The current state..

September 27th, 2009

The last few days have been difficult. What has become clear now is that the Android Open Source Project is a framework. It’s licensed in such a way so that anyone can take it, modify it to their needs, and redistribute it as they please. Android belongs to everyone. This also means that big companies likes Google, HTC, Motorola, and whomever else can add their own pieces to it and share these pieces under whatever license they choose.

I’ve made lots of changes myself to the AOSP code, and added in code from lots of others. Building a better Droid, right?

The issue that’s raised is the redistribution of Google’s proprietary applications like Maps, GTalk, Market, and YouTube. These are not part of the open source project and are only part of “Google Experience” devices. They are Google’s intellectual property and I intend to respect that. I will no longer be distributing these applications as part of CyanogenMod. But it’s OK. None of the go-fast stuff that I do involves any of this stuff anyway. We need these applications though, because we all rely so heavily on their functionality. I’d love for Google to hand over the keys to the kingdom and let us all have it for free, but that’s not going to happen. And who can blame them?

There are lots of things we can do as end-users and modders, though, without violating anyones rights. Most importantly, we are entitled to back up our software. Since I don’t work with any of these closed source applications directly, what I intend to do is simply ship the next version of CyanogenMod as a “bare bones” ROM. You’ll be able to make calls, MMS, take photos, etc. In order to get our beloved Google sync and applications back, you’ll need to make a backup first. I’m working on an application that will do this for you.

The idea is that you’ll be able to Google-ify your CyanogenMod installation, with the applications and files that shipped on YOUR device already. Or, you can just use the basic ROM if you want. It will be perfectly functional if you don’t use the Google parts. I will include an alternative app store (SlideMe, or AndAppStore, not decided yet) with the basic ROM so that you can get your applications in case you don’t have a Google Experience device.

I’ll have more updates soon as I get all the code hammered out.

Thanks for all the support thru all of this.

Pepper Lim

Aw, man! This sure puts a dent in Google’s “Don’t be evil” motto.

Stay cool Cyanogen. Lots of people depend on your awesome mods.
http://www.ygomespn.pt.vu YgomesPN

Cyanogen you are the best professional, my congratulations.

Thank you so much for all your hard work.
http://privatelinux.blogspot.com/ sxe

Hey ho,

i have not bought a android device so far but i’m willed to do so and I was waiting for the right one to me. Now i really think about if buying a google powered device is the right choice. I don’t see the point of google, why don’t they allow redistributing these apps if you can access them for free?
I will stay on my winmo device and look how things happen.

Thx for this mod, i’m realy interested in seeing whats going on here.
Stefan

Thanks for all your dedication cyanogen!

I’m a bit sad that google decided to be the typical corporate asses without seeing the big picture (IMHO).
I mean whats android worth without Google Sync and all the other apps? And what do they gain from behaving like this? Probably nothing but alot of unhappy users.
Kot

I’m going for the Iphone 3GS. And I’m very sad and disappointed. Syncing with iPhone will be a lato easier than using Android.

It’s a pity that Apple is winning all the time.
http://omikheev.spb.ru bornmw

I vote for AndAppStore – my app is there!
But why choosing between between them and not taking both?
Andrew

As a long time google lover and an Android owner, I’m sad to see this happen. I’m glad you have work a way ‘around’ the google ‘issue’….

I wish google would wake up, by killing 3rd party firmware, they will kill intrest.

why don’t they offer them for ‘download’?

Google… don’t be evil…. I think they broke that rule!
ahmed

You’re the greatest man, I have a lot of respect for you and what you’re doing
roben

I’m really glad that your willing to continue! Thanks again for your effords, Android would be much less without it!
Raffaele

Thanks 4everything. I’ll probably stick with ur last exp.rom looks a lot stable, almost perfect. Great job.
http://www.scotiacon.com ThrashWolf

Cyanogen, you are by far the best developer the android community. Sure, JF laid the foundations, but you’ve built a fantastic piece of architecture on top of it.
Seeing you not only keep your cool in this situation, but come up with a viable work around, has given me the utmost respect for you.
Rock on Cyanogen, rock on.
HaTRuM

Google was stupid doing that and show us how is their “open source” philosophy. I love Google applications and I bought Android because of them, with you I rediscovered it (fixing weekly all of these things which make Android annoying) and we don’t want to lose your work because of Google desires, they knew how is the community when they released Android licensed as open source, now they just can’t recriminate things which improved the SO a lot during this time. We will wait for you if you continue with your fantastic work, and if we have to put the “Google Experience” manually, we will do.

