HTC One X review
HTC One S review
Sense 3.6 preview
Sense 4.0 is a unique story. It's lighter, cleaner and far more visually appealing than older versions of the user interface, and it has the whole suite of ICS goodies to head together with it. HTC also throws in its own imaging technology, dubbed ImageSense, to provide some cool new enhancements to the camera. Ultimately, HTC has successfully tweaked Sense's design in a sense that keeps the spirit of stock Android 4.0 alive, while still offering something familiar to loyal HTC fans. The tour is ready to start, so park yourself to your favorite chair and join us.
HTC Sense 4 home, lock and notifications
Home screen
The home screen of Sense appears like, well, a rather modified version of Sense. As silly as that sounds, HTC didn't break lots of new ground here. Perhaps the corporate figured this was an ideal way to assist ease customers into the transition from yesteryear to the brand new era. Unlike stock ICS as seen at the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S, Sense 4.0 doesn't feature the non-removable Google search bar on the top of each panel (though it's offered as a removable widget by default), and it also lacks a virtual row of navigation buttons at the bottom of the display since HTC opted to apply three capacitive keys at the One series instead. We won't just assume that this suggests the manufacturer won't ever try the virtual buttons on for size down the line, however it seems rather unlikely at this point.
Even though the virtual buttons aren't offered on Sense 4.0, HTC still made absolute to throw in an ICS-style launch bar along the underside of the screen, with app menu access flanked by as much as two customizable app shortcuts on each side. You are able to choose whatever app you will want -- heck, you can too toss in a folder if that is what really moves you. The launch bar's also a tad different here than it's on 3.6, since it's chopped off on either side and uses only 1 color tone (not like a two-tone black and gray motif). This implies there is a little more room within the two bottom corners; it is not enough real estate to exploit, nevertheless it lends a better feeling of minimalism, in addition to a cleaner appearance.
The signature clock / weather widget continues to be there, eating up the complete top 1/2 the screen, however it has a more modern look to it. The huge dark grey box that serves because the backdrop for the total widget is gone, which makes it seem less intrusive somehow. And, as always, you'll simply remove the widget if it's taking over an excessive amount of space. Easy enough. It isn't like you may be hurting for clock options, considering HTC spared no expense by throwing in a large choice of possible widgets to make a choice from. Excellent news: the 3D carousel in older versions of Sense that spins your main panels around and around like you're playing the Wheel of Fortune- Retired.
Another Sense staple that's sticking around for the long haul is the overview screen, which provides you a card-style view of all seven home panels. It's still accessible by tapping once at the home capacitive key or using pinch-to-zoom, and whenever you arrive here you can change the panel order or even add or remove unwanted screens. This turns out to be useful if you are trying to avoid clutter.The 3D carousel in older versions of Sense- Retired.
Finally, long presses have changed a touch. To illustrate, performing this gesture at the capacitive keys not do anything. Doing it on some of the home panels, however, takes you right into a modified screen with a layout that emulates what you'd see in case you did the identical thing on a Honeycomb tablet: it pulls up a menu that shows thumbnails of your main panels at the top, tabs for widgets, apps and shortcuts at the bottom and a bit within the middle to be able to choose between a number of options concerning whichever tab you've selected. When staring at widgets, for example, you should use a drop-down menu or do a search to quickly find something specific. This a part of Sense seems to exploit the ICS design style, however the screen itself is nowhere to be seen at the stock version.
Personalization options
Also predominant in past versions of Sense was the personalize menu, which was featured as a non-customizable shortcut at the launch bar. Essentially, this screen was an extension of the settings app, with several options for display, sound and shortcuts. It's still around (minus the shortcuts option, because you can find that by long-pressing the house panel), however it seems to have lessened in priority now. How do we tell- The one points of access to this screen are inside the settings itself and as a shortcut inside the app menu which might be added to whatever spot you wish it to head. But that is the key: you are able to do whatever you desire with it. Freedom to make a decision. Not is that this menu stuck to your home screen with none way of removing it.
