AfterDawn: Tech news

HTC apologizes to Desire HD owners over lack of update to ICS

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Jul 2012 12:49 User comments (4)

HTC apologizes to Desire HD owners over lack of update to ICS HTC has issued an apology statement to Desire HD owners over the flip-flopping in regards to an update to Ice Cream Sandwich.
After weeks of switching between "yes, we will" and "no," HTC decided that owners would not get the update to Android 4.0.

Reads the statement:

"We've heard your feedback on our decision not to update the HTC Desire HD to Android 4.0. We completely understand that this is a controversial decision.

For more background, due to how storage on the HTC Desire HD is partitioned - and the larger size of Android 4.0 - it would require re-partitioning device storage and overwriting user data in order to install this update. While technically advanced users might find this solution acceptable, the majority of customers would not. We also considered ways to reduce the overall size of the software package, but this would impact features and functionality that customers are currently using. Even after installing the update, there were other technical limitations which we felt negatively impacted the user experience.



We believe an update should always improve the user experience and carefully evaluate each update based on this criteria. While we are very aware of the disappointment from this decision, we believe the impact to user experience was too great. We recognize this is a change from our previous statement and for that we're truly sorry."

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4 user comments

130.7.2012 17:08

They really need to get their OS situation together. Imagine if someone bought this thinking "oh they said I can upgrade"

23.8.2012 10:48

I have an EVO 4G and although its nearing end of life it would have been nice if HTC would update it to ICS. The 3rd party devs have been doing it for some time but unfortunately there are issues with drivers for it. I love the updated interface of ICS and jellybean especially the new Google Now but the fact that the camera and video play back do not work on the 3rd party dev versions (CM10 and Team D.I.R.T.) I keep reverting back to my honeycomb OS. The 3rd parties work very hard at creating these ROMs and the work is GREATLY appreciated. I wish I had the time to learn how to do that so I too could contribute to the cause. HTC should be watching that space closely as they may learn a thing a or two.

33.8.2012 15:13

Originally posted by rtlinux:
I have an EVO 4G...I keep reverting back to my honeycomb OS.
You're not really running Honeycomb on your EVO 4G, are you?

I see nothing wrong with HTC releasing an ICS update that must be downloaded from their website rather than OTA. They could then provide a clear warning that you will lose your data due to the repartitioning of the device storage. Most casual phone users have their data backed up in the Google Cloud, and hardcore users have it backed up via other methods, too. Just don't make it a required OTA update.

Basically, it's just a cop out -- they (of course) just want to sell new phones and not focus on updating old ones any more than they absolutely have to. My EVO 4G is still a very viable phone, and could easily run ICS.

410.8.2012 08:39

Originally posted by GernBlan:
Originally posted by rtlinux:
I have an EVO 4G...I keep reverting back to my honeycomb OS.
You're not really running Honeycomb on your EVO 4G, are you?

I see nothing wrong with HTC releasing an ICS update that must be downloaded from their website rather than OTA. They could then provide a clear warning that you will lose your data due to the repartitioning of the device storage. Most casual phone users have their data backed up in the Google Cloud, and hardcore users have it backed up via other methods, too. Just don't make it a required OTA update.

Basically, it's just a cop out -- they (of course) just want to sell new phones and not focus on updating old ones any more than they absolutely have to. My EVO 4G is still a very viable phone, and could easily run ICS.

Still loving My hacked EVO 4G as well. Using it right now for wifi tether. If an update doesnt let me use it as I do now then I'll stick with my current 2.3.5 update though

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