Cyanogen brings a treat to the community of modders that has helped push the forked version of Android into a mainstream OS. The company is bringing apps from the commercial Cyanogen OS and offering them in a free suite for users of CyanogenMod.
Because Cyanogen OS and CyanogenMod apps are both built on the same platform, there really wasn't much preventing the same software from landing on both of them. But Cyanogen OS has been getting special treatment, receiving apps that were previously unavailable on CyanogenMod.
"C-Apps is being offered as an optional download and will not be preinstalled on CyanogenMod releases," says Cyanogen. "This package will allow you to take your existing devices running CM 12.1, and make them more like the Cyanogen OS experience. The latest version of CM 12.1 is required for C-Apps to run properly."
Apps inside the C-Apps suite include Dialer with TrueCaller integration, Theme Chooser, Cyanogen Accounts, Email powered by Boxer, Theme Store AudioFX and Gallery .
Of the C-Apps software, the Cyanogen Accounts apps is arguably the most important.
"Creating a Cyanogen Account gives you access to the Theme Store, the ability to locate your device, remote lock and remote wipe it and enable the TrueCaller functionality," says Cyanogen. "After signing up for your Cyanogen account online, you can manage your account and device at account.cyngn.com."
Sprouting from the core version of the same Android OS Google uses, Cyanogen has seen its hobbyist OS, CyanogenMod, and commercial OS, Cyanogen OS, branch out and grow large enough that the company's CEO thinks it can wrestle Android away from Google.
Still not backing down from his assertion that his company would wrench Android out of Google's hands, Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster told Fast Company in March how the startup intended to do it.
The plan is to replace Google's sometimes prized and sometimes despised apps with offerings for whatever third party has a better piece of software. Google Music would be replaced by Spotify, Drive with Dropbox and so on.
"Listen, if Spotify could really create a Spotify phone, or Facebook could really create the Facebook phone, and Dropbox could create the Dropbox phone, you would see levels of innovation there that are just not happening today in the app ecosystem," McMaster says.
