HTC BlinkFeed app arrives at Google Play ahead of new One phone

htc blinkfeed google play screenshotOh HTC. You just can’t time anything for your new flagship phone’s release can you?

Ahead of the announcement for their all new flagship M8 HTC One, what I’m loving calling the worst kept secret of 2014, HTC has taken the wraps off of their new BlinkFeed app.

This is a fantastic play by HTC and something I’ve been literally begging more manufacturers to do. Companies like HTC, LG, and Samsung deliver a TON of features and apps on a phone. Unlike a Nexus which is a fairly bare experience. However those individual manufacturer apps don’t get updated very often as they’re baked into the ROM supplied by said manufacturer. If the tiniest app gets updated at HTC HQ, you have to wait for a FULL OS UPDATE to get the benefits of that updated app. It’s one big lump sum.

Or at least it was until now. HTC is separating out BlinkFeed, and hosting it on Google Play. Now whenever a team at HTC but a little polish on this app, it can be pushed directly to One owners without waiting for a massive ROM download.

Android is still somewhat hamstrung by the carrier approval process, in that there’s still a significant lead time between when Google releases an OS update, the manufacturers customize it, and that update is approved and distributed by carriers. Google has been making a lot of progress in splicing out individual Android services and posting them as standalone apps. A user might not always get the latest Android OS, but all of their services can be up to date. Now HTC is following in those footsteps, and that makes me happy.

HTC BlinkFeed on Google Play (2014 One only)