Notifications
When it involves staying true to stock ICS, the notification bar in Sense 4.0 will not be an instantaneous copy, but at the least it gets much in the direction of the overall idea than 3.6 does. Individual lines make the most of the unique style, and you may swipe every one to the left or right to eliminate them. And like the pure vanilla version, you will find buttons to clear notifications and access settings at the top, but HTC pushes them over to the highest right corner and adds words to every symbol, helping exactly what every one is there for. In preference to going the identical route as Sense 3.6, which offers a piece for recent apps near the head and a snappy settings tab on the bottom, HTC kept just one tie to earlier versions of the UI: it keeps ongoing processes and one-time notifications separate.
The re-creation of HTC's user interface also throws in extra choices for viewing notifications. Not just are you able to pull down the bar to work out the whole list without even unlocking the telephone -- standard for Ice Cream Sandwich -- you may also choose a brand new lock screen style that allows you to view a small choice of notifications directly at the lock screen. You are able to view missed calls, messages, email (from the same old Mail client, but not Gmail) and calendar events this type. What's more, you are able to pick and decide specifics: display missed calls from Bob only, view calendars A and C but omit B, show messages out of your wife. We don't have any idea why Bob's calls can be more important than your spouse's, but you definitely have that option at your disposal.The notification bar in Sense 4.0 does an improved job of exemplifying the spirit of stock Ice Cream Sandwich.
Lock screen
0 The standard Face Unlock feature is offered, as is the traditional Sense ring and accompanying easy accessibility shortcuts on the bottom. The apps featured here will ultimately reflect whatever you could have hanging out on your launch bar, notwithstanding what it's. And because which you can choose the variety of apps you've got laying at the bottom of your own home panel, this suggests which you could have anywhere from zero to four shortcuts to choose between.
Just as with vanilla ICS, you'll be able to pull down the notification bar directly from the lock screen. And if that is not quick enough access for you, it is not a foul idea to select the "productivity" lock screen style mentioned earlier. Calendar events and changes within the weather may also pop up every so often, and it is simple enough to easily dismiss them and get those notifications from your way.
App menu
HTC Sense 4 app menu
1 2 3 4 5 Unlike Sense 3.x, version 4.0 adopts the semblance of Matias Duarte's horizontal app menu, but you'll notice one significant difference right off the bat: no widgets. Those can still be accessed by long-pressing the house panel screen, as we discussed earlier, and that is the only place you will discover them. We assume this decision was made to bypass possible confusion when switching backward and forward between apps and widgets, but it is a significant enough departure from the real ICS setup.
In the end right corner you will have a search button, Play Store access point and options menu at your disposal. Inside the latter you will find the power to regulate, share or sort your apps. There aren't many options to customise the app menu -- you will not have the ability to move the icons around to suit your liking, but you at the very least still have more flexibility with Sense than the vanilla OS. Also, tucked between the icons and tabs is a menu progress indicator that tells you precisely where you're within the potentially vast expanse of app screens.
6 Last but not least, HTC has made it possible to edit the tabs lining the base of the app menu. If you've played with earlier versions of Sense and couldn't stand the frequent or download tabs, you may remove them on 4.0 just by going into the app menu options at the upper right corner of the screen and clicking on "edit tabs." Boom goes the dynamite. In case you like your tabs but hate the order they're displayed in, you are able to rearrange them however you need. The suitable part is this is not the only portion of Sense that permits this -- a plethora of apps throughout the UI now offer an analogous ability. Customization FTW.HTC has made it possible to edit the tabs lining the underside of the app menu.
Multitasking
7 The multitasking (or "recent apps," in the event you prefer) menu is different. Very different. HTC's design choice took us completely suddenly, as it opts for a card layout that's actually closer in function and appearance to webOS and Windows Phone 7.5 than what we see in stock Ice Cream Sandwich. Each open application is gifted as a card, and the whole series of apps is displayed in a horizontal setup that appears find it irresistible was inspired by Cover Flow. The slide to shut feature remains to be around, but you flick the cardboard as much as do away with it. We will not help but be reminded of webOS on every occasion we use it.
