Any comments on HTC One M8?

[Duckduck]

Bro, 4.4 out for S4? I keep checking but it says the latest was installed.And is 4.3.

 

yes i updaeted to 4.4. No more retarded lag n using less RAM now for my GS4

[Kar_lover]

 

yes i updaeted to 4.4. No more retarded lag n using less RAM now for my GS4

The last update totally screwed my S4. Now I pphobia to upgrade sw liao...

[Jellandross]

Im using HTC butterfly s currently. And after upgrading the firmware from 4.3 to 4.4, the external sd card memory becomes read only. Meaning u can't delete, edit rename or modify the files on ur external sd card using ur phone. To delete files u need to use a computer. Not sure if it's the same for other phones like Samsung, Sony etc but this is a point to take note of.

 

Regarding the camera, yes the resolution sucks at only 4mp so detail is not there. But if u don't pixel peed, its good. But the camera really shines in low light conditions.

 

But the main reason I got this phone is the front facing speakers. Great if u like to watch videos on ur phone.

 

4.4 Kit Kat has a new SD card access restriction. applies to all phones regardless of manufacturers.

 

http://www.androidcentral.com/kitkat-sdcard-changes

 

KitKat and SD cards — what's fixed, what's broken and what's misunderstood

By Jerry Hildenbrand | Mar 12 2014 | 4:00 pm | 471 COMMENTS

Why your SD card doesn't work the same in Android 4.4 KitKat, and the reasons for the change

“Curse you, Google! Your KitKat update broke my SD card!”

Poke around the Android section of the Internet and you’ll hear something similar. Users like you and me are in an uproar because they updated their phone to Android 4.4 KitKat, and now the SD card support has changed. Apps no longer work, folks have problems with cameras and music players, and while everyone else is saying “Oh, yeah. That’s how it works now,” nobody warned them in advance before they grabbed that update.

There is a lot of push against these changes, with petitions and threats of grassroots movements that threaten to show Google the error of its ways — even a very popular developer that I won’t name has their PR people sending out requests for blogs to write about evil Google.

But, as always, there's a method to Google's madness. Let's discuss.

What changed in Android 4.4 KitKat with SD cards??

It’s simple, really. Prior to Android 4.4 KitKat, applications — provided they had permission to access the SD card — could read and write to any area on removable storage, including the system folders like DCIM, Alarms, etc. That has all changed, and now third-party applications — as in ones you download from Google Play or elsewhere — can only write to files and folders that they have created or have taken ownership of.

GOOGLE MADE THINGS NEATER AND MORE SECURE. SOME APPS HAVE WORKED WITH THAT, MANY OTHERS ARE JUST BROKEN.

This keeps things "tidy." Apps aren't dumping files everywhere on the card — something we've all encountered — and instead have one central location to put all their files. There also are some serious security concerns that were addressed by not letting an app write files just anywhere.

This means that Jerry’s Awesome Photo Viewer app can still scan your entire system for images, build a thumbnail database of them all and save it to a folder on the SD card. But it can’t move or save the pictures themselves to folders — including the Pictures folder — on the SD card because it does not “own” those folders. If programmed right, it could save copies of the pictures to Jerry’s Awesome Photo Viewer’s own folders on the SD card. The folder is part of the app, and if you uninstall it, the folder goes, too. The old method of putting anything anywhere you want is gone, forever.

The other side of the coin is that Jerry’s Not Awesome App that steals your data no longer has write access to every file and folder on the SD card. Yes, previously any application that declared permission to read and write to the SD card was allowed to write files to any folder — including your system folders, and any folder something like a banking app might have made. Any type of file, too. That includes files that could be read when another app starts up and affect the settings or way that app works. It was a complete and total security nightmare, and why a lot of people — including yours truly — did not want phones with SD cards.

Do you want it easy? Or do you want it secure?

One of the reasons things have to change so drastically on the security-front is because of Unix-style user and group permissions, and the file system of your SD card. You expect an SD card to just work when you plug it into a computer. Any computer. Because something like 96 percent of all the computers out there that aren’t some sort of server run Microsoft Windows, you need to make sure your SD card will work with them.

IF YOU WANT REMOVABLE STORAGE THAT CAN BE READ ANYWHERE, UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S NOT GOING TO BE SECURE.

