HTC has updated the Blinkfeed launcher app to include several new features, in addition to a brand new name.
Now called Sense Home, the app that was once named Blinkfeed is being made available to the company's One M8 and One M7 smartphones. Owners of these two older flagship smartphones of HTC can update their Blinkfeed app through the Google Pay Store to acquire Sense Home.
Through the update, Sense Home provides the One M8 and the One M7 with several themes that are found in the One M9 with HTC Themes. Not all the themes are available though, as some of them require the Sense 7 to function properly.
Despite the missing themes, Sense Home will still be able to inject some newfound life into the One M8 and One M7. In addition, users will be able to start creating their own themes while on the go, with the user's favorite themes even possible to be published so that other users can download them. HTC also offers users with an online tool to create themes.
The customizations that users can make on their personal themes are near endless, as the user can adjust a theme's colors, fonts, sounds and icons. If a user does not want to create a theme from scratch, themes can also be downloaded from the app's catalog.
In addition to the additional themes, the update also brings the Sense Home Widget to the smartphones. The widget is capable of intelligently delivering the user's most commonly used apps depending on the user's location, while also suggesting apps that the user has not yet downloaded but could find to be useful.
The update also allows Blinkfeed to begin pulling in feeds from Tumblr if the user chooses to do so, along with a lock screen that resembles the lock screen of the One M9 more. The new lock screen features tweaks to the user interface that may have been inspired by Sense 7, with different font styles and a weather widget.
Owners of the One M7, One M8 and One M9 smartphones can initiate the installation of the update through the Google Play Store.
HTC hacker LlabTooFeR posted on Twitter that the Sense 7 license of HTC was purchased by Samsung, which would mean that an upcoming software update for the Galaxy S6 smartphone could include Sense 7. Sony, LG and Lenovo are also supposedly nearing the completion of a similar deal with HTC, though it should be noted that the tweets were sent out on April 1, with the authenticity of the information not yet confirmed.
