Anytime Google announces a new version of Android, people are always clamoring to get it as soon as possible on their device of choice. When Google announced the next version of Android, dubbed Android L at this time, it changed things up a bit. Instead of announcing the latest version of Android and having the code pushed to the Android Open Source Project, or AOSP for short, and then subsequently updating Nexus devices with the new version, Google only released a preview build for developers. Right now there’s also no release date for Android L except for Fall 2014, and no final name either. That actually helps OEMs quite a bit though, as the developer preview that Google released is aimed directly at OEMs and app developers equally, giving them time to hone their requisite skins to Google’s new Material Design language, as well as the many different changes that Android L is bringing about.
HTC is a tiny bit behind right now though with the latest builds of Android 4.4 KitKat, namely 4.4.3 and 4.4.4. These builds were released just before Google I/O and HTC hasn’t had time to iron out all the kinks and go through the full testing process quite yet, but this leaked roadmap shows us exactly which devices are getting the updated builds of KitKat and when. Right now phones slated to get Android 4.4.4 are the HTC One M7 and M8, the M8 Dual SIM, One Mini 2 and the One E8. It also looks like the One Mini M4, or last year’s One Mini, will be getting Android 4.4.2 within the next couple of weeks. Right now the release schedule differs depending on your device so check out the chart below and mark your calendars for that update.
As for Android L it looks like HTC is considering updating all the phones on the list. That’s a whopping 11 phones, and the timeline for release is October to December for all of them. It’s surprising and actually rather fantastic to see that HTC is even considering updating more budget minded phones like the One Mini, Desire 610 and Desire 816 in addition to the One Max and One M7 Dual SIM from last year’s batch of flagships. This shows some excellent support by HTC and a commitment to their users everywhere.
