HTC builds a custom user interface that runs on top of Android phones and tablets. It’s called Sense and it features a custom lock screen, custom widgets, settings menus, and other features. In the early days of Android, HTC Sense provided a little extra polish to an operating system that was rough around the edges.
Now HTC is preparing to launch a new version of Sense that’s designed to run on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. If you’re a fan of Sense, you’ll be happy to know that the new software looks an awful lot like HTC Sense for Android 3.2 and earlier… but that means the user interface also hides a lot of what makes Android 4.0 special.
Google designed Android 4.0 to run on both phones and tablets. The company has also managed to provided a consistent look and feel throughoutthe operating system so that you don’t necessarily feel like you’re running a third party app when you fire up the settings menu or built-in chat or email apps.
But custom skins are probably here to stay. HTC isn’t the only company working on a skin for Android 4.0. An early version of Samsung’s new TouchWiz interface for Ice Cream Sandwich was also leaked recently.
If you want to try out the new HTC Sense software you can download a custom ROM from the xda-developers forum. It’s designed to run on the HTC Sensation XE smartphone and it’s based on the leaked software. This is an early build though and the final version of HTC Sense for Android 4.0 may look different.
via Android Central
