How To Fix Common HTC One M8 Problems and Errors

I know we’ve been so pre-occupied addressing Galaxy S series problems this past several months that we seemed to have neglected the needs of HTC One M8 owners. So, here we are, opening our door to questions from One M8 owners.

This is apparently the first segment of this series but I’m sure we will be doing a lot of HTC One M8 Problems and Solutions articles as we’ve also received a lot of emails from owners. The ones cited in this post are actually common but I think there are only very few complicated One M8 problems.

If you have concerns with your phone, whatever the brand is, as long as it is Android, email us at [email protected] and we will try to answer every email and include them in our future posts. We also have a Facebook page that we also use to cater the needs of our readers.

Phone’s screen won’t back on while device still working

Q: So, I just got my HTC One M8 this week and I love it; the design, performance and everything, however, there is one issue. The screen remains off whatever I do. Like this morning, the alarm goes off at 6 so I jumped to my feet to turn it off so I can go back to sleep but the screen won’t turn on, the alarm however, kept going that it woke up people in the house. Eventually, the alarm stopped as I haven’t set it to snooze. I leave the phone be and after I took a shower I attempted to turn it on and it was working fine. In the afternoon, the problem happened again but it happened while I was listening to music. The tracks play but when I tried to turn the screen on to text somebody, it won’t. So, now, I need your expertise on this. Help me please because I just don’t know how to fix this problem. — Martin

A: It seems that this problem is actually common to HTC One M8 owners. You know, the phone is pretty new and it is useless to troubleshoot the problem when you can just bring the phone in and replaced. There isn’t any explanation as to why this problem happens but I’m sure you don’t want to stick to a device that already has an issue out of the box. But to work around this issue, press and hold the power and volume up keys for 10 seconds to force restart the phone. The screen should be working fine after you did that but that’s just a band aid over the wound; the best way to tackle this problem is to have the phone replaced while you still can demand a replacement.

Top speaker grill is loose

Q: My HTC One (M8) is new, just a month old, and I don’t have any issues software-wise. However, I noticed that the top speaker grill is loose or has a small bump beneath the front camera. I can push it back so it would snap right in but sooner I can see the bump again. Is this a common issue with this phone? — Joel

A: You’re not the first one who emailed us about it. Apparently, it is a manufacturing issue and there isn’t much we can do about it. So, you have two options; you can either live with it or bring it back to the store and have it replaced the soonest possible time.

Cannot install app from Amazon App Store

Q: This is my first time I use a smartphone and I got an HTC One M8. I’ve been using this phone for barely a month now and of course I’m still learning. My problem is about installing some apps off the Amazon. I can install apps from the Play Store alright but I can’t when the app is from Amazon. Does it mean that my phone can’t get something from a non-Google market? I would really appreciate it if you could explain to me why this is happening. Thank you guys. — Emmanuel

A: Emmanuel, by default all Android devices are set not to install apps from “third-party” markets. There is a setting you need to enable so you can install apps from Amazon. Don’t worry, your phone doesn’t a problem whatsoever, you just need to follow these steps:

1. Open your the Settings app on your HTC One.
2. Tap the Security section in settings.
3. Tap the check box next to Unknown Sources.

That’s it!

Cannot play Flash games and stream videos

Q: Prior to this phone (HTC One M8), I have a Galaxy S2, rooted and was running custom ROM, and I could just play Flash games and stream flash videos without having any problems but this phone seems to be giving me all the problems. I have a really good internet connection so I figure that’s not the problem. I’m at a loss here and I don’t know how I could play Flash videos again. Please help me. I tried download the flash player like I did before but I couldn’t find the app anywhere. How could this be? — Melrose

A: Adobe stopped the support for Android Flash Player and the final release was during the Ice Cream Sandwich time. Thus, you can never find flash player for Android 4.1 and beyond. The good news is, you can still use the flash player for Android 4.0 on you HTC One M8. I can guide you how to install the player but if you’re only trying to stream videos from a site, I suggest you use Chrome browser as it has built-in support for flash videos. But since you asked about installing the flash player, here’s how…

1. Enable Unknown Sources. You will be sideloading a third-party app so you need to enabled this security feature. Go to your phone’s Settings > Security > check the box beside Unknown Sources.
2. Download the Flash Player. You can download the final release of the Flash Player for Android from Adobe website. It is in an apk format, which you can install right from your phone’s internal memory.
3. Install the Flash Player. Copy the apk file to your phone’s internal or external memory and access it using a file manager app. From there you can run the file to install it to your phone. Once installed, you can play flash videos right away.

