Last Updated on April 6, 2017 by Mathew Diekhake
If you are a subscriber to the Sprint network and own the HTC One M8 it’s time to look out for a new software update notification over the air which upgrades the OS to Android 5.0 Lollipop. The firmware build number is 4.20.651.10. If you are reading this that likely means you have found the digits available from your display and you’re either researching to find out what is inside or you’ve already clicked the ‘download’ and ‘install now’ options from the display. Let me fill you in on the goodies after the drop.
The new Android 5.0 Lollipop OTA is coming with screen pinning, new multi tasking, device sharing, material design app drawer and the material design UI, tap and go NFC payments and much more. Some of the highlights we’ve left out include updates to the camera, Google security updates which makes gaining root access tougher, a newfangled Easter Egg, smarter notification with several new notifications features from the lock screen and still more. Our favorite feature of all is the new battery saving mode. We’ve already seen past versions of Android and devices come with a dedicated battery saver mode, but none of them come close to what you’ll get out of your devices after installing this update.
The new battery saver mode coming with Lollipop gives users up to an extra 90 minutes of device life. Understand that software updates can drain battery before they kick in for a while. That’s because the battery is not calibrated to work with the new software as it seems foreign to start with. That leave people thinking they have a battery bug that’s chewing away the life. Over time that should automatically correct itself. That will take away from the beauty of the new battery saving mode for a short while, but you’ll still find immediate improvements when using the mode.
Above all, you’ll find your new operating system is running smoother than ever before during KitKat. There is multiple reasons for that. It’s normal to find new software versions running faster than the older builds because that’s one of the features the developers work on. Furthermore, the Google developers out of Mountain View have come up with a new Android RunTime which replaces the old Dalvik system. That’s what deserves most of the credit this time for the speedy improvements.
HTC smartphones come with a ton of upside, but there’s also some downside. HTC have their own Sense 6 user interface. It works like a charm for daily use. However, when it comes to new version of Android software, it takes extra time for the manufacturer and the Google team to work together to get Lollipop working with Sense 6.0. That’s why it’s at the bottom end of the list for flagships. The upside is the update is finally here and you’ll also get some new Sense 6.0 goodies which work with Lollipop that no other device has. The rest of the features are pretty stock standard across the board.