While we enjoyed this system on webOS, seeing HTC adopt it on its Android devices is just a little a letdown. One in all our beefs with previous versions of Sense is that the UI is so involved, so overbearing, that it often takes you clear of feeling like you're even using Android within the first place. HTC has sought to eliminate much of that very same concern in its latest firmware and it largely succeeded in doing so by making the interface more closely resemble Matias Duarte's vision. The multitasking screen, however, is a gargantuan departure to that philosophy. It functions well, but it's as though we're using a totally different OS. Here's where it gets even weirder: Sense 3.6, also considered to be a heavier, more "watered down" version of ICS, uses the stock app switcher.Multitasking on Sense 4.0 is far in the direction of webOS or Windows Phone Mango than Ice Cream Sandwich. It's by far the most important departure from Android you can find in Sense.
Browser
8 We have a sense many ICS fanatics will shun the native Sense browser in favor of Google's own Chrome flavor, but there's still plenty to love about HTC's version -- and it's especially beautiful on a high-performance phone just like the One X, given how incredibly smooth it really works. We had a completely difficult time finding any lag, and tiling at the browser was practically non-existent. And like the Galaxy Nexus, Sense's version scored an ideal 100 / 100 at the Acid3 test.
The native browser keeps most of the stock settings and adds some of its own for kicks and giggles. In preference to throwing in extra stuff only for the sake of being different, however, the recent features can actually become quite useful: a toggle switch to enable Flash, wireless printing (not new to Sense, nevertheless it isn't at the vanilla ICS browser) and an "add to" option which helps you to easily stash your current page on bookmarks, an icon for your home panel or a reading list -- Sense's version of offline reading. Incognito mode remains there, nevertheless it takes you one additional step to drag it up; on Sense, it could only be accessed should you move through the action of adding a brand new tab.
HTC Sense 4 browser
9 0 1 2 3 Also retained during this version of the ICS browser is the clever labs feature where a semi-circle with easy accessibility shortcuts can appear through dragging your finger onto the screen from the left or right bezel. Sense, not satisfied with keeping it exactly the same as what you'd find on vanilla Android 4.0, has added two extra options. As well as buttons for settings, window toggle and URL bar, it permits you to add a brand new window and go on to your bookmarks. They don't seem to be crucially important, obviously, nevertheless it was pretty handy.The fast access shortcut menu within the native browser continues to be there, and HTC has added a pair more options to make it even better.
Camera
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HTC has armed the cameras in its Sense 4.0 devices with a brand new weapon: ImageSense. This technology is made possible by integrating a custom chip and embellishing several other parts of the camera just like the lens, sensor and software in most cases. While all of those elements are crucial to making sure ImageSense works as advertised, we'll think about the cam's user interface specifically.
With Sense 4.0, there aren't any more specific "modes" through which you should access a toggle switch to transport backwards and forwards between still and video. Instead, both options are available in to you together to the correct of the viewfinder, both buttons hanging out together in peace and harmony as one mode. We appreciate this setup because it's a lot more convenient in the event you must quickly choose one or the opposite, which includes when a precious moment is occurring. Switching from still to video (or vice versa) finally ends up taking a couple of seconds you only won't come again, in any case. But it is usually structured this kind to deal with one among ImageSense's biggest features: the facility to take still pictures and videos while.
HTC Sense 4 ImageSense camera
5 6 7 8 9 The power to do stills and videos jointly is totally stunning, and extremely few manufacturers have chosen to supply an identical service (Samsung being considered one of them). If you are recording video, the camera shutter button continues to be available just in case the instant is so memorable that you really want to take a picture without turning off the camcorder. Whenever you forget to do that, all is definitely: it's possible to snatch photos within the same manner after the reality. If you end up watching the video inside the gallery, an identical shutter button hasn't gone anywhere, still accessible at the right side of the screen.