FAT-based file systems — that's what your SD card is formatted to — are universal on Windows, Apple OSX and (most) Linux machines. Makes sense. What good is a portable drive that can't be read, right? But there's a catch. FAT-based systems don't support file and folder permissions. If I'm an app, I can't say “This is my folder. I will allow you to look inside, but you are not to put anything new in there or change any of my stuff!” on this sort of file system. It’s an all-or-nothing mess, and one that even Microsoft has moved away from in its newer versions of Windows. But FAT still needs to be used, because anything else will require a lot of finagling for people using legacy versions of Windows, and that is a large number of people.

Note that this has nothing to do with accessing your phone storage — internal or external — via a cable attached to your computer. That uses a completely different protocol and method, that has nothing to do with the actual file system of a removable piece of media.

If SD cards were set up with the same file system as the rest of the partitions inside your Android (EXT, for those of you keeping track at home), none of this would matter. Third-party apps could be given permission to individual folders, other folders could be marked “hands-off,” and everyone would be happy. But they are not, and can not be without modification of a lot of computers, or a stand-alone program you run on your computer just to access the SD card you pull out of your Android.

This is a mess that nobody can fix right now.

So what do we do?

First off, you stop and think before you take any update to KitKat. Any apps installed to the SD card will lose their data when you update and need re-installed, and some of the apps you use probably will stop working because they have not been updated. The good news is that other apps have been updated — PocketCasts, for example — so you get to try all new apps.

FORGOING THE KITKAT UPDATE IS AN OPTION, BUT NOT ONE WE'D RECOMMEND.

You could also never update to KitKat, which I see a lot of people claiming they have planned. I think that’s a bit crazy, but it is an option and it will keep things working like they always have — both the good and the bad — in regards to your external storage.

Or you can install a custom ROM that “fixes” the issue. It’s a fairly easy thing to change, but the folks who make your phone aren’t allowed to “fix” it or they can’t retain their Google certification for Google Play and the rest of Google’s apps.

Or you can huff and puff, and start a petition.

Remember, Android — whether we like it or not — is a work in progress. Google could very well have some sort of magic fix for this whole problem planned, and we'll see it in a future version of Android. Or it could just not care and take the stance that SD cards should only be used to store media, and should be kept seperate from the operating system.

We'll just have to see.

[Jellandross]

 

My Note 2 is very laggy after the OS upgrade. This lag issue seems to be a common problem in android phones.

 

the biggest culprit of laggy response in older android phones is the lack of SSD garbage collection management. android 4.3 and above introduced TRIM which fixed/minimised this lag on SSD.

 

read this for more details -

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7185/android-43-update-brings-trim-to-all-nexus-devices

 

but being a owner of both HTC M8 and Samsung Tabpro, i can fairly say that the Samsung Touchwiz interface is definitely more laggy even with a brand new device. i can perceive a split-second delay between my touch and the expected response and sometimes the delay can be more than a second. HTC's Sense UI is definitely more snappy in this regard.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Jellandross

[Duckduck]

The last update totally screwed my S4. Now I pphobia to upgrade sw liao...

 

so far so good... 1 issue is u have to restart the phone twice after install to get back all 3rd party apps... weird bug. Theres a hidden easter egg too... its just a fun app to play ard with

[drivinghazard]

Im using HTC butterfly s currently. And after upgrading the firmware from 4.3 to 4.4, the external sd card memory becomes read only. Meaning u can't delete, edit rename or modify the files on ur external sd card using ur phone. To delete files u need to use a computer. Not sure if it's the same for other phones like Samsung, Sony etc but this is a point to take note of.

 

Regarding the camera, yes the resolution sucks at only 4mp so detail is not there. But if u don't pixel peed, its good. But the camera really shines in low light conditions.

 

But the main reason I got this phone is the front facing speakers. Great if u like to watch videos on ur phone.

 

The Butterfly S battery life good? What's the Android phone with the biggest battery capacity right now? I believe when it comes to battery, there's no replacement for displacement. Buttery S has 3200mah battery right?

[Luv_presea]

 

The Butterfly S battery life good? What's the Android phone with the biggest battery capacity right now? I believe when it comes to battery, there's no replacement for displacement. Buttery S has 3200mah battery right?