I hope this helps.

Signal drops after the update

Q: Hi guys, I have a problem with my HTC One M8. Ever since I updated it, the signal keeps losing or dropping for 10 seconds or so. I didn’t do anything to my phone after the update thinking the issue was temporary but it remained. It’s been about few weeks now that I have this problem. The frequency of the drops is about 5 to 10 times a day. I know you guys are very busy but if you could just help me a little with this problem, that would be a big favor for me since I’m using this phone for business. There are times when I type a text message that I couldn’t send the message immediately due to lack of coverage. Also, there were already about 3 or 4 calls that were mysteriously disconnected and I think this problem caused them. Please help me with my problem. Thanks. — Rochelle

A: Rochelle, there are two options we could try to fix this issue. The first one involves clearing of the cache partition while the second is a bit more desperate measure–factory reset.

Wiping cache partition will delete data stored by the phone to make it faster to load apps. The longer those data are stored, the higher the possibility they will become corrupt. When that happens, apps will cease to function properly and it could only be fixed if they’re cleared.

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Down key.
3. Press and release the Power key to turn the phone on.
4. Continue holding the Volume Down.
5. Release the Volume Down key when the three Android images appear on the bottom of the screen.
6. Press the Volume Down key once to move the cursor from FASTBOOT to RECOVERY.
7. Press the Power key to begin the wipe.
8. The device displays the bootup screen followed by a phone with a red triangle.
9. Press the Up Volume key and Power key at the same time.
10. Press the Down Volume key three times to select Wipe cache partition.
11. Press the Power key to initiate the wipe.
12. Wait until the phone displays Cache wipe complete.
13. Press the Power key to select Reboot system now.
14. If this does not resolve your issue, the next step a master reset.

Now, if this procedure fails, proceed with factory reset. It’s better if you perform it in the recovery mode.

1. Press and hold the Power button
2. Tap Power off.
3. Press and hold the Volume Down key.
4. Press and release the Power key to turn the phone on.
5. Continue holding the Volume Down key.
6. Release the Volume Down key when the three Android images appear on the bottom of the screen.
7. Press the Volume Down key twice to move the cursor from FASTBOOT to FACTORY RESET.
8. Press the Power key to perform the master reset.

It is a golden rule to perform factory reset when issues start to appear after an update.

Cannot send / receive MMS messages

Q: In my circle of friends I am the only one that doesn’t own an iPhone because I preferred HTC One M8. I cannot complain about the device’s design lest its performance. But the problem, I haven’t received any picture messages from my friends. I know for sure they always send pictures to each other and I am included but I haven’t received one. I can, however, receive text messages without pictures. This phone I bought online brand new and I bought the BYOP SIM card from a wireless provider here in the U.S. I don’t know what the issue really is but I read online that this is a common issue with iMessage. Can you provide more information and how to fix this problem? Thanks.

A: Yes, it is a common issue for people who previously used an iPhone but migrated to Android bringing along their phone number. This issue, however, is not applicable to you since you purchased a BYOP (Bring Your Own Phone) SIM card that I believe comes with a phone number. I understand why you thought this issues resulted from the fact that your friends are using iPhones while you have Android but I’m afraid it’s not really the problem.