Before we get to the gallery, let's turn back to the key camera UI. As well as the pair of shutter buttons to the viewfinder's right, you'll also see gallery access at the bottom corner, with a odd blue lens at the top. The blue lens, when pressed, shows you a menu of other effects and modes to milk: depth of field adjust, distortion, dots, vignette, vintage and the standard suite of greyscale, sepia, negative and others are all there. These aren't anything new to the Sense UI, but you certainly won't see them in stock ICS.ImageSense's ability to do stills and videos concurrently is completely stunning.
The opposite side of the screen reveals three options: settings, flash mode and camera scenes. You get the standard HTC smattering of settings, which includes resolution, ISO, white balance, exposure / saturation adjustments, face detection, video stabilization and so forth. Continuous shooting -- which helps you to hold down the shutter button to fireplace off a machine gun-style round of imagery -- could also be available as a toggle here. Moving directly to camera scenes, there's plenty to select from. Panorama, landscape, low light, HDR and slow motion are several examples of varied options here. Also, the ground of the viewfinder offers a slider for zoom in / out.
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just a few more words on continuous shooting. One of many biggest feature enhancements within the new Sense is speed: first you'll notice the 0.7-second startup and a nil.2-second autofocus. Then, by holding down the shutter button, you possibly can rapidly fire off a whole series of continuing shots for so long as you want (though there's a setting within which you could favor to limit the variety of captures to 20). When you've completed your series, you're automatically taken into an album-within-an-album by which you are able to examine each individual shot which you captured and pick and decide whichever ones don't fit the bill. Or, you may favor to keep just your favorite shot and delete each of the rest.
Now, the gallery. We already mentioned the shutter button that's available when you are previewing a video, but what in regards to the remainder of the choices- At the top right you could adjust volume and brightness. The underside left reveals a share button, where you could decide to export the video to several possible apps. Along the base is the back / forward / pause and play, in addition to a slider to fast forward or rewind your current selection. Finally, the base right corner offers a "more" button that offers you more choices. You could go here to seek out a Beats toggle, go into full screen mode, lock controls or trim the video (although anyone trying to do more with their movie can use Sense's movie editor app).
With Sense, you've gotten the traditional photo album view inside the gallery, but you may favor to hide certain ones which you don't need to watch or let somebody else see accidentally. When going into an album, you'll first see the overall layout of the pictures in conjunction with options to share, delete and even play the whole lot as a slideshow. Once you go into someone image, you may edit the express picture, set it as your wallpaper, share it or print. And identical to previous versions of Sense, when you begin flipping in the course of the album the images turn out to be smaller thumbnails and scrolling between every one becomes much faster. This turns out to be useful when you have a plethora of photos to scan through and wish to avoid wasting overtime.
Miscellaneous
HTC Sense 4 miscellaneous screenshots
1 2 3 4 5 NFC/Android Beam: Naturally, this little bit will only apply to HTC devices that supply NFC functionality, but Sense 4.0 does indeed support Android Beam -- and at the One X, it really works flawlessly. We were in a position to share URLs, directions, apps, contacts or even YouTube videos with our Galaxy Nexus without incident. We were also capable of download Google Wallet directly from the Play Store, but carrier restrictions still apply.
6 Keyboard: HTC loves its virtual keyboard loads that the layout remained nearly identical, aside from a regular set of arrows on a fresh row on the bottom. This suggests while you weren't a fan before, nothing's going to switch your mind now. After all, portion of the fantastic thing about Android is the undeniable fact that you could simply download a brand new keyboard and use it instead, so this really isn't a make-or-break factor if you end up taking into consideration purchasing a tool. On a favorable note, we were quite pleased to determine the trace functionality still baked into the Sense keyboard, and it worked brilliantly.
Calendar: Sense's calendar is colorful and straightforward to read. You may view multiple calendars and incorporate tasks, contact birthdays, Facebook events and more. The elements for town of your choosing is unfolded around the top of every individual day, but when the daily layout isn't for you, just touch probably the most tabs on the bottom to modify to week, month and agenda views.
