Get excited, HTC DROID DNA owners, because you've got a pretty significant software update headed your way soon. Verizon has officially posted the support documents for the DROID DNA's update to HTC Sense 5, which also includes Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The changelog is pretty lengthy, coming in at five pages long and chock full of new Sense goodies like BlinkFeed, an updated People app, a Smart Dialer and more. There are also several other improvements included with the update, such as improvements to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi performance. The full changelog can be found at the bottom of this post.
The DROID DNA made waves when it launched on Verizon last year thanks to its large, 1080p display and quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor. It's since been pushed out of the spotlight by the HTC One and its mini and max siblings, but the DNA is still a respectable device, and it's good to see HTC and Verizon showing love to its owners by bumping them up to Sense 5. It's also worth noting that HTC won't stop its DNA updates here, as the company is also planning to release an Android 4.4 update for the device before the end of Q1 2014.
There haven't been any official announcements regarding the start of this update's rollout, but HTC Executive Director Mohammed Versi recently tweeted that DNA owners can expect to see the update "soon." While that's not the most precise release window that we've ever been given, the fact that Verizon has posted up the full five-page support document for the update is likely a good indication that the update is getting pretty close. Stay tuned and I'll update you with more details as I get 'em.
PEOPLE
- Find your most important contacts faster with the Favorites tab (next to Phone)
- Add a contact from Call History
- Press “+” from unknown number to directly add this number to your “contacts” or “list”
- New “Updates” tab with Mosaic design
- Updates tab follows Blinkfeed mosaic design to display friend’s status and events
CALENDAR
- Switch between Month, Week, Day, Agenda, and Invite views by tapping the drop down menu (located in the upper left corner of the screen)
- Select the list of Calendars by tapping the 3-dot Settings icon and then Accounts
- Month View Enhancement
- View a graphical outline of the time blocks for meetings/events with
- Visual Event Indicator
- Display the countdown timer up to 2 hours prior to event/meeting
- Agenda now shows activity for today (swipe left or right for other day’s activities)
- See the agenda next to the Monthly view in landscape mode
- Week View Enhancement
- Tap on an event to review event description
- Tap the black callout to see Details(without having to go into Detail view)
- BlinkFeed
- With BlinkFeed, you can personalize your Home screen with information and updates that matter to you. See a variety of content such as news feeds, social network updates, tips, and more.
- Customize Blinkfeed with content like news sources, or by category like Entertainment
- Touch tile to view more details, or to comment on a post/status update
- Scroll to the top of your Blinkfeed, then pull down to manually refresh content stream
- Filter your feeds to show only one news source, or social network by selecting it in the Highlights drop down
GALLERY
- Events View
- Gallery has a new landing page
- In this Events view, pictures are grouped together by the location/time photo was taken
- Tap on an Event to view all the pictures and videos from a particular occasion
- Video Highlights
- The device automatically creates a 30 second video based on clips and pictures of an event. Simply tap the video to play
- Tap the Themes button
- Choose from 12 Themes, each offering a different musical Theme and video editing style created by professional editors
- Tap the Remix button
- Show a different variety and order of pictures and clips
- Tap Specific Pictures
- Select specific pictures to be part of the video highlights by tapping the photo in full view, then tapping the Highlight button
- Manage Groups and Events
- Tap and hold (long press) on an event and you will see options to delete, merge, split or rename
- Select “Merge To” to combine the entire event
- Select “Split To” to split an event then select videos and pictures for your new event
QUICK SETTINGS
- Get to Quick Settings:
- Drag down the notification panel with two fingers to view the notification panel, then drag with one finger to view and tap the toggle switch
- Drag with one finger then tap toggle switch
- Toggle Switch (top right)
- Switch between standard notifications panel and Quick Settings screen
- Turn setting on/off by tapping the icons or area at the top of the setting
- Icons displaying a 3-dot icon in the bottom portion of the Setting can be tapped to access that specific Setting
- Support for VMware Horizon Mobile Switch Application has been added to provide a secure, separate environment for your business applications on the same device
NEW SMART DIALER
- Most Sense 5 apps allow you to swipe left or right then tap the name of a tab (like Phone, History or Favorites)
- Some apps that have different screens swiping left or right, will use a drop down button to change tabs and views (Calendar for example)
- Dialer now shows only the last call dialed (just tap to call)
- Call button is disabled by default until you start dialing
- When you start typing a phone number, the device indicator shows how many contacts match
- If the contact that appears is not who you want to call, press the indicator to reveal the rest of the contacts that match
- Press the full QWERTY button to use the keypad to search contacts by letters
ISSUES RESOLVED
- Picasa albums not showing in the gallery
- Improvements to Bluetooth® performance
- Enhanced Navigation Performance
- Fixed to remember the default settings on the device
- Talk back feature improvements
- Fixed a problem that could cause the device to not display the Voicemail indicators
- Enhanced BUA+ contacts
- New and improved design for recent app display
- Fixed a problem that was causing “Reset to default APN” functionality to not select the default APN (VZWINTERNET)
- Fixed a problem that was causing HULU+ application to display green screen on the device after the user connects HDMI cable
- Improvements for long duration video recordings using native camera
- Fixed a problem that was causing battery to drain while the phone was powered down in certain conditions
- Fixed a problem that was causing BUA+ Contact to sync with the server even after the backup option was unchecked
- Fixed a problem that was causing *611 (Global Customer Care) to not get translated correctly when roaming on TELUS network in Canada
- Improved Wi-Fi performance
- Enhanced Wi-Fi: pop-up timer increased from 30 minutes to 12 hours
