Vodafone HTC Desire OTA update - tricked into installed bloatware

bubblesmoney

see a do it yourself guide without rooting the phone. this method use the sdk method. sdk method does not involve rooting and has been used for flashing factory roms from shipped roms and also for other things like screenshots enabling on non roooted phones and also enabling apps2sd for all apps and giving you control of the apps2sd rather than app developer unlike in official froyo. the link below is only for reflashing an official htc rom from shippedroms website. please note that shippedroms has ceased to upload new roms after an agreement with htc to cease such activity but will continue to host any roms already uploaded. so froyo rom might not be there unless already uploaded. anyway if you get the 2.1 rom from shipped roms then you can still get the OTA update to 2.2 direct from htc. people using the sdk method for other purposes have got repairs under warranty as far as i read earlier on xda on some threads, although i dont remember which threads.

see more on http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/topic/70043-htc-desire-i-have-22-i-have-just-debranded/

ps: looks like they have pulled the update now, going by posts on the vodafone forum and elsewhere. dont know if pulled or just temporarily held back! but one way or the other the ones who accepted the update are stuffed till an alternative update arises or they mod the phone.

if you want the root method (which most probably will void warranty, but some rooted htc owners have had their phones repaired / replaced by htc under warranty, see xda forum posts about this if interested) then after rooting on 2.1 then you can flash any rom with unrevoked3 software in 10 mins (apparently) and there are methods for unbricking the phone even if you managed to brick it. the 2.1 has been rooted safely by the unrevoked3 method see https://www.myhtcdesire.com for different methods on how to do it with detailed guides for it.

just a cautionary note>>>>> read about this topic properly if you plan on going this route. dont blame me if things go wrong after following what was said in the links!

Jaymz87_2

I just phoned the Vodafone support line on 151, and after mentioning the update and asking if there was a way to get it uninstalled, was put on hold while the guy said he was going to contact HTC for me.

Good start, I thought.

He then got back to me stating they were closed. OK, not his fault, so I asked him if he was aware of the issue. He said I was the first person to call in about the issue. :eek:

So I asked if anybody else had called in about it, he said no, I was the first. I then asked if I could speak to his supervisor about the problem, as I couldn't believe I was the first person to call in about the issue. He refused to put me through to his supervisor, and said goodbye, but he didn't hang up. He put his phone on mute, thinking I would hang up. I didn't hang up, I asked again to be put through to the supervisor, and he said he couldn't do that, there was nothing further to discuss, then he did hang up!

I can't believe the stance they're taking on this! I'm pretty sure the update has been pushed out by Vodafone, not HTC, as it's a branded phone, and therefore the carrier is responsible for the updates, which is why the Froyo update is not being released by all carriers at the same time.

Where do us customers stand on this issue? It's unbelievable that they can get away with causing our phones to be filled with a load of random useless bloatware which doesn't even work. Not only that, my phones battery life since the update is down to about 4 hours after an overnight charge. Even when it's doing nothing it's nearly overheating! The update has turned my phone into a handwarming brick.

Disappointed.

gjchester

Branding by Vodafone has always been prominant where they can get away with it, the only difference is you had it subtle when you got the desire. I'll bet any new Desire owners get all the branding and don't know any different.

It amy be worth considering Vodafone may never officially release FroYo, they don't have a great reputation of releasing up to date firmware, I've never had any upgrade from Vodafone on any phone I've had from them in the past.

As has been said if you root it and put new firmware on you blow your warranty on the phone. Been there, done that, even though it was a physical fault and nothing to do with firmware they refused to repair my Xperia X1 as it wasn't the "offical" vodafone firmware release on it.

ruggedtoast

I have a query pending with HTC asking if they will extend warranty support to Vodafone users who flash their phones onto official HTC firmware; if the reason was because they felt this was the only way to restore their devices to their original functionality.

I think HTC have always looked at the ROM crowd as hobbyists who are quite likely to end up bricking their phones. However in this case there are a lot of people doing it anyway because they cant stand the Vodabloat.

Thank god neither of our phones picked up this update otherwise I'd be in the same boat. I suspect it will be welded into the froyo update though so its only a matter of time.

