By We’re usually lining up to get free Dropbox storage on the latest smartphones, but HTC seems to be going a different route for those who decide to throw their money at the Taiwanese company’s latest smartphones. Google is giving 25GB or 50GB of Google Drive storage to those who have these smartphones, though which one you get depends on which phone you have.
The HTC One Max will get you 50GB of storage for two years, while “certain” 2013 smartphones — the HTC One being an obvious candidate — netting you 25GB after the upgrade to Sense 5.5 and Android 4.3 arrives.
Unfortunately, this offer excludes the developer edition of the device, with Google saying it’s due to the fact that the device has an unlockable bootloader. We’re not sure why that would affect eligibility for free Google Drive storage, but that’s the caveat.
So how can you check to see if you are eligible for the offer? Three easy steps will get you on your way:
- Launch the preloaded Google Drive application on your device
- Press Redeem when presented with this screen
- Follow the screen prompts to complete redemption
You’ll want to make sure your Google account is already setup and that you have an internet connection before going ahead with it, of course, but if you’ve taken care of both of those things you should be seeing the prompt with no issues.
Some of you may be wondering what will happen after those two years. Well, your stuff won’t just suddenly disappear, if that’s what you were thinking. Your files will still be available and accessible from the web, but you won’t be able to add any additional files unless you opt to add more storage space (for a nominal fee, of course). Be sure to take advantage of this offer as soon as possible, as we’re not sure how long it’s going to last.
[via Google, thanks Joel!]
What if your rooted? I don’t see a redeem option in my Drive
No… looks like we’re out of luck. I just cleared data in Drive and the Drive Activator service. Then went back into the app. I was greeted with the HTC Free storage screen. But below that it said unable to authorize offer for your device.
I have it. I also have a Sense 5.5 ROM. I’m running Insert Coin. You can get it still.
what about existing htc one users who already have google drive setup since the phone was first launched? i don’t see a “redeem” option when i launch the google drive app on my t-mobile htc one on 4.3.
OOPs nm, need to update to sense 5.5 first
No redeem option for my HTC One stock on AT&T.
Nice, i love dropbox. Sammy been giving 50 gigs for 2 years since GS3 or Note 2
This is cool. HTC gave you Dropbox space and now you can get Google Drive space. This whole time I had my Google+ upload off to preserve space. =.P
What about those of us that dont have HTC is Google leaving us out in the cold on this offer???
I wouldn’t say it’s Google leaving you out in the cold. It’s Samsung/LG/Moto/Sony/etc. leaving you out in the cold for not arranging something similar for their users.
(Though some of them have arranged similar, just with Dropbox instead.)
Already thinking of changing build.prop. I’m such a bad person. :p
And I imagine this is why they claim it wont work with an unlocked bootloader. Though if you try and it works please report back.
This means you’re rooted? Just throw on a ROM that has Sense 5.5. I have 25GB of space apparently. LoL!!
No pre-installed/preloaded Google Drive app on my stock/not rooted Sprint HTC One.
you need to get Sense 5.5 update first. USA is still “stuck” on 5.0 with the 4.3 update.
oh yeah lol.. Thanks.
no redeem option…
I have an HTC One and use Google Drive regularly. No redeem option appears. :-/
P.S. My HTC One is running Sense UI and 4.3..not a Developer edition.
Ok..so I’m still on Sense 5.0 with Android 4.3. How do we upgrade Sense to 5.5?
People, READ the article. Sense 5.5 needed
So when are we expecting sense 5.5?
You should have it. I thought the 4.3 updates came with Sense 5.5.
My T-Mobile One hit 4.3 but only sense 5.
Yea, after reading through the comments, I seen that being on 4.3 didn’t necessarily mean you were updated to Sense 5.5.
If you ever root, you can use Insert Coin. It has Sense 5.5 and a working WiFi Calling. Also you can get the promotion.
.
Sense 5.5, looking forward to it, but I will not need that much Google Drive space. Nice for those who need it.
Is that a custom launcher or vanilla version of the hTC ONE in the picture?
When is Sense 5.5 coming ? I thought it would be with the 4.3 update, but im still on Sense 5.0 I really wanna disable BlinkFeed.
I saw that. I got some error about me already have the promotion. I was like “When did this happen?” LoL!! It said I had to have had the HTC One Max, though. I’ll look into this today.
Also, the HTC One didn’t come with Google Drive preinstalled, did it? Hmm… I’ll see if I have the storage space.
EDIT: Oh wow!! So I have 25GB of space now. LoL!! Okay, that’s nice. =.P
Hoooooow, how did you find out
Sense 5.5 is already being rolled out for the international version of the HTC One, so I expect it to be here in the states by… the end of the year. :(
I have the ATT HTC One and updated to 4.3 when it hit a couple of weeks ago. I noticed no notifications of this, but when I just launched Google Drive and went into the settings, it said I was using **** MB out of 25 GB, so it happened automatically for me. No complaints, here!
Hey how did you check, what drop box app did you look at
i got it on my HTC ONE. Htc is the best
I have 50 gigs thru box.net when I purchased my LG Thrill 2 years ago.
I don’t have a preloaded Google drive app on my att HTC one
There is no need to buy a new phone to some GB storage, Copy from Barracuda networks is giving away 20GB just for registering + 5 GB for each referral, thats 10 times bonuses from Dropbox, check it here https://copy.com?r=iDQAXh
Copy gives 20GB + 5 GB for each referal https://copy.com?r=iDQAXh