HTC drops software updates for a 15 month old phone that is still on sale - HTC One S

[ChazUK]

http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-no-android-422-update-htc-one-s

Bad news for HTC One S owners this afternoon, as HTC has confirmed to Android Central that the One S — one of its 2012 flagship devices — will not see any official upgrades beyond its current software version. That means as far as official firmware goes, users will remain on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and HTC Sense 4+ for the remainder of their devices' lives.

What an absolute joke of a company they are. Their excuses over their decision are worse.

"We can confirm that the HTC One S will not receive further Android OS updates and will remain on the current version of Android and HTC Sense. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed the HTC One S to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences."

They are taking the absolute piss with that statement.

Orange UK are still selling it, T-Mobile are, O2 UK....

And it's a dead phone update wise.

 

[MRU]

Not new news though is it, because when they announced which of the One devices would get 4.2 & Sense 5 (HTC One X, One X+, Droid DNA, Butterfly J) the One S was conspicuous by its absence. As is the One V, One VS etc...

After announcing the HTC One, the company confirmed many devices like the One X, X+, and the DNA would receive Sense UI 5, but they didn’t reveal any further details. If this report is accurate, HTC would be updating quite quickly to the latest release of Jelly Bean. However, Samsung’s GALAXY S 4 which is launching later this month will already be on 4.2.2, so they are already behind.

Sucks for those with the HTC One S though.


___

Edit... actually looking at the first communication (a facebook post)

"HTC will be offering upgrades to some of its existing devices in the next few months, including global variants of HTC One X, One X+, One S and the HTC Butterfly," it said.

Seems like One S is mentioned there... ouch....




The only consolation is that most folks buying a One S are going to be on a budget, and are likely not buying the device based on 'future OS updates' but rather what the device is doing now... But even that is pretty ****** consolation at the end of the day. Apple still have best longevity for device support, followed by Samsung.

 

[ChazUK]

Although most people would have deduced that the One S wasn't getting any updates, it hardly justifies dropping support for the device so soon.

Now we have confirmation, it won't be any better for those that are unfortunate to have recently bought one.

Even the ageing Galaxy S II seems to have had a better run than the One S.

 

[MRU]

Although most people would have deduced that the One S wasn't getting any updates, it hardly justifies dropping support for the device so soon.

Now we have confirmation, it won't be any better for those that are unfortunate to have recently bought one.

Even the ageing Galaxy S II seems to have had a better run than the One S.

Samsung may have a myriad of flagships but at least they do update them good way into their lifetime.

I guess HTC just doesn't have the resources / technically and financially to do the same, but still sucks at end of the day.



Of course all this could be avoided with the one thing we all would benefit from. Every device essentially being 'stock android' with manufacturers skin's being optional and manufacturer apps available only on the market place. With stock underneath even if HTC decided they weren't going to continue launcher support for that particular device, at least on a stock level it could continue to be supported.

I hope one day all Android devices will come with stock android underneath a disable-able launcher and optional manufacturer apps.





On the brightside for the One S owners...... 15 months is better than the HTC First ;-)

 

[Jessica Lares]

Psh. If it means it'll go down in price and be cheap on eBay, then that's okay with me!

 

[ChazUK]

Of course all this could be avoided with the one thing we all would benefit from. Every device essentially being 'stock android' with manufacturers skin's being optional and manufacturer apps available only on the market place. With stock underneath even if HTC decided they weren't going to continue launcher support for that particular device, at least on a stock level it could continue to be supported.

I hope one day all Android devices will come with stock android underneath a disable-able launcher and optional manufacturer apps.


On the brightside for the One S owners...... 15 months is better than the HTC First ;-)

I love that exact suggestion. If everything had the same baseline OS and the add-ons were un-installable/re-installable extras (just like what MS have done with WP) then it'd be much better for updates and for HTC to tweak things without needing a whole firmware update, but alas, it isn't so.

LOL at the last comment.

