was believed to be the larger 2017 Pixel device. Then the phone was seemingly cancelled, with the LG-made 'Taimen' taking its place. Taimen turned out to be the actual Pixel 2 XL, and Walleye became the HTC-made Pixel 2. Recently, more evidence was discovered that Muskie was being made by HTC, and it would have had a massive 3,830mAh battery.
HTC's U11 gained two siblings today, and neither of them has been a particularly well-kept secret. They're certainly not identical twins, either. The aptly named HTC U11+ is a substantially updated, upsized version of the headline U11 from earlier in the year, with an 18:9, 6-inch display, a huge battery, and the most modern design ever seen on an HTC phone. The U11 Life is a mid-ranger that will launch with Android One outside the US.
Six months have passed since HTC launched its 2017 flagship, the U11, and although that phone was a significant improvement over the Taiwanese company's recent high-end efforts, some may not have thought it captured the imagination when compared to competing devices from rivals like Samsung and LG. There's plenty of work to be done if HTC wants to get anywhere near back to the lofty position it once held in the Android smartphone landscape, and an upgrade to the U11 six months later is probably not the worst place to start.
The HTC U11 was the company's second flagship of the year, and by most accounts, a pretty great phone. We've already heard rumors of an upcoming budget phone with Android One, the U11 Life, but now details about a U11 Plus have also leaked.