News - Has HTC's One X been eating too many Apples?

[HEXUS]

Sense 4 UI is acting aggressively towards background tasks, a typical Apple trick.

Read more.

[Lee H]

Storm in a teacup.

If anything the 1.29 update has made the phone even more responsive and quicker to do anything I use the phone for including making calls. Any applications I use such as iplayer, FB, twitter, IMDB and a few others all load instantly when needed.

If HTC want to fix anything, they should look at the live wallpaper issues when you transition from 1 page to another as the jumping and stuttering is woeful.

[saltyzip]

I bought this phone for my better half and its brilliant best phone we've ever used. I don't have a problem with sense, if HTC's own memory management is more aggressive to keep the UI less laggy then all the better. I believe the stock memeory management should be more aggressive, as that would then remove the need for task killers. Roll on 2GB phones!

[Scribe]

From what I gather the issue doesn't affect all users (depends on network etc). Try opening a web-browser and navigating somewhere, close it and a minute or so later try opening it again and see if you're still where you left it. I also appreciate UI responsiveness, but I've been both impressed and happy with that just on my Galaxy S II since Android 4.0 with no sacrifice in multi-tasking. The idea of losing app states in 30 seconds on the other-hand is very unappealing for my use of the device.

[crossy]

If HTC want to fix anything, they should look at the live wallpaper issues when you transition from 1 page to another as the jumping and stuttering is woeful.

Easy to fix - don't use Live Wallpapers!. I've got an old phone still, LW can drag it down to a crawl, so I don't use 'em.

From what I gather the issue doesn't affect all users (depends on network etc). Try opening a web-browser and navigating somewhere, close it and a minute or so later try opening it again and see if you're still where you left it. I also appreciate UI responsiveness, but I've been both impressed and happy with that just on my Galaxy S II since Android 4.0 with no sacrifice in multi-tasking. The idea of losing app states in 30 seconds on the other-hand is very unappealing for my use of the device.

There's been a lot of debate on this in the "S3 v's HOX" threads - some folks taking the view that it's no big deal; others that it can sometimes trip 'em up - but if it makes Sense run better then so be it; and finally a group for whom it IS a big deal - e.g. losing game progress to answer a text message - not necessarily a deal-breaker, but certainly a source of some annoyance.

There's also been some suggestions that this has been done ONLY to boost Sense - in which case wouldn't HTC be better advised to look at optimising Sense to run better without having to shed tasks? This sounds like a "sticking plaster" solution to me.

Interestingly enough, there's also been some suggestions that the HOX "is the phone that Apple would design, if they did Android phones", which kind of nicely echoes the title of this piece! (No axe to grind with HTC myself, never owned one of their devices - will probably be going to Asus or Samsung for this years phone).

[Brewster0101]

Try opening a web-browser and navigating somewhere, close it and a minute or so later try opening it again and see if you're still where you left it.

You mean like your browsers at home on your PC? Oh wait, no it also refreshes back to home once closed....

Wonder how Chrome browser works, does it allow the option to open from last page?

There is an awful lot of HTC bashing over such simple things with this new handset. Almost like people are only interested in the minor negatives and turning them into massive issues. Maybe people are just jealous of HTC for beating Samsung to releasing a phone of this spec.

But either way, the HTC One X is one brilliant phone, well engineered and well put together. Sense is still the bench mark that other overlays generally copy.

If it wasn't for HTC, its unlikely Google or Android would be where it is today.

[mark22]

I think you making that sound different to what he meant. If I press home to make a call I'm not closing the browser, on some I'd have to press menu-exit to do that otherwise I want to effectively minimise it. It is a big deal, losing game progress to read a text? If that's really happening it's ridiculous.

As for sense, that was outdated the year before last.

[Clockedtohell]

You gotta love it, new phone out which rivals the iPhone and Galaxy S 2 folk and all of a sudden it, OMG this is broken and what a rubbish idea that was...when those devices are perfect, give me a shout. They all have their limitations and always will do.

I have the One X, there are a few bugs, including an issue with Beats Audio/HTC Sound Enhancer which with the default players (video and music) causes stutters and sound clicks. But, being Android I can adapt the phone to my needs, new apps in and issue gone. You gotta love that level of flexibility!

Let us rejoice in new tech and the happiness it brings, not shoot it down....especially as half the commentors don't even have it!

[Hereisphilly]

The referenced XDA forum page is for the At&t version of the handset (Different SOC, kernel etc), not the international Tegra 3 version that the majority of users (UK included) will use.

After applying update 1.29.401.11 to the international version, all the multitasking issues mentioned have been eradicated (I can use any app for hours, then return to a previous app and it picks up from the last session instantly.

The article should be amended to show that is is isolated to the At&T version only, as its quite misleading to mention all One Xs as a whole

[kingpotnoodle]

Try opening a web-browser and navigating somewhere, close it and a minute or so later try opening it again and see if you're still where you left it.

You mean like your browsers at home on your PC? Oh wait, no it also refreshes back to home once closed....

In this debate the browser isn't being closed, it is being task switched. Analogous to browsing on Windows and the clicking on Thunderbird to bring email into the foreground. On Windows you expect to just click back to the browser and it is as you left it. Imagine if then Windows closed the browser, exited the program in order to free up resources - that'd be annoying right.