Phone: The layout is extremely much what you'd come to expect from Sense, but a couple of elements had been tossed around to make room for uniformity with other parts of the UI. As an example, tabs now run around the bottom of the app and the remainder of the keypad has shifted up the screen to make room for them. Two of them -- groups and contact history -- can fortunately be removed if necessary. What cannot be taken away, though, are the telephone and contacts tabs.
7 Beats Integration: HTC will need to have received lots of complaints from customers upset that Beats Audio couldn't be utilized in third-party apps, for the reason that company added the functionality into Sense 4.0 and used it as one of many update's key talking points at Mobile World Congress in February. While only certain legacy devices (comparable to the Vivid) gets the feature alongside version 3.6, every phone or tablet bearing 4.0 will likely boast this capability. We checked it out at the One X, and was indeed ready to make the most of Beats on several third party apps.
Widgets: Most widgets made available by Sense 4.0 aren't all that different from some other HTC device that has come before it. There are just a few native Android widgets scattered about, but be prepared to plow through a miles larger sea of obtainable options with Sense than you can have on pure ICS.
8 Disabling apps: Not every app or process might possibly be disabled in Sense, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to which of them are affected. The camera app and bluetooth share cannot be disabled, for example, however the dialer and contacts apps can. With that said, there are still plenty more options to eliminate stuff on Sense 4.0 than any Gingerbread-running version.
Dropbox: The only series is lacking in expandable storage, but we'll give HTC credit for looking to give you an effective alternative solution to make up for it. The Taiwanese company has yet again partnered with Dropbox to hook you up with 25GB cloud cupboard space if you end up rockin' on a feeling 4.0 device. Here's greater than lots of real estate for plenty of people, and it's probably sufficient if you have been profiting from other cloud services or streaming music options consisting of Google Music, Spotify or the rest. Our primary concern here isn't an issue of running out of space; it is the undeniable fact that the vast majority of these services finally end up becoming a tremendous drain on capped data. In case you haven't got unlimited, remember to be incredibly picky about how much you take heed to usually.
As a sidenote, we're unsure in case you can still get an identical quantity of storage via Dropbox in case you port the hot Sense firmware onto an older device, but we'd like to discover from any aspiring devs who wish to give it a shot.
9 Clock: Gone is the desk clock tab, and the realm clock has undergone a makeover. While an analogous clocks are still there, they have been restricted to the lowest half. Taking its place at the top portion of the screen is a Google Earth-style globe that may be rotated, tilted and zoomed, all of the while displaying climatic conditions in major cities as you go. The majority of the opposite tabs in the app have barely changed, with only slight variations widespread.
Screenshots: Yes, Virginia, screenshots are included in Sense 4.0. Hold down the ability and volume down buttons and kapow -- the shot is stored on your gallery, and you'll do regardless of the heck you desire with it.
Easter eggs: Perhaps just a handful of individuals really give a darn about if their phone comes with hidden easter eggs, and maybe HTC agrees, because Sense doesn't include the everyday stock Android gems. There, there, heartbroken reader. You are a trooper, everything can be okay.
Test menu: For those who desire to dig really deep into menus, we combed during the test menu (accessible by dialing *#*#4636#*#* within the phone app) and located it to be identical in setup to stock Ice Cream Sandwich.
Wrap-up
0 Ah, Android skins. We've vehemently opposed a lot of them over time, because each manufacturer chooses to price differentiation and "user experience" greater than the character of the OS itself and fully misses the purpose. Additionally, a healthy component of these skins are loaded up with such a lot of extra frills and gimmicks that the performance of the particular device suffers to that end. HTC's proprietary UI is not any exception to this, and previously was one of many worst offenders.
With the exception of some questionable nips and tucks, HTC's latest UI, Sense 4.0, has avoided this same reputation. Peter Chou's company has largely succeeded at its goal of bringing a lighter version of its skin to the only series. While it doesn't seem like a replica of vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich, it's ready to maintain its unique personality but still holds directly to the spirit of what Matias Duarte was working hard to complete with the Android OS. By this, we mean offering a fresh design, important new features and great performance -- all of those being elements that were sorely needed. For the 1st time in ages, we're loving the experience of a feeling-powered device.
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