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We've clearly got a little bias on the subject, but Android has a long and storied history filled with its own triumphs and pitfalls. It's been well over a decade now since that first HTC G1 landed, the inaugural Android smartphone, and things have changed drastically since then. Being "first" might make you think the G1 was the most influential Android phone — but was it, really?
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- The OnePlus 3T is also seeing LineageOS 14.1. The build for the 3T has been merged with the OnePlus 3, so both phones now use the same .zip file, which is good - have a look on the wiki entry for both devices for more information. The download link is above.
LineageOS is still a relative newcomer to the Android world, but since it's descended from the legendary CyanogenMod, builds for various devices are coming thick and fast.
CyanogenMod 13, based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, was formally released back in March, but it's only just arriving for some devices, in the form of nightlies. The most notable of these devices are probably the original HTC One and the Wileyfox Spark, plus the Spark X - the Spark's bigger, more powerful brother.
After last month's release of Android 5.1 updates for HTC's Google Play Edition devices, it was only a matter of time before the kernel sources for those phones were posted. This is especially interesting for fans of the M7 and M8 because these are the first looks we have at the kernel for 5.1 on them.
Do you remember when the HTC One M7 got its Lollipop in the US? For Sprint customers, it was February. On AT&T and T-Mobile, it was sometime in March. For people on Verizon, well, it still hasn't.
It's been about a month since HTC said that the One M7 GPE's Android 5.1 update was coming soon, but better late than never, right? It appears that the rollout has begun and we've got your OTA download link below.
Hey there, HTC One M8 owners. Wondering when your 2014 flagship will get the latest version of Android? It might be a while. According to the official HTC Twitter account for the United Kingdom, the update is scheduled for (wait for it) August of this year.
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- Here's the OTA link for the M8 GPE straight from Google's server if the one above doesn't work for you.
The Google Play Edition program seems to have been mostly forgotten by Google and its hardware partners, but at least those devices that were released are still getting steady updates. The latest one to be blessed with Android 5.1 is HTC's One M8 Google Play Edition from last year. Users are reporting that the over-the-air update is heading out now, so check your Settings menu if you happen to own one.
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HTC's US VP of Product, Mo Versi had some good news for owners of the One M7 on AT&T yesterday evening. After months of waiting, the Lollipop OTA is starting this very day. "Tomorrow" in the tweet below refers to today, March 31st.
Yesterday, HTC's Mo Versi, the Vice President of Product Management, caused a few disgruntled sighs from the company's fans and One M7 owners by announcing that the two-year-old device wouldn't get any more major updates, including Android 5.1. That didn't apply to the Google Play Edition version of the M7, which is still set to get 5.1 in April.
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If you're going to do any serious modding on your Android smartphone, your first step is going to be unlocking the bootloader. This is a simple procedure on Nexus devices and a few other handsets, but many of the top OEMs have added security measures to prevent regular users from mucking about with their stock software. For these devices, there's a tool called Sunshine by recognized developers Justin Case (jcase), beaups, and friends. Version 3.0 just came out, and it can unlock the bootloader and acquire S-Off with almost every modern Motorola and HTC smartphone on the market.
Starting with the One M7, HTC promised customers that it would deliver two years of updates. This promise came after the manufacturer abandoned its previous flagship early on, leaving the One X stranded on Android 4.2 long after 4.3 had hit devices and 4.4 became a thing.
Since carriers started pushing out Lollipop OTAs to the various versions of the One M7 and M8, HTC has been uploading full RUUs of Android 5.0 to its website. These files serve as a way to update your device if, for whatever reason, you haven't received an OTA or can't get it to work. More than likely, you probably want this to recover from a bricked device (no judgment here; you're in a safe place).
Hey, HTC One M7 (2013) owners on T-Mobile, are you jealous of your counterparts in Europe, or on Sprint, or those who use the Developer Edition? You know, because they all have the Lollipop update (or at least access to a ROM file) before you do? Well fret no more: HTC's most excellent vice president of product management Mo Versi is back with another one of his One update announcement proclamations:
HTC has been rolling out Lollipop OTAs to its various One devices in the last few weeks, but kernel source is also showing up. Most of the source code has been for the One M8 so far, but now the developer edition M7 has some Lollipop kernel source too.
Patient HTC One owners in Europe should finally be getting their Lollipop updates any moment now. The OS will still be running HTC's Sense 6 skin, so the change won't be quite so drastic as it is on AOSP ROMs. The download will be 804.8MB, so be prepared for the necessary space and time to download.
Bricked your HTC One? Don't fret. HTC has uploaded full 1.4 GB RUUs for both the M7 and M8 developer and unlocked editions. These are for the latest Lollipop versions of Sense 6, though most owners should already have had this update pushed to their phones.
[Update: Live] HTC Says T-Mobile's One M8 Will Get Its Lollipop OTA Starting On Monday, February 9th
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- According to this T-Mobile page spotted by TMo News and at least one Twitter user, the update is live as of Tuesday morning.
HTC missed its 90-day goal to deliver Android 5.0 upgrades to all owners of the One M8 and One M7. They're very sorry about that. But to give credit where it's due, it does seem like the company is genuinely trying to get its hardware updated as soon as possible. Sprint's One M8 and M7 have both been given the update, European M8 owners got it in late January, and owners of the unlocked, developer edition, and Google Play Edition of both phones should all have the update by now.
Sprint is rolling out the Lollipop update for the HTC One M7 right now, but in case you are disconnected from the Sprint network, don't have access to WiFi, or simply hate waiting, there's an alternative. HTC has posted a full RUU that can flash Lollipop to your phone. It's a bit of a hassle, but you can do it right now.
Even though HTC admitted, just a few days ago, that it won't deliver on its promise to roll out Android 5.0 Lollipop to all One M7 and M8 devices in the US less than 90 days after the source code's release, the company has been busy trying to meet a date as close to its original deadline as possible. Yesterday, we learned that Sprint's One M7 variant would be receiving Lollipop today, and now we're finding out that the phone's Developer Edition has started seeing a similar upgrade.