Software: Sense 6.0 and Android 4.iv

With each smartphone since the HTC Hero, the company has improved the design and usability of Sense, the skin slapped atop Android on their products. Sense half dozen.0, which is constitute on the HTC One M8, is easily the best version yet.

For the showtime fourth dimension in the history of Sense, HTC's custom experience actually blends in well with the other elements of Android 4.4.2, which the handset runs out of the box. The designers at HTC have finally realized that the gradients of Sense don't mesh well with the apartment, mod wait of Android four.0+, so you lot won't find one in the software of the HTC One. Everything is at present flattened and looks surprisingly slick.

Sparse fonts, pastel highlights and signature HTC elements make up everything from dialog boxes in apps to the settings and notification panes, which blend in reasonably well with Google's apps like Now and Gmail. It's not a perfect combination – it'southward seemingly incommunicable to visually differentiate from stock Android while withal meshing well with stock apps – but information technology's the nicest OEM pare I've used so far.

Sense vi.0 on the HTC One M8 isn't just skinning for the sake of skinning though. 1 of my favorite characteristic additions to the software stack is Motility Launch, which allows you to chop-chop turn on the device and admission various apps and areas without having to press the power button. For example, you tin double tap the display to wake information technology, swipe upwards to unlock, swipe left to access BlinkFeed and more. With Move Launch, unlocking the HTC One is faster than e'er.

Motion Launch can also be used for 2 other handy functions. If y'all option up the telephone in mural orientation then printing the volume push button, the camera launches. Or if you're receiving a phone call you can put the phone to your ear and it volition automatically respond.

The lockscreen is a fairly standard affair for a skinned UI. Your docked app tray transfers over to the screen so yous can easily swipe to access your favorite apps. Like with Movement Launch, you can either swipe left or correct to admission BlinkFeed or the homescreen panels respectively, and in that location's no way to add lockscreen widgets (aside from those such as music and weather that are automatically shown).

The notification pane and homescreen panels operate simply as yous'd expect from an Android iv.4 handset. The editable quick settings console is available through a tap of a button in the notification pane, and there's a smattering of quite okay HTC widgets to use if yous then cull. Swiping up from the navigation button bar will launch Google Now, as expected, and the Recent Apps window has been skinned but gains no additional functionality.

One of the large changes from the HTC I M7 is that BlinkFeed is no longer the default homescreen panel; instead it sits equally the panel uttermost to the left, and can be removed entirely if y'all don't find it useful. When on the BlinkFeed panel content extends behind the dock and navigation bar, which is a nice effect.

BlinkFeed itself has received a pregnant update. It's easier to use than previous iterations thanks to a simple swipe-out console for digging deeper into content, and there'southward more customization options to savor. Y'all can add specific topics to BlinkFeed like before, but at present you likewise have the option to add together custom topics and RSS feeds, making it a more versatile news reader than e'er earlier. HTC boasts over 1,000 content partners for BlinkFeed, and an API will be available for developers to add their own content into the BlinkFeed stream.

Most of the standard Android applications – including Agenda, Letters, Mail service, Net and Phone – have been pleasantly skinned, just add few (if whatever features). The People app integrates well with social network data, as you'd expect from past HTC applications. In that location are as well a smattering of non-standard apps that HTC has bundled, such every bit the self-explanatory Stocks, Weather, Flashlight and Tasks apps.

It'southward curious to see both Chrome and Internet included out of the box, as two browsers are unnecessary, and Chrome packs a wider variety of useful features. Interestingly, in some situations the Cyberspace app performs better than Chrome (such equally in the Peacekeeper benchmark), only I don't see why you lot'd use it, particularly if yous're a Chrome user on other platforms and want the synced data.

Gallery and Music are two solid additions to the HTC One M8. The latter features a decent interface and a cool visualizer feature with a lyric overlay, while the former is packed full of features. The Gallery app automatically compiles slideshows based on date, location or album, and can also match like photos with reasonable accuracy. Information technology provides a basis for all photo editing equally well, which I'll discuss later in the review.

HTC Connect is a characteristic that makes information technology like shooting fish in a barrel to stream content from the HTC One M8 to other devices through Bluetooth, DLNA or Miracast. By three finger swiping up when you lot're in certain apps with media content, such as the Music app or YouTube, you tin wirelessly share the content with compatible devices.

HTC has besides revamped Sense Idiot box. Not but can the app control TVs and other devices through the infrared LED in the power push, but it also acts as a TV guide and social hub during your viewing time. The app is well featured enough that it could easily replace a defended universal remote or Tv guide, and fifty-fifty integrates live sports for many codes around the earth. Unfortunately not every Tv provider is supported (cable networks in Australia don't announced), although the master providers have been included.

The keyboard included on the HTC Ane M8 is i of the all-time OEM keyboards going around on Android devices, as it's large, piece of cake to use and has a decent prediction engine. There'southward no swipe functionality in this particular keyboard, although you're free to download a third-party alternative from the Play Store if the HTC offering isn't to your liking. I'd recommend either the stock Google keyboard or SwiftKey.

In the settings yous'll find the useful Practice Not Disturb mode, which blocks incoming calls, shuts off the notification LED and mutes the handset. This can be especially handy if you're entering a coming together, or simply want some peace and serenity while you sleep. You can schedule times for Do Not Disturb mode to automatically active, and there'south also a timer choice if you decide to enable information technology manually and want it to conciliate later on a predefined time.

Capping off the features in the HTC One M8 that I want to talk over is the theme selection menu. Throughout applications and the Os you'll detect certain color highlights that correspond to the blazon of app y'all're using. By default, these are set to bluish for communications apps, greenish for data apps like Weather, orange for entertainment apps, and blackness for settings.

In the theme settings menu you can modify the highlights to a few pre-set options, all of which look quite nice. There's besides an selection to disable highlights altogether if you'd rather live in a blackness-and-white earth.