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HTC One

How to Revert Back to a More Traditional Sense-Style Home Screen on Your HTC One

May 20, 2013 07:00 PM
May 24, 2013 12:30 AM
Smartphone displaying the time and weather information.

The newer HTC One is arguably the best smartphone yet in terms of hardware, but its software moves considerably farther away from the stock Android experience. Even more so from HTC's own Sense.

The biggest change from Sense 4+ to the newest Sense 5 is Blinkfeed, a scrollable feed of news and social network updates. This is the first thing you see when you unlock the phone.

HTC smartphone on a wooden surface showing the home screen.

While this is a uniquely personal new way to experience Android, you might still prefer the stock Android UI instead of bloated OEM skins. Unfortunately, HTC has actually made it impossible to remove the Blinkfeed home screen altogether, but you can still hide it.

If you really want a traditional Android home screen, you can easily install another launcher app that does so from Google Play. But if you're like me, you'll want to get that old-style Rosie home screen enjoyed on previous HTC devices.

Change Your Default Home Screen

Do a pinch gesture on your home screen or go to your phone's Customize home screen menu in Settings-->Personalize.

How to Revert Back to a More Traditional Sense-Style Home Screen on Your HTC One
Mobile settings interface showing options for airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile data, and media output.
Settings menu for personalizing mobile device options.
How to Revert Back to a More Traditional Sense-Style Home Screen on Your HTC One
Mobile settings interface showing options for airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile data, and media output.
Settings menu for personalizing mobile device options.

Tap and hold the home screen you want to make your default until you feel a vibration, then drag it to the top left corner where it says SET AS HOME.

User interacting with a smartphone screen displaying widgets.

Now tap Home and you'll default to the home screen you just selected.

Smartphone home screen displaying various apps and an advertisement at the top.

Change the App Drawer's Default Grid Size

This is a very odd change. The new app drawer only has 3 columns by default. This is not practical after you install all of your apps.

How to Revert Back to a More Traditional Sense-Style Home Screen on Your HTC One

Scroll down a tiny bit so the three dot overflow button appears on the right just below your weather clock. Tap it, and then tap Grid Size.

Select 4x5, and your app drawer should be much more manageable.

Smartphone home screen displaying app options and settings menu.
Calculator app interface showing basic arithmetic options.
Smartphone home screen displaying various app icons and the time 5:49.
Smartphone home screen displaying app options and settings menu.
Calculator app interface showing basic arithmetic options.
Smartphone home screen displaying various app icons and the time 5:49.

Put Widgets and Shortcuts onto Your New Home Screen

Now that you have a traditional Android home screen, Open the Customize home screen menu.

Smartphone interface displaying digital clocks, weather information, and widgets.

Choose which apps and/or widgets you use most frequently and put them there for easy access. For example, I like the original Sense weather clock.

How to Revert Back to a More Traditional Sense-Style Home Screen on Your HTC One

And that's it. No more Blinkfeed, and it feels just like old times.

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.

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