Making ‘Sense’ of HTC Sense 7 on the One M9
The HTC One M9 has officially arrived, bringing a new design, upgraded specs and an improved camera. But there’s one more thing HTC has stuffed into its new smartphone: the HTC Sense 7 user interface. Sense 7 is HTC’s brand new software which fits neatly on top of the Android operating system, giving the One M9 a unique design and a bespoke set of features for it to play with.
So, what has HTC given us with its latest user interface? Is it something we’ll be able to pick up and play with right away? Or is its addition a Sense-less addition to the new HTC phone? Let’s find out!
If you fancy getting your mitts on the HTC One M9, order yours now and get first dibs.
What’s New with HTC Sense 7?
HTC has its work cut out if it’s planning on taking the throne as the best mobile user interface on the market. Sense 7 has the likes of Touchwiz iOS at the very least to tackle at the moment – so what can HTC do to pull it out the bag?
Sense Home
Sense Home is a brand new widget which could be ideal for those who don’t like to stay put for too long. The Sense 7 feature lets you manage your apps by location without having you bounce apps from one page to another. For example, if you’re kicked back at home, you can have the home screen widget sport apps which are less productive like Netflix or YouTube, and when you’re at work you can ensure that you’re on top form by keeping apps like Gmail at the forefront of your screen. Essentially, this feature makes sure you have what you need, where you need it, depending on your location.
So, if you’re fed up of trawling through your phone to find an app worth using, why not give Sense Home a chance on the HTC One M9?
Sense 7 Themes
We all know what a theme is, right? For those who don’t we’ll give you a hand – it’s a design which runs through your entire phone, dictating the colour of your menus, home screen and buttons. And with the HTC One M9, you’re getting a way to alter your themes to meet your ever changing tastes.
No longer will you be forced to pick between two average designs, neither of which quite takes your fancy; now you can choose everything from the background picture right to the style of the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen – giving you a truly customisable experience.
Also, if you don’t fancy doing this, you can also pick from plenty of downloadable looks as well!
Photo Effects: Face Fusion and Double Exposure
How good is the HTC One M9’s main competitor? Take a look in our Samsung Galaxy S6 Review!
If there’s one thing better than taking immaculate pictures with your smartphone, it’s editing them with cool effects. This is exactly why the HTC One M9 could be one of the best smartphone cameras on the market with its 20 megapixel rear lens assisted by Sense 7.
Apps from the last version of the HTC user interface do stay put – most notably Face Fusion. On top of this you can add effects like snow or shapes to pictures to make for some interesting shots. Also, Double Exposure mode even lets you merge two pictures together for some quite strange and often scary results – it does turn out good sometimes, we promise!
Finally, with a brand new camera store in tow as well, you can even download more apps for the HTC One M9 camera, making sure the photo fun never stops!
Navigation Button Customisation
One smaller feature which is definitely worth mentioning is the new found control we have over the navigation buttons which appear at the bottom of the screen on the M9. With Sense 7, we finally have an opportunity to alter these to our liking – by moving them around and such.
It’ not just a matter of moving buttons around, but with Sense 7 you can can also add new buttons to your navigational screen which, for example, head straight to your notification panel or to your settings bar. This makes it much easier for smaller handed One M9 users to navigate through their handset.
Sense 7 Design
One area which hasn’t been subject to too much change on the One M9 is the design of the Sense software behind the screen. And why would it? Whilst the font does have a bit more of an italic slope to it, the overall look is remarkably similar to the previous version. In fact, we’d go as far to say that HTC has changed next to nothing in terms of the overall look.
This isn’t a bad thing however, as we loved Sense 6, which makes HTC’s choice to stick with its elegant and airy style a good one in our books. Of course, keeping the things the same will always draw some criticism, but we definitely feel that HTC has made the right call by sticking with its design this time around.
HTC Sense 7 Review
Think of it as more evolution than revolution with HTC Sense 7 this time around. The design is almost identical from last time, and HTC has poured its focus into developing succinct changes to its features within the system, whilst keeping the likes of BlinkFeed and Zoe practically untouched.
Whilst HTC might be criticised to keep things similar, it’s tough to find a way to really criticise the system itself, especially as it continues to lead the way with its top quality performance and airy design. So, if you like the look of Sense 7, you may want to invest in the new HTC smartphone!