HTC One to get the Sense 6 bump by the end of May

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Users hanging onto their original HTC One might be stuck with a simple single sensor camera, but soon they'll be getting nearly the same software experience as the new HTC One (M8).

Jason Mackenzie, President of HTC America, tweeted out that current HTC users will get the Sense 6, or as HTC loves calling it, the Sixth Sense update pushed to them by the end of May.

Assuming everything stays on schedule, Sixth Sense will bring a host of interface changes including an updated Blinkfeed. The new version allows users to scan through interesting articles and social media news from a widget-like panel on the home screen.

Unlike Sense 5, the phone starts on the homescreen first rather than Blinkfeed and users can also remove the specialized news feed by moving it to the trash just like an app.

A dash of vanilla Android

Sense 6 will bring the HTC One's user experience closer to the vanilla version of Android, making it easier for users to simply drag applications from the app drawer to the home screen.

Additionally, the lock screen that used to only hold a giant analog clock face has been expanded to show the time in a digital read out, the weather, and room for more lock screen widgets.

From the lock screen swiping up will open the phone regularly, left to access the home screen instantly, or towards the right to launch the Blinkfeed.

One of the biggest underlying changes to Sixth Sense is it has separated out its core features, such as the camera and Blinkfeed, from the main operating system as standalone apps. This way HTC will be able to update their individual apps on the Play Store without need to include them in a over-the-air software updates subject to carrier intervention.

What's missing

However, not everything about Sense 6.0 will be ported over to the older hardware. Last time we heard about Sixth Sense coming to the HTC One, it seemed likely Motion Launch gesture controls would not make their way over as the older handset does not have the sensors to detect when the screen is being double tapped.

Engadget claims that the Sixth Sense update is also planned for the HTC One mini as well as the HTC One max, but there isn't any word on when it might come out either. Its also important to note that while the HTC One runs the most current version of Android KitKat 4.4.2, it's unlikely to get any more future updates.

Meanwhile, HTC One users outside of the United States are also more likely to get the update first as the software update does not need to pass as stringent certification processes anywhere in the world except with American telecom companies.

The end of May is still a month and a half away, so we'll just have to sit and wait for HTC to uphold its twitter promises.

• Aside from the HTC One (M8), the Samsung Galaxy S5 is another hot new Android Phone