Thursday's announcement that HTC would release an HTC One running stock Android that would be sold on Google Play made many people happy. However, the early adopters of HTC One, those who would have preferred stock Android, were probably disappointed. But now there's some good news - HTC is reportedly already thinking about how it can give current HTC One owners a choice between running stock Android or HTC Sense.
If you've ever wondered why people hack their Android devices, it has a lot to do with using Android the way Google intended. Geeks want to be able to run the mobile operating system without being tainted by custom interfaces like TouchWiz, HTC Sense, and Amazon's Kindle Fire skin that all run on top of Android to make it more "user friendly." That's why there is a big Android developer community dedicated to creating custom ROMs that can be flashed to Android devices that will remove the extra layers companies like Samsung, HTC, LG, and Amazon add to their Android devices.
For the everyday user who doesn't want to know what flashing an Android device entails, it seems as if stock Android might be part of Android's future very soon. Motorola has already confirmed that its new Moto X will run stock Android, opposed to its Motoblur interface. HTC is now investigating how it can offer current HTC One owners a Nexus experience like the one found on the HTC One Google Edition by removing HTC Sense.
HTC told the Verge that it's "currently examining the best way to support early adopters of the One that may prefer the stock Android experience over Sense, perhaps by way of an AOSP ROM."
The company didn't give any details or say when current HTC One owners could possibly expect a software update but the fact that it even uttered stock Android over Sense says a lot about the current state of Android.
You've probably heard the phrase "Android fragmentation." It's due in part because all of these devices running a skinned versions of Android can't run the latest and greatest because of all the extras companies add to the mobile operating system. This is also another reason why Nexus branded devices are so popular; once Google releases an Android update it can run without any modifications. The same can't be said for devices made by manufacturers who put a custom interface on top of Android, as testing and carrier approval often keeps these devices from seeing an update for several months. In this regard, HTC should be commended for rising to the occasion.
It's a good sign for Android fragmentation and current HTC One early adopters, as running Android the way Google intended might be the new trend.
