[Update: OTA pulled due to device bricking issues] HTC U11 receiving long-awaited Android Pie update, but only in some regions

Damien Wilde | May 28 2019 - 5:11 am PT

For years we have lamented the speed or lack of effort on HTC’s part to update their device lineups. Although a recent update from the company gave us some insight into their update schedule, we are still awaiting across the board updates. That said, it seems the Android Pie rollout for the HTC U11 is now underway.

It’s probably worth noting that when we say HTC is not great at updates, we’ve not counted the HTC U11 Life, which is an Android One program member and Android those are handled quite differently to those of skinned Android builds.

[Update 06/06]: HTC is pausing (via XDA) the OTA update rollout for the HTC U11 due to a series of issues. Many users are reporting that their devices are being soft-bricked by downloading the OTA and installing. Reports also suggest that a new OTA update will rollout in the coming days to resolve this issue for the entire Android Pie update.

The OTA update is heading out to devices in Taiwan at present (via Raul Gabriel). Although we would expect it to roll out further in the coming weeks, it remains to be seen if that will actually happen. It’s a great first step though.

As for the update itself, it weighs in at a sizeable 1.36GB. Given the overhaul provided with Android Pie, it isn’t unexpected. The update adds ‘System Enhancements’, it also removes Google+ from the HTC-made BlinkFeed as the service has obviously since been shut down — an indication of how long this device has been waiting for an update.

It’s arguably about time this update was made available, and to the credit of HTC, they have sort of kept their promise given they only confirmed it was officially heading out to devices around two weeks ago. It’s just the preceding six months with no word that was the problem.

This isn’t great news for all HTC device owners out there though. As we still await Android Pie on the HTC U11+ and the HTC U12+. At least we are getting something though.