Users hanging onto their original HTC One might be stuck with a single-sensor camera, but soon they'll be getting nearly the same software experience as the new HTC One (M8).
Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC America, tweeted that current One users will get the Sense 6, or, as HTC loves to call it, the Sixth Sense update pushed to them by the end of May.
Assuming everything stays on schedule, Sense 6 will bring a host of interface changes, including an updated BlinkFeed. The new version allows users to scan through articles and social media news from a widget-like panel on the home screen.
Unlike Sense 5, the phone starts on the home screen first rather than BlinkFeed. Users can also remove the specialized news feed by moving it to the trash just like an app.
A dash of vanilla Android
Sense 6 will bring the HTC One's user experience closer to the vanilla version of Android, making it easier for users to simply drag applications from the app drawer to the home screen.
Additionally, the lock screen that used to only hold a giant analog clock face has been expanded to show the time in a digital read out as well as the weather, and there's room for more lock screen widgets.
Unlike Sense 5, the phone starts on the home screen first rather than BlinkFeed and users can also remove the specialized news feed by moving it to the trash just like an app.
With Sense 6, swiping up on the lock screen will open the phone normally, swiping to left the takes users to the home screen instantly, and swiping to the right launches BlinkFeed.
One of the biggest underlying changes to Sixth Sense is it has separated out its core features, such as the camera and BlinkFeed, from the main operating system as standalone apps. This way, HTC can update the individual apps on the Play Store without needing to include them in a over-the-air software updates subject to carrier meddling.
What's missing
However, not everything about Sense 6.0 will be ported over to the older hardware. Last time we heard about Sense 6 coming to the HTC One, it seemed like Motion Launch gesture controls wouldn't make it over as the older handset because it lacks the sensors to detect when the screen is being double tapped.
Engadget claims that the Sense update is also planned for the HTC One Mini as well as the HTC One Max, but there isn't any word on when those will arrive.
Meanwhile, HTC One users outside of the United States are also more likely to get the update first as the software update doesn't need to pass as carrier certification processes.
The end of May is still a month and a half away, so we'll just have to sit and wait for HTC to uphold its Twitter promises.
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