Thank you!
shapr

ROM-dev Ichiban!

Cyanogen, the stability, and speed of your ROM’s ranks only second to that of your person. Being that google did essentially give us android and that i generally take full advantage of them as a company because, i love their products, i highly esteem you respecting their intellectual property. Beyond that even, i agree with the praise you have recieved for keeping your cool through all this, and second that lauding. Damn fine job, sir. Well done. Anxious to see you get back to slingin them ROM’s for the people. Thank you again and again.
e-sufi

Many Many thanks to you for all your hardwork and being an open source evangelist!
Sebastian

Really cool. Perhaps you try to find a paid solution with Google? I think I am not the only one, being willing to give some hundred dollars for “a project”, if this makes a free solution, that contains GoogleApps, or to pay for the ROMs.

For me YouTube and GTalk dont make the point. Maps is distributed over the market free by Google itself, I think?! But the MarketApp is essential. What I do not understand is, why Google bans exactly this App from modRoms .. They will only weaken their own position. If SlideMe or AndAppstore or any other will design a better market (better search, better categories, more payment options etc.) Google could be out of the race faster then they planned to be.
Ok the GoogleMarket is preinstalled on any new device. But do you know about Microsoft and the IExplorer in Europe? Microsoft has – due to Mozilas and European Commissions complaints – to publish their Windows 7 on the European market without the IE! You have to install/”buy” it seperately (or install Firefox instead). Google in my eyes is one of the mainplayers that are watched by european authorities, so they should be very clear in knowing what the best for Google will be in the long term.
http://www.somegenius.wordpress.com Jim

I approve id all of this, and thank you man.

I vote Slideme.

I still think Google should just hire you…
http://www.littleredegg.com crazywizdom

Way to go!

The Cyanogenmod Experience is far better than the crippled tmobile/htc/google ‘experience’. Looking forward to continuing to work with this great and vibrant community that is growing around these Android devices.

Thanks and not just considering buying you a beer,there’s one on its way, thanks dude
Timbo

This is reallt great news. As you say, the proprietary apps are not the reason we all use your ROM anyway, I am more than happy to back up, install you rom, then restore.

Incidentally, do the market alternatives access the same underlying market (same library of software) or are they completely separate markets? If the latter then do people tend to release through both/all and do these other tools know about updates the way the official one does?

In any case, this is great news for the future of CyanogenMod and android phones
Rob

Hi,
Since you have removed audio-resources.zip can you please post the file structure that I need to create on my SD card so I can add custom ringtones etc?
Thanks
BurnOmatic

at first i was scared to mess with my phone , but seeing your work made me realize that without people like you great things will never happen, What if no one had experimented with the materials that make the common light bulb today, guess what! there would be no light in your house or anywhere else for that matter, Google we love you , but get that Microsoft mentality out of your system….

again thanks cyanogen your roxored my soxorz
http://just1fix.com Ian

Cyanogen, you are the man.

I’m sure a few android users out there are in the same situation as I. Living off of savings, spending the day trying to get a job without a laughable salary. Not spending money on things you don’t absolutely need.

Days when you released a new version were like a little Christmas to me. Always had the same phone, but every couple of releases it felt new again.

Your hard work and knowledge brought joy to many of us whose situation is less than ideal, and I thank you for it.

May your keg never run dry.
Michael Adick

does the fact that i currently can’t access my gmail, cannot download apps from the market or use anything “google” on my CM-rom device have anything to do with this issue?
does anybody else experience this problem right now?
http://www.twitter.com/lordnikonx Malcolm B.

