HTC Sense users set to lose data as cloud storage service closes for “renovation”

HTC is temporarily closing its cloud storage service, HTC Sense, while it renovates the service that allows users to sync a range of data from their devices, including contacts, messages, footprints and call history.

Rather than offer a interim solution during the revamp, HTC has strangely decided to erase all user data, giving customers until the end of April to keep hold of the information stored there, as Pocketlint reports.

A notice on the service’s website states that “features previously available on HTCSense.com are no longer available”, urging users to save their data.

A fuller explanation comes from correspondence sent to customers. HTC has communicated the changes for users for the service, telling them that the service is undergoing a renovation:

HTCSense.com is undergoing a renovation to improve the services and value we deliver to customers like you. Until the new services are ready, features previously available on HTCSense.com will be shutting down.

If you have been using HTCSense.com to sync your Contacts, Messages, Footprints or Call History, you can download your data through April 30, 2012. After April 30, your data will no longer be accessible and will be deleted.

The correspondence even goes on to advise users to go to Google Play to find an alternative service. Yes, as in with someone else…

The revamp is likely to see HTC increase its integration with Dropbox, after the duo partnered earlier this year. That tie-up sees the Taiwanese firm’s latest smartphones — the One X, One S and One V — come preloaded with 25GB of storage from the online storage specialist, and we can expect more developments.

However, the shutdown will leave a lot of HTC fans disappointed and, most importantly, using other services. If and when the revamped system arrives, many may question whether to return to HTC, given this imminent closure and the erasing of their data.