 

[2298754]

What a joke HTC has become. The Galaxy S2 came out almost 2 years ago and Samsung has no problem giving it software updates.


Decisions like this just prove that only Samsung is serious about Android these days. LG, HTC, and Sony are just scrubbing along.

 

[Explicitic]

I hope one day all Android devices will come with stock android underneath a disable-able launcher and optional manufacturer apps.

While this would be nice, this video explains just why that would essentially require a dual booting device. That's something I don't see any OEM doing.

If you're looking for updates, go on XDA. As long as your phone has some sort of an active development community, there should be an unofficial port.

 

[PollyK]

And this exactly why I didn't bother with the One. I took a look at who's really taking android devices to another level with continual updates and my choice was clear. Samsung really does seem to be the only OEM trying to give the consumer a complete experience all around.

 

[cuzo]

What a joke HTC has become. The Galaxy S2 came out almost 2 years ago and Samsung has no problem giving it software updates.


Decisions like this just prove that only Samsung is serious about Android these days. LG, HTC, and Sony are just scrubbing along.

Which is why I didn't bother looking at most if thee android devices.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[rockitdog]

So I guess nobody should be surprised when HTC stops giving the One updates in about 18 months... or has it already stopped giving it updates?

 

[MRU]

So I guess nobody should be surprised when HTC stops giving the One updates in about 18 months... or has it already stopped giving it updates?

In 18 months time here people will all be on different phones, the S4 & HTC one will be history and yet folks will still be bitching

 

[Ffosse]

Well, 15 months is old.

I'm not expecting any more updates to my 6 month old Xperia Z - it got 4.2.2 and that's enough for me. If I cared enough, I would install a custom ROM.

Although Sony seem quite good at updates - the recent Xperia Ion, for example - but anyone who cares, surely, will already have a custom ROM.

 

[ucfgrad93]

For me, I buy a phone with the expectation that it will not get any updates.

 

[Razeus]

For me, I buy a phone with the expectation that it will not get any updates.

Especially on Android.

That's the decision I made when I went with the S4 from the 4S. I assumed that 4.2.2. will be the only OS I'll ever see on the phone so the OS would have to work the way I want and I was good with that.

It's kind of a knock against Android devices, because I know that iPhones will be good for at least 3 versions in the future on day one.

 

[TacticalDesire]

It's nothing but a budget phone at this point and I'm sure the people still buying them don't care much about software updates. The phone will still make phone calls, can still download any app from the play store etc. Just because it's not getting a version of Android not even announced yet doesn't mean it's a paperweight.

What irks me however is that HTC originally said the One S was getting the update but then turned it's back later on.

As a general rule with most Android phones. Buy the phone with the expectation you won't be getting an updates. If you're not happy with it as is, don't buy it or make sure you can download the tweaks you want or have a decent dev community.

 

[skratch77]

Especially on Android.

That's the decision I made when I went with the S4 from the 4S. I assumed that 4.2.2. will be the only OS I'll ever see on the phone so the OS would have to work the way I want and I was good with that.

It's kind of a knock against Android devices, because I know that iPhones will be good for at least 3 versions in the future on day one.

I never really understood how people can think this is better then the way android does things.yes iOS gets a higher iOS number but all the new features are not there in the older device so whats the point of bringing up your old iPhone 4 got the latest iOS number but all the new features are not there?

At least when an older android phone gets a new version of android all the new features are there and working.

The gs2 is on 4.1.2 jelly bean and that is the same as the HTC one and the gs2 competes with the iPhone 4 and all the features that jelly bean have work on the gs2 but none of the new features of the latest iOS work on the iPhone 4

Ya iOS gets rid off fragmentation by just slapping a higher number on an old device lol

 

[Ffosse]

I never really understood how people can think this is better then the way android does things.yes iOS gets a higher iOS number but all the new features are not there in the older device so whats the point of bringing up your old iPhone 4 got the latest iOS number but all the new features are not there?

At least when an older android phone gets a new version of android all the new features are there and working.

