latest
HTC One M7 turns 10: A decade ago, one phone set the bar for Android
One of my favorite Android phones ever turns ten
These days, most of our Android attention goes towards companies like Samsung and Google — you know, the lumbering giants in the mobile industry not named "Apple." It's easy to forget a time when US consumers had more choice, with companies like LG and HTC offering unique devices built to tempt shoppers browsing carrier shelves.
Read update
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?
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.
Read update
- 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.
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.
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:
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.
HTC promised to get Android 5.0 Lollipop through the approval process and out to the HTC One M7 and M8 in the US no later than 90 days after release. US product manager Mo Versi even officially started the timer when Lollipop was delivered by Google. Now Versi says that won't happen after all.
ROM flashers and root fanatics who own a few more obscure Android devices have new options this morning. Official, straight from the source builds of the ubiquitous Team Win Recovery Project custom recovery are now available for the unlocked, dual-SIM card version of the HTC One M7, the carrier-customized version of the LG G3 for US Cellular, and the LG Optimus Fuel. Wait, the what? Let me check my notes... yup, says right here, "Optimus Fuel."
Lollipop is slowly, slowly making its way to all of the Nexus and Google Play Edition devices available (yes, N7 LTE owners, we hear you). If you purchased the "pure," AOSP-packing version of either the HTC One M7 from 2013 or the flagship One M8 earlier this year, you should be getting an over-the-air update to Android 5.0 soon. We're seeing tips from owners of both Google Play Edition phones.
Some HTC One M7 variants appear to be getting a new OTA update. As for what's new, apparently not much. All we know is that it contains "important enhancements and bug fixes related to improving phone call experience," and that it isn't Lollipop.
Update 10/4/14: The price has now dropped another $35 to a very low $214.99. The phones are still available in black and silver, while blue is sold out.
Verizon tends to actively discourage users from rooting and otherwise modifying their phones - that is to say, the users' phones, not Verizon's. Despite a draconian bootloader policy, the HTC One M7 (2013) has had at least some form of S-Off available since October of last year, and Justin Case's Sunshine tool has taken care of the more recent software builds. It's a little late to the party, but the official build of the Team Win Recovery Project is now available for the HTC One on Big Red.
T-Mobile's HTC One M7 is set to receive an over-the-air update tomorrow, September 10th, that will deliver Android 4.4.3 along with Wi-Fi calling enhancements. HTC's Mo Versi, the company's Vice President of Product Management, took to Twitter this weekend to deliver the news in his usual fashion.
