Android fans lusting after HTC’s gorgeous new One (M8) hardware but looking for a more traditional Android experience without coughing up $700 up front now have cause for celebration. Thanks to some hard-working hackers over on the XDA Developers forum, HTC One (M8) owners can now convert their handsets into the nearly stock Google Play edition simply be following a guide and installing a tweaked Android build.
“Simply,” of course, is relative — this procedure is not recommended for novice users. It will also obviously void your warranty.
M8 owners have a few different choices on how to perform the conversion, and every option obviously requires gaining root access to the handset. All of the options are pretty easy for those familiar with the process of customizing your Android phone.
The full guide can be found by clicking through to the XDA blog post linked below in our source section.
Should you perform the conversion? Good question.
HTC’s Sense 6 software atop Android KitKat on the HTC One (M8) is easily the best version of Sense so far, highlighted by a much more modern look and a refined experience. Android fans looking for an experience that is as “pure” as possible will definitely want to look into performing the conversion though, because Sense definitely strays very far from pure Android.
