HTC Desire to Lose Apps to Fit Gingerbread

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HTC has flip-flopped on its decision to upgrade the Desire with Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Apparently listening to user feedback, the company has found a way to do the upgrade, amid space constraints.

HTC promised to upgrade the Desire’s firmware to Android 2.3 Gingerbread for some time now, but the company suddenly announced that a Gingerbread update won’t be possible due to space constraints. HTC originally said they couldn’t fit both Gingerbread and their custom HTC Sense user interface. Consumer outrage on social media page prompted engineers to reverse their decision. The HTC Desire will have Gingerbread, but where will they get the extra space?

To resolve Desire’s memory issue and enable the upgrade to Gingerbread, we will cut select apps from the release. Look for status updates starting next week. We apologize for any confusion.

It turns out HTC has decided to go for the diminished functionality route, after all. The Gingerbread update will come with a reduced application set–or at least onboard apps that come with the OS by default.

In short, the Desire’s Gingerbread release will come with less bloatware. This might be disappointing to folks who rely on proprietary apps to be productive (or to have fun), but to the rest of us who would rather have the new OS than a spiffy UI with a ton of apps would be happy with the news. Anyway, you can install apps or add-ons aftermarket, right? Perhaps HTC should offer to include the apps it will remove as a separate download.