The gs2 is on 4.1.2 jelly bean and that is the same as the HTC one and the gs2 competes with the iPhone 4 and all the features that jelly bean have work on the gs2 but none of the new features of the latest iOS work on the iPhone 4

Ya iOS gets rid off fragmentation by just slapping a higher number on an old device lol

I agree with this to some extent, which is why I'm not really expecting iOS 7 to work well on my iPod Touch 5th Gen. But I don't really care whether it does or not, either.

 

[Sensamic]

Thanks HTC for making it easy to decide not to buy the One Mini or the One Maxx.

 

[hallux]

This is why I won't get another HTC device. My current phone is a Thunderbolt, HTC was almost 8 months late with ICS, after announcing in March last year the phone will get it. Yet they STILL didn't fix some of the issues people were having (random reboots).

 

[2298754]

Well, 15 months is old.

Fair point, but why does Sammy have no problems bringing updates to 2 year old phones, but HTC just lies and gets away with it because of the anti-Samsung crowd?

 

[Dontazemebro]

I never really understood how people can think this is better then the way android does things.yes iOS gets a higher iOS number but all the new features are not there in the older device so whats the point of bringing up your old iPhone 4 got the latest iOS number but all the new features are not there?

At least when an older android phone gets a new version of android all the new features are there and working.

The gs2 is on 4.1.2 jelly bean and that is the same as the HTC one and the gs2 competes with the iPhone 4 and all the features that jelly bean have work on the gs2 but none of the new features of the latest iOS work on the iPhone 4

Ya iOS gets rid off fragmentation by just slapping a higher number on an old device lol

Also let's not forget androids core apps get updated via play store unlike ios that needs to wait for its yearly fix.

 

[daneoni]

Unacceptable.

iPhone 4 is 3 years old and will receive iOS7 (3rd major OS update). Yes some bells and whistles will be missing (its 3 years old with a single core CPU/GPU) but the Core OS and its APIs will be there and you'll be able to run the apps accordingly. THAT is what you call after-sales support.

This just cements my wariness of investing in HTC products.

 

[MRU]

Some perspective....

The thing is the Samsung S2, S3 etc.. were all Flagship devices. Not ALL Samsung devices were updated or will be updated, the majority of their mid range and budget range for example.

The One S was a mid range and now a budget phone. Yes HTC shot themselves in the foot by suggesting it would get Sense 5 & 4.2.2 however I doubt any One S users expected their midrange / budget device to receive latest versions of Android.

For those that did, and were excited when HTC said they would (albeit by Facebook only) then it sucks, but it sadly isn't a total surprise.


As for the iPhone comparison, one could make the valid argument that each iPhone is a flagship device as Apple only release 1 each year and with such few devices to actually support (they aren't releasing half a dozen devices at different price ranges each year) then it would be easier to support older devices albeit with software limitations as not all versions of the OS are equal based on hardware...


So yeah whilst Samsung do in general support older flagships longer, they don't support their Mid range or Budget range any more than the competition do, and Apple have a smaller range of devices to support and every one of them was a flagship at one point. The benefits of 1 device / closed hardware system.

I'm not being an apologist, I think HTC made themselves look stupid by going back on their FB post from February, but at same token they are doing what most other Android vendors do with mid range / budget hardware regarding software support.

If they had kept their mouths shut about the One S in first instance, chances are most users would never have expected it to be updated to 4.2 or higher.

Should mid-range hardware recieve longer support? In general the answer is yes... But with a finite amount of resources to spend on software development and support for older legacy hardware, its easy to understand why they would focus on flagship / top end models for software updates - sadly at the expense of cheaper mid range and budget hardware.

Like I say still for those expecting the One S update to Sense 5 & 4.2.2 the news is still dissapointing...

 

[fredaroony]

I'm not in any hurry to buy another HTC device after owning a One X.

The phone itself is good but when HTC started mucking around with CID's to block people upgrading to JB I had enough. Even though I still unlocked the bootloader I had to wait nearly two months later that the first users getting the update.