This is going to be a bit of a downer for users of the regular model of HTC One M7. Apparently, Android 5.1 Lollipop will not be rolling out to the handset in the near future or anytime soon.
Mo Versi, HTC vice president for product management, confirmed through his Twitter account that the firmware update to Google’s latest mobile operating system will no longer be coming out on the basic model of the HTC One M7, the flagship smartphone of the Taiwanese smartphone maker back in 2013, relates Ecumenical News.
Versi however said that the OTA update to Android 5.1 Lollipop will come to the Google Play Edition (GPE) of the HTC One M7.
This news will be a major disappointment for owners of the base model of the HTC One M7 since they are hoping that bugs, glitches and other issues brought about by Android 5.0 Lollipop would be fixed by the new firmware update, similar to what it is doing now on Nexus devices.
The reason
The HTC vice president explained that the Taiwanese tech company’s decision to discontinue the Android 5.1 Lollipop on the HTC One M7 is due to the fact that they have been updating the device for nearly two years now.
While Android Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) partners have 18 months of statuary contract with Google with regards to delivering update services to their flagship smartphones, HTC has made it even better by extending it to 24 months, or an additional six months.
Without the HTC official saying it actually, the decision has to do obviously with business since the company wants to promote the use of their latest flagship smartphones rather than users and owners being contented on using their old models.
Mo Versi however assured that Google will continue to deliver software update services to HTC One M7 GPE until the end of this year. Beyond 2015, it would be anybody’s guess but the likelihood of HTC discontinuing it is already high too.
OTA update next month
The OTA firmware update is expected to roll out to the HTC One M7 GPE by next month although the company has yet to announce a specific date as of this time.
Many HTC One M7 users were lured to taking on a major OS upgrade with the Android 5.0 Lollipop when it was launched late last year primarily because of the major design changes and new features that it has brought.
Among those features include the recent apps page, the ability to make a search from the settings app, as well as improvements in notifications.
But the Android 5.0 Lollipop also came with bugs and performance issues that had HTC One M7 users reeling in the ropes and waiting for Android 5.1 Lollipop since Google promised that the firmware update will have major stability update to fix bugs and issues on the problematic first Lollipop version.