Last week the blogosphere was ripe with speculation surrounding HTC and the removal of most, if not all, of their apps from the Play Store. The apps that went missing were core apps required by many HTC users for their devices to function properly. Now it seems that they will soon return to the Play Store after some updating by HTC.
In a statement to Android Police, HTC have said that they removed the apps to comply with new Google Play Store policy and that they will return, updated and complying, in the coming weeks.
In order to comply with the latest Google Play policy, we have temporarily removed a number of HTC applications from the Google Play Store. Applications will be republished over the coming weeks as we deploy new updates. Below is a list of apps confirmed to be re-published and target dates (subject to change). We are continuing to review additional apps but have prioritized the below based on usage.
The list of when the apps will be returning was provided to Android Police and although it does not list them all and does not list exact dates for most it is a welcome sight for HTC users:
| HTC Mail | Roll out to Play store on 9 April |
| RE | Plan to roll out on 28 April |
| HTC Sense Home | Roll out to Play store by the end of April, 2019 |
| HTC People | Roll out to Play store by the end of April, 2019 |
| HTC Sense Companion | Roll out to Play store by the end of April, 2019 |
| HTC Restore | Roll out to Play store by the end of April, 2019 |
With some apps already being republished on the Google Play Store including RE camera app, HTC Mail, and the HTC Sense launcher it is good to see HTC still supporting their phones. Hopefully they continue to not only support their older phones but make decent ones in the coming years. I for one love a strong HTC and think they deserve better than what they have had dished at them in recent times.
Does HTC still make phones? Not being in the news recently, I thought they had quietly said their good-byes. HTC need to go back to making great phones at a decent price. Forget about flagship. Concentrate on mid-range and re-build the loyal following they used to have. And yes, I used to be one of them.