Unfortunately, the House of Senses has stopped

Since I can remember, HTC tried its best to make its proprietary software package, HTC Sense, better than the stock market experience. The idea was to make it a national brand that people choose over the Android version.

The main reason it didn't really make a mark was the fact that it weighed too heavily on resources. When resources were very limited, the HTC Sense was primarily designed to look pretty, while other manufacturers have chosen fluidity over beauty. Even if the experience was harder, HTC Sense won that round mainly because stock Android was so much uglier. But throughout the years, Android stock has improved a lot, with a beautiful interface that is fast and fluid.

However, HTC continues to push with HTC Sense as selling point, despite being slower and much less stable than the stock experience. Even if it has improved a lot more than previous versions, the HTC Sense still lags a bit.

Leaving fluency out of the equation, the main problem of the HTC Sense is the error “Unfortunately, the House of Senses has stopped”. Sometimes, this error is followed by other errors such as »Unfortunately, Google Play services have stopped »or» Unfortunately, Gmail has stopped «. But do not worry, your phone does not have multiple bugs, It's all HTC Sense's fault!

This problem has been around for years, but it's not that HTC hasn't tried to fix it. The problem is that HTC Sense works a little differently than Android by default. This can create many conflicts between proprietary software and third-party applications or widgets..

Although the occasional pop-up with the error won't bother you too much, some users have reported that they have been stuck in an error loop preventing them from accessing the home screen.

Before moving on to the repair part, let's review the most common causes of this error:

• The phone died from a lack of battery while performing an update

• Application conflict

• Widget conflict

• Outdated software version

• HTC Sense

Below you have a collection of methods that will surely solve your problem. I have ordered them by gravity, so be sure to follow each one in order until you have a solution that works for you.

Note: If you are stuck in a loop without access to the home screen, proceed directly to the method 2 and continue down.

Method 1: Clear Sense Home Cache and Uninstall Updates

Before doing something important like doing a factory reset, there are some things we can try without losing vital data. If the problems are caused by a crash, clearing the Sense Home cache will do the job most of the time. That is how:

1. Go to Settings> Applications.

2. Scroll down until you find Home Sense and tap on it.

3. Touch Storage and touch Clear data.

4. Confirm and wait for the process to complete.

5. If you see an option called Clear cache, touch it too. Older versions of HTC Sense won't have it.
   

6. Go to Settings> Applications> Manage apps and tap HTC Sense Input. Click Uninstall Updates.

7. Restart the phone and see if the error reappears.

Method 2: perform a soft reset

In some cases, the error appears as a result of a crash and can be cleared by performing a soft restart. That is how:

1. On the home screen, press and hold the power button + turn up the volume for about 10 seconds.

2. When I see the screen go black, release the two buttons and wait for the device to turn on again.

Method 3: Wipe cache partition

If the soft restart didn't help, let's eliminate the possibility of a crash by clearing the cache partition. The cache partition stores temporary system data that facilitates quick access to applications and services. Over time, can get complicated and trigger this particular error. In addition to having the potential to solve your problem, it will surely make your system work better for a while.

Note: Although we will use the recovery mode, you will not lose any of your personal data. The following guide has been confirmed to only work on HTC devices running Marshmallow and above.

1. Turn off your phone.

2. Press and hold the volume button + on until you see the HBOOT menu.

   Note: If nothing happens, turn it off again and try holding the Volume Up button + power button.

3. Use the volume down key to navigate down and highlight Recovery. Press the power button to access it.

   

4. It takes a while, but eventually the screen will go black with a red triangle icon in the middle. When that happens, long press the power button and short press to turn up the volume (don't hold it down).

   Note: If on + volume does not take you to the recovery menu, try to light + lower volume.

   

5. Release the power button and wait for the recovery menu to appear.

6. With the volume keys, scroll down to Wipe Cache Partition to highlight it.

7. Press the power button to select it.

8. Wait for the process to complete. The phone will automatically restart in normal mode.

Method 4: start in safe mode

If cleaning the cache partition did not clear the error, most likely an app or widget conflict. Think of Safe Mode as a Diagnostic State: your device will not allow third-party applications to run, which will allow you to find out if an application is causing the problem.

1. Turn off your device.

2. Press and hold the power button. Hold it down until the HTC logo appears (release the power button).

3. Immediately press and hold the volume down button.

4. Press and hold the volume button until you see the Safe Mode icon appear in the lower left corner of the screen.

5. Wait a minute for your phone to finish booting into safe mode.

   

6. Now that you are in safe mode, do some searching and see if the error reappears. If there is no sign of it, it is clear that an application is causing the conflict.

7. Go to Settings> Applications and uninstall the applications or widgets that entered your system at the time the error started to appear.

   

8. Once you are done, restart the phone normally and see if the error is gone.

Method 5: perform a factory reset

If the problem persists even after removing the apps in safe mode, we have one last option. Although a factory reset will eliminate the problem most of the time, It has a cost: will remove all your apps, accounts, Photos, videos and any other personal data that is not on your SD card. If you have access to your home screen, consider backing up before trying.

Note: If you can't make a backup, at least consider going back to safe mode by moving your contacts and SMS to the SD card. Go to Contacts> Settings and tap Backup to SD card and then go to Messages> Settings and tap Backup to SD card.

If you have access to your home screen, the procedure is much simpler:

1. Go to Settings, scroll down and tap Backup & reset.

2. Tap Factory Reset and then Reset Phone.

3. Click Delete all and confirm by clicking OK.

   

If you get stuck in an error loop without access to your home screen, things are a bit more complicated:

1. Turn off your phone.

2. Press and hold the volume down and then press and hold the power button.

3. Release both keys when you enter the HBoot screen.

   

4. Use the volume down key to highlight Factory Reset.

5. Press the power button once to select and then press it again to confirm.

6. Please wait until the process is complete, your phone will automatically restart and go back to its factory state.