Yup. 3200mah. Much much better compared compared to my previous HTC one with 2300mah battery. Note 3 n xperia z2 also using 3200mah battery. I think there's some other phones using 3500mah battery. But it's more like a phablet size.

[Kar_lover]

 

so far so good... 1 issue is u have to restart the phone twice after install to get back all 3rd party apps... weird bug. Theres a hidden easter egg too... its just a fun app to play ard with

 

 

I heard there are some SD Card control measures implemented right? Become read only? Luckily I didn't upgrade...

[Pocus]

 

yes i updaeted to 4.4. No more retarded lag n using less RAM now for my GS4

 

Before 4.4 my phone suffer a 2 second lag whenever I launch or switch apps. Tahan for 3 months for an update.

Now after 4,4 The initial week is PERFECT. Then after one reboot I get network issues.

My network will hang for no reason! I cannot receive incoming calls or make outgoing calls and all my internet data is cut off. calling out will hangthe phone. The best part is the phone still show the signal and 4G icon as if it's normal and only when I surf FB or make calls then I know hang liao. Miss alot of calls and lapse in SMS/WA bcos of this stupid bug! Now have to restart the phone at least twice a day!

 

very reluctant to factory reset as my SMS's and watsapp's history data wil be lost.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Pocus

[Blackyv]

 

Before 4.4 my phone suffer a 2 second lag whenever I launch or switch apps. Tahan for 3 months for an update.

Now after 4,4 The initial week is PERFECT. Then after one reboot I get network issues.

My network will hang for no reason! I cannot receive incoming calls or make outgoing calls and all my internet data is cut off. calling out will hangthe phone. The best part is the phone still show the signal and 4G icon as if it's normal and only when I surf FB or make calls then I know hang liao. Miss alot of calls and lapse in SMS/WA bcos of this stupid bug! Now have to restart the phone at least twice a day!

 

very reluctant to factory reset as my SMS's and watsapp's history data wil be lost.

Sms and whatsaps data can be backup and retrieved after hard reset.. I always transfer all these info to my new phone without problem... Google on how to do it.., sms needs sms backup apps, free, and whatsaps is simply copy the whole folder as backup into computer... Reset phone, before installing whatsaps on a newly resetted phone, copy the whole folder into phone first.. Then follow by installing whatsaps... When startup whatsaps for the first time, if the folder is detected, it will prompt you either to retrieve previous data, something like that... Hehe..

[Vega]

Do you guys think hTc is a goner following the path of Nokia?

 

Their peak price was NT1300 per share back in 2011 and sold about 30M phones back then with 15% marketshare.

Now, trading at NT75 and still got room to slide further. sold about 1.5M phones and about 2% market share.

[Watwheels]

Do you guys think hTc is a goner following the path of Nokia?

 

Their peak price was NT1300 per share back in 2011 and sold about 30M phones back then with 15% marketshare.

Now, trading at NT75 and still got room to slide further. sold about 1.5M phones and about 2% market share.

 

Maybe for ppl who bought their shares will worry. As for phone users like most of us here, nobody will care. So far htc only focus on making smartphones and nothing else?

[Vega]

 

Maybe for ppl who bought their shares will worry. As for phone users like most of us here, nobody will care. So far htc only focus on making smartphones and nothing else?

I find their phone not bad.

just that they don't have access to the 2 biggest markets which is US and China.

 

They did some marketing like with Iron Man and Taiwan rock group May Day.

I think they got sandwich in between the Samsung and the XiaoMi alike.

too many players in the Android space.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVE1OcfB1E4

[Watwheels]

I find their phone not bad.

just that they don't have access to the 2 biggest markets which is US and China.

 

They did some marketing like with Iron Man and Taiwan rock group May Day.

I think they got sandwich in between the Samsung and the XiaoMi alike.

too many players in the Android space.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVE1OcfB1E4

 

I have a HTC desire 620 sitting around that nobody wants to use. Not bad to use but material wise it's lightweight and plasticky. Dun have the quality feel to it. Processor and ram are competent. The HTC sense software I think it's average.

 

Yeah, I think too many competition in the Android market.