Android 5.0 Lollipop OTA Released for HTC One M8 Verizon Wireless Variant

If you own the Verizon Wireless version of the HTC One M8, you should expect to see a notification about the Android 5.0 Lollipop OTA soon as the carrier has now started seeding the Lollipop update to its customers. Verizon Wireless is the third US carrier to have rolled out the OTA update after Sprint and T-Mobile. The only major US carrier variant of the One M8 still stuck on Android 4.4.4 KitKat now is the AT&T version.

The update is now available via the OTA route, so you will be able to download and install the update on your HTC One M8 without having to connect it to your computer. Before you check for the OTA update, we suggest you connect your One M8 to a Wi-Fi network as you will not be allowed to download the update over cellular network as it is a major update. If an update notification hasn’t show up yet, you can also check for the update manually by going to Settings – About Phone – System Updates – Check for Updates. The full change-log of this new update can be found here.

The Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the HTC One M8 includes a number of changes like a new material design user-interface, 64-bit ABI support, ART runtime for improved performance, new notification panel with quick settings, updated lock screen, redesigned recent apps overview with card and grid view options, Band 4 roaming enabled, enhanced 3-way calling feature, a few other improvements and bug fixes. The most significant improvements included with the Lollipop update have to do with device performance and responsiveness, battery life, and of course the new updated Sense 6.0 UI. The newer Sense 7.0 UI that debuted with the One M9 will only be arriving to One M8 users later this year as part of another Lollipop update, possibly based on Android 5.1 or Android 5.2.

HTC had earlier promised to release the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the One M7 and One M8 flagship smartphones within 90 days of its release from Google. Unfortunately, the company couldn’t keep up its promise as only select HTC One M8 models could be updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop within the promised 90-day timeframe. For the Verizon One M8, the update has arrived well beyond 100 days after Android 5.0’s initial release last year.