[Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE] stanglifemike:
HTC is really turning me away with the lack of SD card slot, non removable battery, and now this. Yea, I'm sure our talented devs will be able to overcome this obstacle, but when will HTC stop trying to make their devices more and more secure!!?? I had bought nothing but HTC phones for the last 7 years! A few months back though I decided to make my white Evo LTE (Also have a black one that I pre-ordered) a backup phone and purchase a Note 2, since the HTC One didn't impress me and I had new phone fever, which I always catch every 10-14 months. This was a big change for me! I've been using nothing but HTC since my WinMo days, and HTC was the only brand Android phone I've owned!! I was shocked at how easy Samsung is to root. After rooting, I searched for hours to see if there was anything else that I needed to do before flashing. I'm so used to worrying about achieving S-Off that it just seemed to quick and easy to already be done, and I was just certain that I had to be missing something! I had heard that Samsung doesn't lock down their phones like HTC does, but just had to make sure before moving on. Anyway, I honestly expected to really miss HTC and quickly regret my purchase. I have to say though, the Note 2 is by far my favorite Android phone that I've owned! Still though, I'm really hoping to see HTC announce a phone with a mid 5" display, SD card slot, AND a removable battery!! I've read some rumors about upcoming phones, and I've already got my hopes up! I think HTC giving Verizon the J Butterfly (Droid DNA) was a Huge mistake!! HTC has gotta start putting their phones on EVERY carrier! Not only that, but they've gotta give the customers the features that they want! Lastly, put an end to this locking bootloaders and making OTA's more difficult to share/flash!! If the carrier wants to lock the bootloader, then let them do it (like Verizon and AT&T both have done previously)!! HTC has to start becoming more dev friendly though, as that's a big part of the Android community!! Sure, there are users who never flash and have no idea what S-Off even means, so having an unlocked bootloader won't affect them in any way whatsoever anyways. They'll have no clue whether it's locked or not, nor will it matter to them! The users who do modify their phones and do want their bootloader unlocked will be much more likely to buy an HTC phone knowing that it isn't locked down!! Heck, the Droid DNA is having trouble even gaining root access after its last update!! I know a dev, who's roms I(and I'm sure many of you did as well) used to run on my OG Evo and Evo 3D, who has a DNA and is anything but happy with HTC right now!

Anyway, sorry for the rant, I'm just a huge HTC fan and have been for many many years, and I'm just truly disappointed by their approach to the Android community at trying to make their phones less developer and user friendly!!! If they would just give the users what they want then I think we'd see HTC battling Samsung for the #1 spot instead of struggling to keep their head above water like they are now. I would LOVE to see HTC be the top phone manufacturer, but I'm afraid that day won't come unless they start to loosen up their restraints........

/End Rant

SwiftKey'ed from my White Sprint Note 2 using XDA Premium