36CrazyFists

I'm on a voda branded phone. I never received the update but now worried that I won't receive froyo either.

ruggedtoast

I presume VF didnt send the update to all phones at once. They have now pulled the update so you wont find it even if you wanted to download it.

Still nothing from Vodafone Towers about what they are going to do next.

If they have any sense they'll release froyo 2.2 in vanilla form asap. This is Vodafone though so I wouldnt hold you breath.

Allan87

gjchester wrote: »

Branding by Vodafone has always been prominant where they can get away with it, the only difference is you had it subtle when you got the desire. I'll bet any new Desire owners get all the branding and don't know any different.

The device was sold without branding and it was a factor in my choosing VF as I was told (albeit verbally so cannot be proved) VF were not branding it. There's even a joint HTC/VF statement floating around somewhere on the VF forums that says they were only branding the Legend.

Can anyone shed any light on this section of their t&cs, would an unannounced firmware update that has caused all of the problems highlighted (sluggishness, SMS issues, 360 services that dont work) and which cannot be fixed until another firmware is released break their own terms? After all it is an airtime contract - why are they pushing things on me that I never agreed to?

b) We may change or withdraw services at any time and we may change or introduce new terms to this agreement at any time. If we do, we’ll give you at least 30 days’ notice of these changes. If such changes are to your significant disadvantage you may have a right to end this agreement under clause 11b and we’ll tell you if you do.

b) You may end this agreement by writing to us if:

we change this agreement to your significant disadvantage including changing or withdrawing services (we will tell you if this is the case) and you write to us within one month of us telling you about the change. This does not apply if the change or withdrawal relates to services which you can cancel without us ending this agreement.

bubblesmoney

gjchester wrote: »

Branding by Vodafone has always been prominant where they can get away with it, the only difference is you had it subtle when you got the desire. I'll bet any new Desire owners get all the branding and don't know any different.

It amy be worth considering Vodafone may never officially release FroYo, they don't have a great reputation of releasing up to date firmware, I've never had any upgrade from Vodafone on any phone I've had from them in the past.

As has been said if you root it and put new firmware on you blow your warranty on the phone. Been there, done that, even though it was a physical fault and nothing to do with firmware they refused to repair my Xperia X1 as it wasn't the "offical" vodafone firmware release on it.

why didnt you contact sony erickson about your x1 instead of vodafone. htc have repaired phones (rooted and reflashed) under warranty as can be seen from posts found online. why go through vodafone when htc can be contacted directly. if my phone were to go faulty i would contact htc directly instead of three. the guarantee card in the box states the warrranty is from htc. so htc should not have a problem if htc original 'WWE' is flashed instead of branded crap. htc should be happy that people prefer their factory installed software rather than other modded branded crap.

gjchester

bubblesmoney wrote: »

why didnt you contact sony erickson about your x1 instead of vodafone.

I did but SE said it's not their problem and it had to go through Vodafone, who were the retailer. At the end of the day your warranty is with the reseller not the manufacturer. Anything the manufacturer would do is over and above your rights.

dave2

I got this crap the other day. Inserted a load of bookmarks, not even the mobile versions of the sites, a Vf branded spash after switching on, aswell as apps:
360 Update - "keeps your Vf services up to date and lets you know when new services are ready to install".
Music Shop - buy non-DRM mp3 for 99p.
Shop - no idea, never been able to connect.
Web - actually same as a shortcut to load www.myweb.360.com - this website appears to have been disabled, though the domain is owned by Vodafone.

You'll also be able to install:
360 People - app doesn't tell you what it is, but IIRC somewhere else it says something like it "brings together all your contact info from phone book, email and messengers to be backed up in the cloud".

Note the apps only work using mobile internet, not Wifi. Some simply won't work unless you have it enabled, others will enable it and carry on.

I suspect all of the above is provided by 3rd parties, Vf taking a commission and getting you on data charges.

Also after this installed itself and you get a txt the phone will prompt you whether to open it in 360 People or messages (i.e. old way). There's a tick box to do same every time - should be able to reset this later via Applications (same for all apps).

Only the 360 People app can be uninstalled, at least not via Applications like usual.

I think you'll only get this if you have a Vf branded phone. You can check by going to
Settings > About Phone > Software information > Software Number = x.xx.161.x