HTC To Customers: We’ll Miss Self-Imposed 90-Day Deadline For Lollipop Updates

If you own an HTC One M8 or M7 handset, don't bother continually mashing the "Check Now" button in the Software Updates menu, Android 5.0 Lollipop isn't coming to your phone today even though we're now at HTC's self-imposed 90-day deadline. In a blog post to customers, HTC VP of Product Management, Mo Versi, explains the holdup.

"We've been working hard in the labs with Google and our carrier partners ever since the code release and are making great progress so far, but if you’ve been following the progress of this rollout you will know that Google has had to address several issues with this release," Versi explains. "We’ve been diligently working to fix some of them on our end and incorporating Google’s fixes as quickly as possible, but despite everyone’s best efforts some carrier versions of the HTC One (M8) and HTC One (M7) will not meet our 90 day goal, which is February 1st." 

In other words, blame Google, not HTC. What's odd about that explanation, however, is that HTC has managed to deliver Lollipop updates out to Google Play, Unlocked, and Developer Editions of the HTC One M8, so pinning the blame all on Google isn't entirely fair. It would seem that the issues HTC is running into have more to do with compatibility quirks with its own proprietary software, as well as bits that wireless carriers insist on installing.

In any event, there's no need to grab the pitchforks and torches -- HTC deserves credit for offering up any explanation at all. And according to HTC, it was the first to introduce a 90-day deadline for delivering updates in a timely manner.

"By setting the 90-day goal to deliver these updates a few years ago, we have driven change within our own company as well as in the industry. Today you are seeing updates much sooner even from other OEMs," Versi said. "We also brought a new level of transparency to the process and the ability to track the status of the updates in real time when we launched the software updates page on HTC.com, which is also being replicated by other OEMs."

If you want to stay on top of the situation, you can check out HTC's Software Updates page and/or follow HTC on Twitter.