Well that's what HTC have done, they have made Android kill the browser or other apps to free resources a short time after you task switch to something else. Happens a lot on my 512MB equipped tablet (Archos G9) and sometimes on my Sensation and it's pretty annoying. I'd like to see more RAM in phones/tablets to avoid this being necessary or the option to prevent it happening to certain apps.

I'm torn on what phone to get next, my Sensation has bogged down since the ICS upgrade (regretting that I tell you now), but then I do like Android, despise IOS and dislike the lock-in restrictive Windows Phone experience. It's a bit of a bugger to be honest. If someone makes a 2GB ICS phone with a good SoC and close to plain ICS with no overlay then I'll be on that.

[Hereisphilly]

I'm torn on what phone to get next, my Sensation has bogged down since the ICS upgrade (regretting that I tell you now), but then I do like Android, despise IOS and dislike the lock-in restrictive Windows Phone experience. It's a bit of a bugger to be honest. If someone makes a 2GB ICS phone with a good SoC and close to plain ICS with no overlay then I'll be on that.

Have you tried a custom ROM on your sensation? either a modified Sense 3.6, or a ported sense 4.0 from the One S?

Before i switched to the One X, my Sensation was ridiculously fast with custom ROMs and kernels, way faster than the ICS upgrade or GB ever was

[crossy]

There is an awful lot of HTC bashing over such simple things with this new handset. Almost like people are only interested in the minor negatives and turning them into massive issues. Maybe people are just jealous of HTC for beating Samsung to releasing a phone of this spec. But either way, the HTC One X is one brilliant phone, well engineered and well put together. Sense is still the bench mark that other overlays generally copy. If it wasn't for HTC, its unlikely Google or Android would be where it is today.

Hmm, I prefer that concept that folks have bought this lovely shiny new device and have now discovered something which makes it less than perfect - i.e. like all the other phones out there. Agree that Sense looks nice, and that many forget that HTC, despite their faults (like not updating phones, locked boot loaders, etc), were early adopters of Android and did a lot of the leading devices (including the first Nexus)

You gotta love it, new phone out which rivals the iPhone and Galaxy S 2 folk and all of a sudden it, OMG this is broken and what a rubbish idea that was...when those devices are perfect, give me a shout. They all have their limitations and always will do. Let us rejoice in new tech and the happiness it brings, not shoot it down....especially as half the commentors don't even have it!

As you say - nothing's perfect ... not even an iPhone!

The referenced XDA forum page is for the At&t version of the handset (Different SOC, kernel etc), not the international Tegra 3 version that the majority of users (UK included) will use. After applying update 1.29.401.11 to the international version, all the multitasking issues mentioned have been eradicated (I can use any app for hours, then return to a previous app and it picks up from the last session instantly. The article should be amended to show that is is isolated to the At&T version only, as its quite misleading to mention all One Xs as a whole

That's NOT the impression I'm getting (disinterested observer because I don't have a HOX) there's certainly folks from EU countries saying that they're seeing this. Might even be a few UK-based ones, can't remember exactly.

In this debate the browser isn't being closed, it is being task switched. Analogous to browsing on Windows and the clicking on Thunderbird to bring email into the foreground. On Windows you expect to just click back to the browser and it is as you left it. Imagine if then Windows closed the browser, exited the program in order to free up resources - that'd be annoying right.If someone makes a 2GB ICS phone with a good SoC and close to plain ICS with no overlay then I'll be on that.

That was my understanding too - and I can see why people would be annoyed by that. I'm not a big fan of overlays either - actually quite like the one on my ICS-equipped Asus Transformer because it's minimal changes as far as I can tell.

[Hereisphilly]

That's NOT the impression I'm getting (disinterested observer because I don't have a HOX) there's certainly folks from EU countries saying that they're seeing this. Might even be a few UK-based ones, can't remember exactly.

The 1.29.401.11 update was only released yesterday to the European OTA servers, so if some users are complaining of multitasking issues its because they are either on carrier branded handsets, or haven't received the update yet.

The manual RUU is around in the forums so people can update if they aren't prepared to wait

[kingpotnoodle]

Have you tried a custom ROM on your sensation? either a modified Sense 3.6, or a ported sense 4.0 from the One S?

Before i switched to the One X, my Sensation was ridiculously fast with custom ROMs and kernels, way faster than the ICS upgrade or GB ever was

Well I've got the Vodafone damaged HTC firmware with Sense 3.6 I think, and that sucks. I do badly need to find time to try a custom firmware, I'd be quite happy with stock ICS, there are a few things that Sense adds, but they're all quite minor for me in my use of the phone. Nothing I can't do some other way...

Which ROM did you use?

[FRISH]

You mean like your browsers at home on your PC? Oh wait, no it also refreshes back to home once closed.....

I have chrome and firefox set up to remember the pages I was on. But yeah like the others have said its more like minimising and resuming.

[crossy]

The 1.29.401.11 update was only released yesterday to the European OTA servers, so if some users are complaining of multitasking issues its because they are either on carrier branded handsets, or haven't received the update yet. The manual RUU is around in the forums so people can update if they aren't prepared to wait

Interesting that HTC have shipped a "fix" for something which the official line appeared to be that "it isn't a problem"

That said, I would have thought that the majority of HOX users would have been on carrier-locked handsets, so they won't be able to access (I'm guessing) this new update. At least until their carrier deigns to allow the update through*.

(* that's why the Apple way is superior - updates go directly from OS maker to end user. It's really about time that Google tried to cut out the carriers' interference)