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Common HTC One M9 problems and how to fix them

htc one m9 front speaker
© nextpit

The HTC One M9 may be one of the leading flagships of 2015, but it still has its share of issues. If you're experiencing overheating, poor battery life or other troubles, then we're here to show you how to fix these common HTC One M9 problems.

Poor battery life

There are countless reasons why your HTC One M9 may be suffering from poor battery life, and they're problems that are suffered by owners of other phones too. Here are some of the things you can do to slow down the rate at which the One M9 battery depletes:

  • Go to Settings > Sound & notification > App notifications and switch off notifications for apps you don't wish to receive them from. 
  • Your display is a big - but obviously quite necessary - battery drain. Go to Settings > Display & gestures > Brightness level and lower the brightness. Alternatively, with the Automatic brightness box ticked, turn down the brightness slider. This will limit the automatic brightness of your screen.
  • Go to Settings > Display & gestures > Screen timeout and lower the amount of idle time required before your screen automatically switches itself off.
androidpit htc one m9 battery saving
Blocking app notifications and lowering brightness are two things you can do to slow down HTC One M9 battery depletion. / © ANDROIDPIT

Auto-rotate not working

Auto-rotate is an age-old smartphone feature, but it's still prone to the occasional bit of misbehavior. If your One M9 doesn't auto-rotate, first go to your Quick Settings and make sure it's enabled. If it is, but it's still not working, you may need to re-calibrate your phone's G-Sensor (a flashy word for gyroscope).

  • To do this, go to Settings > Display & gestures > G-Sensor calibration
  • Put your HTC One M9 on a flat surface, then tap Calibrate and wait until the screen says 'Calibration Complete'

HTC One M9 Overheating

The Snapdragon 810 chipset powering the HTC One M9 got a lot of stick for its tendency to overheat during use. When we tested it out in our Snapdragon 810 vs 808 comparison however, it looked like HTC had fixed the widely-reported problem. However, if your experience differs from ours and you're still experiencing overheating, then there are a couple of workarounds you can try.

IMG 1044
Here are some things you can do if your HTC One M9 is feeling the heat. / © ANDRODIPIT
  • Use power-saver mode when possible: This may not sound like the most satisfying of solutions, but the fact is that most of the time you won't be pushing your One M9 hardware to the limit anyway, and can use power-saving mode with no noticeable performance drop, but a noticeable decrease in temperature.
  • Don't use your phone while it's charging: Carrying out demanding tasks like gaming on your phone while it's charging can cause it to overheat. This issue isn't unique to the HTC One M9, and if you find that it overheats only when you use it during charging, then the simple solution is to stop doing it.

Double-tap to wake not working

One of the HTC One M9's most touted features lets you double-tap the switched-off screen to wake your phone, but it's prone to failure. The feature is tied in with the One M9's G-Sensor, and is designed to work when you're holding your phone upright in portrait mode. If your One M9 is on a flat surface or in landscape mode, double-tap to wake might not work.

androidpit htc one m9 g sensor
Re-calibrate the gyroscope to make double-tap to wake work swimmingly again. / © ANDROIDPIT

Another possible issue is that your G-sensor might not be calibrated. To fix this, go to Settings > Display & gestures > G-Sensor calibration then tap Calibrate.

HTC One M9 charging too slowly

If you were expecting your HTC One M9 to charge at lightning speeds just because it supports Quick Charge 2.0 then you're in for disappointment. The One M9 - like most phones - doesn't ship with a Quick Charge charger, but you can buy the official one online. 

androidpit htc fast charger
Did you know you needed one of these for your HTC One M9 to fast-charge? / © HTC

A less pricey solution to the HTC One M9 battery charge problem includes turning on Power Saver or Extreme Power Saver mode while it's charging - both of these can be switched on from your phone's Quick Settings menu. Also, don't use your phone while it's charging because it'll charge slower and could damage your phone battery.

Are you experiencing other HTC One M9 problems? Let us know in the comments and we'll try to offer up fixes in the future.