You are using a phone that is not carried by your service provider. It follows that the settings wasn’t specifically set to connect to your provider’s network. Even if you bought a new SIM card, it is a guarantee that the phone could automatically connect to the network. I would also want to make an emphasis on the fact that text messages and MMS don’t use the same network. You need to enable your mobile data to be able to send and receive MMS. If that has already been enabled, then I’m sure the problem is with the APN settings. The immediate way to solve this problem is to call your service provider and ask for APN settings for the MMS. You can set APN by following these steps:

1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Mobile data.
4. Touch Access Point Names.

Google+ Photos Auto Backup not working

Q: I have a lot of photos in my HTC One M8 and I use Google+ Photos to automatically back them up. This past couple of days, it seems that Google+ Photos app isn’t working quite right. I have 13 photos that weren’t backed up yet and it says “backing up…13 left” and it’s been like this for two days already. I already cleared the app’s cache and data to no avail. That’s the only solution I can think of since it concerns the app itself but it didn’t work. So, I need your help guys. I have plenty of space in both my phone and Google account so I know it’s not the problem. Any suggestions would surely be appreciated. Thanks.

A: It’s not an easy problem to solve but there are always things you could try to attempt to fix this issue. First, if you’re connecting to the internet using mobile data, then make sure you didn’t set the app to use “WiFi only.” Second, make sure there is sufficient battery to power the phone as well as other services. Lastly, go to your phone’s Data Manager and uncheck every access point so the phone wouldn’t think of them as Mobile Hotspot. At this point, the Wi-Fi only option should work and you should be able to upload photos over WiFi to Google+ servers.

Cannot download apps from the Play Store

Q: My HTC One M8 just cannot download apps from the Google Play Store. I don’t know what happened to the phone but I made sure the internet was on and I could browse the web when I tried to download an app. I was actually getting an error, I can’t remember what it was because it doesn’t show now. I remember, there were an update I had to install recently and I think that was the cause of the problem. I haven’t downloaded an app since the update until today, then this problem happened.

A: Thanks for pointing out it’s not an internet connection problem, so basically, we have to focus on the Play Store app. The first thing we have to do is to clear its cache and data:

1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Scroll to ‘PHONE,’ then tap Apps.
4. Scroll left to the ALL tab.
5. Tap the desired application.
6. Tap Clear Data.
7. Tap OK.
8. Tap Clear Cache.

If this procedure doesn’t work, then you’d have to proceed to uninstalling updates. You have to follow the same steps then hit the Uninstall Updates button. That should do it.

Left icon on the status bar, restricts background data

Q: I am new to smartphones. In fact, the HTC One M8 is my first smartphone so I’m still learning everything in it. One of my woes is the left icon on the status bar. I could live with but it restricts background data so apps that need to connect to mobile network won’t function well. I don’t know how to get rid of the icon so I need a little education here. Thanks guys! It’s a pretty cool service you’re offering for us Android owners. — Lowell

A:The left icon is sometimes confusing to owners but it actually resembles Power Saving Mode. When enabled, it is normal that the background data is restricted since connection to mobile network takes up more power than connecting to Wi-Fi access point. Disable Power Saving and the left would be gone.

1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Scroll to ‘PHONE,’ then tap Power.
4. Tap the Power saver switch.
5. The switch turns gray and slides right to the OFF position.

Gallery keeps so long to load

Q: I have a slight problem with my HTC One (M8). Every time I open the Gallery app to view photos, it would take so long to load like I have to wait a minute or two before I can choose albums or photos. I don’t know what’s happening with the phone but if it matters, the problem manifests every time I lose internet connection. Also, I have a lot of photos saved in my external memory, which is mounted on the phone, by the way. Any suggestion would be fine and if you could provide an explanation why this happens, that would be better. Thanks.

A: I was thinking it was an app issue but when you said the problem starts when you lose internet connectivity, I already know what the problem really is. The Gallery app in your phone was set to automatically sync with cloud servers like Google+, Instagram, Facebook, etc. The reason why the Gallery app takes time to load when there’s no internet connection is that the app would still try to sync with online servers. Since they are unreachable, the phone would keep connecting and syncing to them until successful. The solution: turn all syncs off when you don’t have internet connection.

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