Skip to main content

Cyanogen will close, but CyanogenMod will soldier on under a new name

The bell has tolled for Cyanogen. The company that supported CyanogenMod, the “free, community-built distribution of Android which greatly extends the capabilities of your device,” is officially no more

As for what this means for CyanogenMod, its website (cyanogenmod.org) has now been shut down, and just a few days before Christmas, Cyanogen announced via a blog post, “As part of the ongoing consolidation of Cyanogen, all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds will be discontinued no later than December 31, 2016. The open source project and source code will remain available for anyone who wants to build CyanogenMod personally.”

Recommended Videos

This is a rather inglorious end for a startup with a rather glorious goal — to build a better version of Android than Google. But now, not only has Cyanogen failed in that endeavor, it seems to have failed, well, altogether.

Sadly, this latest news doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Signs of the startup’s impending doom have been surfacing quite regularly over the last few months, starting with the firm’s decision to lay off around 20 percent of its workforce, and continuing with the departure of its CEO and one of its co-founders.

As per the aforementioned blog post, when Cyanogen first announced it would be shuttering, it insisted that CyanogenMod would remain up. That remains to be seen, but there may be some hope. While CyanogenMod called the end of Cyanogen a “death blow” for its own services, it has unveiled a new website that promises more information about its heir, LineageOS, on Tuesday.

The new website notes, “Yes, this is us.” Promising that “LineageOS will be a continuation of what CyanogenMod was,” the website continues, “A company pulling their support out of an open source project does not mean it has to die.” So don’t give up hope just yet — Cyanogen and CyanogenMod may be no more, but their legacy just may continue.

Lulu Chang
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: the upgrade we’ve been waiting for?
Thre Flip 7 models next to each other

I never really thought that I'd want to go down the route of owning a flip phone, ever since I swore off my Nokia in the early 2000s (you know, the one with the weird felt covering and tiny notification window).

Fast forward two decades, and I'm considering rejoining the race, thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7. Coming in at $1,100, it's not cheap, but it's definitely something different compared to the world of black rectangles, and it it feels like Samsung’s Flip family has finally come of age.

Read more
I used the Galaxy Z Fold 7, here’s why I’m completely smitten
The back of the Galaxy Z Fold 7

We’ve waited several years for Samsung to join the party, but it’s finally here: Samsung has followed rivals like Oppo, OnePlus, and Honor in building a thinner, lighter, and sleeker Galaxy Z Fold 7. It’s an impressive feat of engineering and a major upgrade over previous years.

It’s easy to consider the Fold 7 nothing more than an update to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but in many ways, it feels like a huge step forward, not just for Samsung but for all folding phones. I spent a few hours with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in an exclusive preview, and here’s why I absolutely love what Samsung has done this year.

Read more
I tried the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 series – they’re sleek, but with a lot to prove
Watch 8 on a wrist

Trying out the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic is a tough gig - not in terms of it being a hardship to try out two high-end models, but that it's impossible to assess them with only 30 minutes’ use.

I can easily talk about the improved design and the fit of the straps etc, but the real changes are within the health ecosystem, and they'll need sustained testing to really understand if they're any good.

Read more