Sense 5.5 has HTC copying Samsung’s dual shot, killing BlinkFeed now an option too

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Published 9 Oct 2013

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Ridiculed by many, loved by few, HTC’s Sense software layer on top of Android is going to receive an update. With version 5.5, Sense looks to be just a tad bit more refined than usual, and according to Android Police, it comes with a bevy of new features. First “feature”, if you want to call it that, is an option to turn off BlinkFeed. That’s HTC’s FlipBoard clone that always takes up a homescreen, whether you want it to or not. You’ll finally be able to full disable it.

Second feature, “Dual Capture”, which is nothing more than Samsung’s “Dual Shot”. It’s the thing that will let you take a photo using both the rear facing and front facing camera at the same time so people can see your reaction to whatever it is you’re trying to capture.

Third feature, more emoticons! No comment. Actually, one comment. Use SwiftKey.

And finally fourth, you’ll be able to customize the quick settings pane. If you want airplane mode in the top left hand corner instead of being forced to have it on the bottom right, there you go.

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When will this update get pushed out? That’s the million dollar question. Android 4.3 is only now starting to get pushed out to several variants of the HTC One, so something tells me we could be waiting a while to see Sense 5.5 land on devices. Then again, I could be totally wrong, and you’ll see it as soon as next week when the HTC One Max launches.