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Robert Zak

Robert Zak
UK Editor

A tech aficionado since he first picked up a NES controller, Robert has written about technology, videogames, and film across a range of sites and magazines, including Den of Geek, Gamasutra, and Computeractive. At AndroidPIT, he'll be bringing you the latest Android news and reviews from the front line in the UK.

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16 comments
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  • 1
    Garris1 Aug 13, 2019 Link to comment

    Had the problem of not getting Android Auto on my HTC M9 with Android 7.0 to interface with my Android Auto-enabled Pioneer car radio.

    After two weeks of chasing the problem with tech support staff Pioneer, Best Buy (where I bought the radio and had it installed), HTC techs, I finally discovered the solution. It's very simple.

    Under Settings, change the Personalize/Change Home screen launcher setting from Sense Home to Google No... . There is a small note in one of the forums that Android Auto must use Google services and the Google launcher is one of those services.


  • Ofir Nimrod 1
    Ofir Nimrod Oct 24, 2018 Link to comment

    My HTC one M9 overheating issue is related to the Duo app, after disabling the Duo app and force stopping it the device is back to normal temperature.


  • Brandon J. Torgusson 1
    Brandon J. Torgusson May 3, 2016 Link to comment

    my m9 gave me a warning message saying the it was being put on "timeout" and will reduce performance connectivity issues etc. and now it takes forever to load google or youtube or do anything on my phone and idk how to turn it off. i think this happened because today was a hot day and my phone was pretty warm but now its fine and its still giving me problems


  • 1
    dylan shaw Apr 30, 2016 Link to comment

    My m9 just started having overheating problems like 3 days ago,like burning my hand hot. It gets super hot after 2 minutes I turn it on and not even touch it. It wont hold a charge either. I know it could be the battery but anyone else have any ideas? Thanks


  • 1
    rajon khan Apr 19, 2016 Link to comment

    My htc M9 plus draining its battery automatically 1% in every 5 minutes without use the phone for any purpose.is this normal?


  • rishi guru 1
    rishi guru Jan 6, 2016 Link to comment

    my htc one m9 keeps restarting randomly when i updated my phone to 5.1 lollipop.
    help me !! anyone!
    thnx in advance. :)


  • 1
    Ibrahem Hamdan Oct 24, 2015 Link to comment

    facebook draining battery htc m9 plus !!


    • Mohmed Essam 1
      Mohmed Essam Nov 19, 2015 Link to comment

      i got the same problem but in another way , every 1% goes in 2 mins. after used 3g or wifi


  • Rogue Tomato 15
    Rogue Tomato Jul 5, 2015 Link to comment

    Common problem: The M9 sucks
    How to fix it: Toss it in the trash and get a different phone


    • 5
      Cory Weston Jul 5, 2015 Link to comment

      If you think the M9 sucks you are a a pathetic stupid cretin.


  • 1
    Umber Khan Jul 5, 2015 Link to comment

    HTC one m8 seems better then HTC one m9.
    All readers stay with your HTC one m7 or m8.
    If you looking for a new phone then Wait until snapdragon 820 comes out on HTC one m10.

    Stay away from snapdrgaon 810. Or. M9


    • 5
      Cory Weston Jul 5, 2015 Link to comment

      Sorry but no. The M9 is miles better than the M8 and M7. I have owned all 3. The M9 wins in every way.

      David


      • 1
        T J Oct 24, 2015 Link to comment

        except screen color calibration...


      • Mohmed Essam 1
        Mohmed Essam Nov 19, 2015 Link to comment

        and what u can say about the m9plus!!! i just got the phone 2 days ago and i found that for every 1% use with 3g or wifi is drained after 2 min!!!!!

        so the phone will last with u from 400- 450 min in totall! its so shame


  • 1
    Craig Thomson Jul 4, 2015 Link to comment

    My M9 loses data connectivity often even when I have 4-5 bars. This happens several times a day. I had an HTC One M7 for a year and never lost data connection even once. Any Ideas ? Thank You, Craig


    • 5
      Cory Weston Jul 5, 2015 Link to comment

      Bars do not measure data connection. Only call strength.

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