Dear HTC

[zukini]

This is a open request to HTC

Having enjoyed the Hero for a month and a bit now it has to be the best experience of a phone I have ever had. But as I expand the capabilities of my device using the app market and use it day to day with text messages and personalised themes the question of backing up my information has cropped up a couple of times.

Currently there are some good backup systems on the market but unfortunately they do not take account of future developments of android and your sense UI. There has already been problems with people restoring there data back to the phone after your last upgrade.

Is it possible for HTC to build their own backup systems for the hero and other android devices they have developed. As I believe that updates combined with the knowledge of how the backup data is stored to be recovered will help with future upgrades.

Even your current update client recommends the user makes a backup of the device before updating.

I am sure this will be supported by the strong community of users using your devices.

 

[Slug]

Hope you sent this to HTC direct as I don't think they hang out round here.

 

[prepbgg]

I am sure this will be supported by the strong community of users using your devices.

I completely agree. I think this is very important.

 

[phillevy]

Add my name to the list - big disadvantage compared to the iPhone. My wife simply connected her new 3GS to iTunes and within a few minutes it was exactly like her old 3G in every detail.

 

[Artaq]

I would like to add, everything is great on the phone apart from just one slight small thing. The video display playback is a bit grainy sometimes or poor quality. Any chance or improving this maybe?

 

[zukini]

Just to clarify this has been sent direct to HTC but I have told them its here. So support this thread just incase they read it here too.

 

[daffyduck]

I fully support this thread......

Come on HTC, can you realistically expect consumers to stay with you, if you have to make them do considerable work to upgrade their phones, plus add risk to the upgrade by having to use 3rd party apps. The back-up/restore utility is an area HTC should have developed previously, with it being added to the (slightly clunky but just about adequate) HTC Sync program.

The current arrangement comes across as half-baked to me & if you really want to grow your market share in the Android-mobile space, you need to do something about this.

 

[wuthton]

I have a few questions regarding this subject.

If you buy a plant from the garden centre would you expect them to come and trim it every six months?

Would you expect DFS to come a clean your sofa to keep it shiny new?

Would you expect Dell to come and service your laptop to keep it fast, for free?

Buy your phone, learn how to use it, and treat any *FREE* updates and services as a bonus. Last time I checked I paid no service charge to HTC so why should I expect the above-mentioned services for nothing.

Please feel free to flame me but I ask that you at least name one other off the shelf product with the kind of aftercare that you are demanding, maybe one from Apple?

 

[daffyduck]

Not sure what to make of the last post but everybody has the right to their own opinion.

If then this "kind of aftercare" is so hard to come by, how come then, when my wife wants to update her 2yr old original iPhone then, does the update through iTunes work seamlessly & not require any other fiddling around to back things up. Comparatively, it is a walk in the park compared with the Hero.

Sorry but these days of wide consumer choice, it is service that differentiates......especially when a lot of products are easily comparable.

 

[RobInBrentwood]

I have a few questions regarding this subject.

If you buy a plant from the garden centre would you expect them to come and trim it every six months?

Would you expect DFS to come a clean your sofa to keep it shiny new?

Would you expect Dell to come and service your laptop to keep it fast, for free?

Buy your phone, learn how to use it, and treat any *FREE* updates and services as a bonus. Last time I checked I paid no service charge to HTC so why should I expect the above-mentioned services for nothing.

Please feel free to flame me but I ask that you at least name one other off the shelf product with the kind of aftercare that you are demanding, maybe one from Apple?

Let's start by differntiating technology and other goods.

Xbox, ps3,psp,Windows OS,blu ray players are all examples of "free" software updates.

Your reasoning doesn't really make much sense. I agree, the majority of goods which are sold,you would not expect much in regards to after-sale care, but with technology,it is kind of vital to ensure hardware Is not out of date by the time the goods reach the end user.

 

[wuthton]

None of the products you mentioned offer a free data backup/restore service which is what is being discussed.

 

[RobInBrentwood]

None of the products you mentioned offer a free data backup/restore service which is what is being discussed.

Agree, but in the same regards, your post mentioned plants and furniture stores!!! at least I was on the topic of technological products and after sales care.

 

[trick202]

I can see both sides really.

Maybe it's as much google as HTC. Depends how you look at the device (HTC) v's the operating system (Google)

It's google's OS that's being updated via the HTC hardware. I think they are both responsible.
Google easily has the potential to offer cloud based back-up - and the paranoid amongst you may wonder why they don't do that already!

 

[Slug]

The facility is already almost there.... the HTCSync program has an "Application Installer" button which is used how often? How hard would it be to add a "Backup Apps" feature which enabled them to be saved locally and then reinstalled using this? As with the Market protected apps would probably have to be omitted but even so this would go a long way to solving the issue. Add a settings backup too (for account info, APNs etc) and we're sorted. Those two are the most inconvenient and time-consuming elements to have to reconfigure.

 

[punkzanyj]

Your reasoning doesn't really make much sense. I agree, the majority of goods which are sold,you would not expect much in regards to after-sale care, but with technology,it is kind of vital to ensure hardware Is not out of date by the time the goods reach the end user.

I'm sorry, are you new?


Cause it's already true that once a product reaches the market, it's obsolete.

Gone are the days when people would work on product A, finish product A, start selling product A, get feedback on product A, and THEN begin working on product B.

When Product A hits the stores, product B is already in final stages, Product C is halfway there, and Product D is in development...products E and F are on the design table already. The only thing keeping them from releasing Product A on Monday and Product B on Tuesday is that consumers won't upgrade that quickly. If they could get people to buy a new device every day, they would.

Anything you buy today became obsolete yesterday.

And your post doesn't make much sense because what's being discussed is backups, ie SOFTWARE not hardware. You can't backup hardware.

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

With regards "free upgrades" being above and beyond the call of duty...

If the device/firmware/software was finished and bug free, I would probably agree.

However, a quick look through these forums will find many users having issues with what is a brilliant phone that is just not finished! We need the phone we paid for!

Issues like:

- missing SMS messages
- weather app not working properly
- poor bluetooth support (no file transfer, no phonebook transfer, no voice dialling)
- HTC Sync connection problems
- blocky contact photos
- error message when trying to register credit cards with Android apps

Many of these must be simple things to sort - the contact photos issue, credit card registration - whilst others should be there. I had no bluetooth issues with my old HTC TyTN II, phone book transfer and voice dialling. Why must I take a step back with my new phone?

Unfortunately as we all know the limit of support from HTC has been "hard reset"...

Why do I feel like a betatester?

 

[CitizenErazed]

Look at any other device with regular/semi-regular software updates, and they /don't/ wipe the device. I think that's the issue being discussed here. Xbox, PS3, mp3 players, Windows, Linux, Mac, whatever...they're all capable of it, so why does the HTC Rom upgrade neccessitate wiping everything on the phone?

 

[zukini]

Ok calm down everyone that’s not the point of my original post. I would like a backup system to have come from HTC because people who have backed up after updates (using 3rd party tools) have had problems because the information format was changed between the two updates.
If HTC made the backup software they could ensure after future updates the backed up data will return to the format of there choosing.

My first update of my Hero was fine because Google had my contacts and i was able to write down the few apps i needed the most. Because i had only had it a week i was happy to start again with scenes, messages, app settings....
Now I've had the phone for a while my messages are becoming more important and I'm happier with the way i have set up my phone. I really don’t want to return back to a blank canvas when we get cupcake or