Sprint began to push a new OTA update out yesterday to eager EVO 4G owners that promised all sorts of good stuff:
- Improvements to Wi-Fi performance
- Exchange Active Sync improvements which include a fix to issue including new account set up, PIN policy usage, and Exchange Server 2010 Calendar Sync
- Addresses Social Networking Sync issue with Facebook application which can improve battery performance.
This all sounded exciting to most EVO users, especially when confronted with what many users believe are below average battery levels for day to day usage. Unfortuantely, as you can see here and here, the update was anything but a success on the part of Sprint or HTC. Apparently many users were prompted to install another update after installing the official 1.47.651.1 and, upon doing so, ended up with a very expensive paper weight. This is because, for some reason, the same OTA update was being pushed to the device twice.
The unlucky recipients of the second update reported that their phones were “bricked” and could not be repaired even at Sprint corporate stores or repair centers. What’s worse is Sprint and HTC are reportedly pointing fingers at each other and in many cases EVO users are simply left without a working phone. Other users who did not get prompted to install the OTA update twice, or who were lucky enough not to do so if they were prompted, also report a number of other issues:
- Some Apps not working, which they did prior to the update
- Some widgets not working, which they did prior to the update
- No longer able to disable HTC Sense UI and use the stock Android home screen launcher
- Google Talk runs in the background, even after disabling it within the app
- Apps working and then the phone becomes randomly unresponsive
- Many stock Android wallpapers were removed
- Much, much more
Sprint pulled the OTA update late last night and really had very little to say about it. Reports are in from users in this thread that the update is again available, in at least a few markets. With all that has transpired in the last twenty four hours, I recommend that you wait a few days and see how other EVO users are doing after the update. And if you do go jumping in, I wish you the best of luck.
Let us know what you think in the comments.