Before releasing an update for their handsets, Samsung, HTC, and many other Android developers always tweak the stock Android version and personalise it for their hardware. The TouchWizz launcher by Samsung is the next example I can use to illustrate how these features are manufacturer-specific. Some choose to despise it, while others choose to embrace it. However, by default, it is only available on Samsung phones.
Similar to this, HTC released a brand-new launcher last year called the BlinkFeed, which became very popular very quickly. Let’s examine BlinkFeed and how simple it is to instal on any Android smartphone.
What is HTC s BlinkFeed
With the HTC One, HTC BlinkFeed was the first app released, and it quickly earned a large following among users. Every time you unlock your phone, this screen will be the first one you see. From here, you can view the most recent news stories and updates from your social network accounts without having to launch any apps. In essence, it is a launcher with a content feed on top of it.
Therefore, let’s examine how to instal and utilise HTC’s Blink Feed on any Android device without requiring root access.
Download and Install The Files
You must first download the necessary BlinkFeed APK files in order to get started. The device must have these 4 APK files installed in order for the blink feed to work. To get the APK files, click on each of these links. Download these APK files to a single folder for convenience’s sake, then move it to your Android phone to instal. Make sure to enable the Android’s Install from Unknown Sources option in the Security settings. Do not hit the home button until all four files have been installed. As long as you instal all four of these APKs, it doesn’t matter what sequence you instal them in.
Pressing the home button once these files have been installed will prompt you to select the new Android default home screen launcher. Choose HTC BlinkFeed from the list and click OK once or always as desired.
Installing Additional Plugins
The BlinkFeed’s features will be available on your device thanks to the aforementioned 4 APK downloads. However, if you want to make the most of it, you’ll need to add some more plugins, like those for Facebook and Instagram, to display all of your feeds on the homepage. The currently accessible plugins are
You are not required to instal every plugin, and you are free to leave out those that you don’t use. So that you can see the HTC Blink Feed, press the home button one more once you have finished installing all the plugins.
Configuring the HTC Blink Feed.
Swipe to the right on the home screen to bring up the BlinkFeed screen. When starting up, you will see two options here. You can select one of them to receive feeds from well-known websites like The Huffington Post, and you can select the other to receive feeds from social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. To access the additional menu, scroll further to the right to the sidebar and then click the three menu buttons. You may manage the apps’ services here.
You can decide whether a data connection should be utilised to download the new feeds under the extra settings menu. Additionally, you have the choice to download all of the information, including the images, for offline reading. Highly recommended for those who frequently commute and need to kill time with the morning news. The hardcoded green hue is the only aspect of the BlinkFeed that I didn’t enjoy. The colour should be changeable so that it matches the phone’s theme, according to the creator.
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Conclusion
That’s how you set up and operate HTC BlinkFeed on your gadget. If you need to disable the launcher for some reason, look for BlinkFeed in the Android app’s settings and reset everything to default. You would need to delete all the apps and related plugins before selecting your old default home launcher to complete the uninstall. So give these features a try and decide if you like the HTC launcher that comes included with your phone.