Now, a year later, HTC has released the Android 9.0 Pie software update for the Android One variant of the U11 Life. This is the first HTC smartphone to receive the Android Pie update. Even its latest flagship, the HTC U12+, hasn’t been treated with the update yet.
HTC U11 Life Android 9 Pie Update
The HTC U11 Life is a mid-range smartphone from last year and is the first HTC device to run Android Pie. This is mainly due to the fact that this variant was part of the Android One program. Smartphones that are in the Android One program, usually receive software and security updates before others. That is why HTC hasn’t released the Pie update for the U12+.
While HTC did confirm that it would be releasing the Pie update for a bunch of its devices, the company did not provide any ETA. The phones that will receive Android 9.0 Pie include: HTC U11, U11+, U11 Life, and U12+. Customers expected HTC to deliver the update for its latest flagship first, but that is not what is happening. An HTC user took to Twitter to say that his U11 Life smartphone has received the Pie update and posted a screenshot of the same.
https://twitter.com/raulgabriel96/status/1068174018317037568/
The update is being delivered as an OTA and could take a while before it reaches other users. It appears that only certain regions are receiving the update for now. Once again, this update is for the Android One HTC U11 Life. If you have the one that’s running the HTC Sense UI, then you will have to wait longer. This also means that HTC should soon release the Pie update for its flagship U12+ smartphone. The company is definitely working on the software updates for all the supported devices. It is probably taking longer for the other devices as they are running HTC’s custom Sense UI.
Nevertheless, if you own an HTC U11 Life Android One smartphone, you should soon receive an update for Android 9.0 Pie. You can manually check for the update in the Settings app, in case you haven’t received it. Not to worry though, as the update can take anywhere from a fews days to a week to be available for all users. We will be on the lookout for information regarding the Pie update for HTC U12+ and other devices.
HTC Not Giving Up on Mobile Division Yet
The Taiwanese smartphone maker hasn’t been doing well for some time now. HTC is still making smartphones though, following its own design language and not really bringing anything new to the table. Its latest earnings report showed that the company is still under loss. It currently makes smartphones and VR headsets, relying only on these to keep things running. There were rumors that HTC could be shutting down its mobile business due to poor sales. However, that’s not the case.
According to the latest report, HTC will continue to focus on building flagship smartphones with features such as 5G and Blockchain connectivity. The company recently released a Blockchain centric smartphone called the HTC Exodus 1. It will continue to rely on AI, Blockchain technology, and 5G, to build new devices in 2019.
