We were starting to wonder if Android phones featuring the Sense UI would receive the Android 1.6 update and it appears the answer is no. However, don’t worry because HTC has decided to jump straight to Android 2.0 and is already hard at work on the pending update. Check out this email that came from HTC customer support.
The Hero will not be receiving the Android 1.6 upgrade, it will however get the 2.0 one. Do note however that we do not have a confirmed release date for this upgrade, all I can recommend at the moment is that you keep yourself updated by visiting our website regularly as the latest information will be available to view from there.
The same message was again confirmed on HTC’s Twitter account.
HTC has decided to skip the Donut update.
It is nice to see that Android 2.0 (Eclair) will be making its way to the Hero, but I think this highlights one of the downfalls with custom Android UIs. Instead of being able to easily roll out Android updates as Google releases them, HTC has to retool the Sense UI to be compatible. This means that Android phones with Sense UI might not receive minor updates as HTC chooses to focus on major updates instead.
It looks like Android phones with Motoblur will likely face the same problem. The Motorola Cliq is shipping with Android 1.5, even though T-Mobile has already updated their other phones to Android 1.6.
I’m starting to like the stock Google experience phones more and more.
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Taylor Wimberly
Taylor is the founder of Android and Me. He loves playing with all kinds of gadgets, but most importantly cell phones. His other hobbies include cooking (BBQ hero!), politics, football, and watching every MMA event possible.
9 Comments
Lol that’s y dnt root yet..just waiting for stuff to get better. Really hope 2.0 comes to the g1.
I saw this problem with custom UIs from the very beginning and will only get a phone if it has the stock Android OS on it. I was thinking about switching to Sprint and getting the Moment since it is a Google experience phone but I’m going to hold off on that. I need to see how they plan to handle future updates since this will be their first phone with stock Android on it.
I agree.. to me its important to know that my next phone will update OTA. I wish the Android & Me’s of the world would start asking that question as one of the specs..
I like the look and feel of the Sense UI, and I like the messages, wlan, gps and bt widgets, the flickr and facebook integration although I wish the facebook stuff was simply a info sync from facebook into my google contacts.
But three home screens is enough, I’ve never changes scene, the HTC calendar is lacking week view, it’s annoying that the browser hides the notification bar, the multi-touch features are pretty much useless and I found out when updating that I really want OTA updates (the update process via a Windows computer wasn’t very user-friendly).
So most of the stuff I actually like about the Hero could’ve been done without sacrificing the Google Experience. :\
Hopefully things will improve with the Eclair update for the Hero.
I NEED WEEK VIEW! Who in their right mind would omit this? HTC, PLEASE add this in your next update!!!!
htc should just make sense an apk that users can install if they want
+1 to this
I’m not terribly impressed with any of the phone makers’ software I’ve seen so far. I’ll stick with plain ol’ Google Experience, thanks. I can customize that plenty to meet my needs using apps from the market.
The Samsung Moment is a Google Experience phone and is still shipping with 1.5.