You Rock!
gst

Great to hear, here are some alternative applications that may allow to replace the proprietary Google Apps:

Contacts Sync: https://android-client.forge.funambol.org/ (may require some work to update to recent Android releases)
Maps: http://code.google.com/p/osmdroid/
Mail: http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/

Maybe the Funambol SyncML client (where the Android version currently only supports Contacts sync) could be updated to also include support for other things (such as Calender sync). The Funambol Java version already includes support for this – both versions are GPLv3ed.
phoxybrown

This sucks and its a shame it has come to this. Hopefully we get enough support to keep android the way it is now. I mean didn’t most of us get the phone to experience something new? Some upgrades to it will be usefull and being ready stright out the box would be great too. Anyway I am willing to roll with the punches and support in anyway I can. I love this phone, but with changes like this comming along, this just may end up being a backup phone!
http://[email protected] SL

Google don’t start sucking ass…. with out CyanogenMod Gphone would be shit, douche bag, garbage etc…. the phone was such as $#*&ing bummer before CyanogenMod my friend had one since day one and I refuse to by one until I learned about CM…. if it wasn’t for CM the Gphone sales would not be so great, just like Iphone if it wasnt for devteam iphones wouldnt sell as much… dont see apple hammering dev team because they enjoy the $ales and free publicity…. apple could have easily shutdown devteam and cydia but they’re not stupid….. 50% of something is better that 100% of nothing… CM makers doesnt want money from google or stealing from google…. its simple Google sell the phone the guy enhance it without modding googles apps to make the phone something the user can enjoy… we know he readded the stock apps but that just so that the phone cause be have the same original functions with a way better experience…. its like buying a car then you take it to the shop to add turbo…. how would u feel if you went back and you had a lawn mower engine in your car because ford says look you mod the engine now remove our logos pistons and starting motor… wouldn’t be anyfun….. ford aint gonna complaint that free marketing for them its saying you buy a ford and it the best thing with a few mode… its call modifiable end user power; yea we understand we void the warranty etc but thats the chance we take for better experience and functions…. we spent the money because we know that it can be done… else we left it alone….. the bottom line is you make a device we buy it we mod it as we like keeping the stock and have fun… the better the mod the more money you make… everybody’s happy….. take your head out y’all asses google else you will loose alot of business… in todays technology world… people like us give more sales than regular customers…. if my sister buys a gphone yeah she aint gonna mod it…. but she will say this is shit and tell her friends which will tell their friend that Gphone is shit don’t buy it…. but if she was like us she’d be like Gphone is a great phone when you add CM mod lets all get one….. don’t be a fool google….. and thats my 5 cents…..
http://www.rohloff.de Oliver

You save my Day!
Zac

I’m glad you guys could meet in the middle and whatnot, but I’m confused… we’ll still get the barebones os, but does that mean we just won’t have access to getting those certain apps? Though I am confused, I know it will work out. You haven’t let me down yet Cy. Gratz brotha.
Charrion

Timbo, SlideMe and AndAppStore are different markets altogether. Some apps exist on all three but that is the choice and action of the developer.
In light of recent events we may see a large number of developers either move their apps to one or both of these market alternatives or they may just make their apps available on all three. It is their choice.
The only app that will ever access the official Android Market is of course their app and that is a prime reason it is closed source. Unrestricted access to the market, especially the paid portion could lead to nastiness.
the_fish

Don’t give up on CM, cyanogen! Good luck
Matt

so we won’t be able to have the “market” app on the phone?

The rest I can understand but wouldn’t that alone cause some problems/?
Charrion

My vote would be for SlideMe. They have a nice, polished app and what appears to be a secure commerce end for paid apps. They also have one advantage over the official Market, IMO, we canadians can access it without having to fake the credentials of some other country.
All the more reason to move away from Google’s Android Store. They still haven’t got their thumbs out as far as allowing paid access for a number of countries.
Dave Katz

You set an example by your outstanding professionalism and committment to your community. I believe we will have something better now than what was envisioned by Google in the first place. Thank you to Google for giving us Android and to Cyanogen for your brilliant work and showing everyone how to be the bigger person.
psko

Keep up the good work. You and JF have done so much to make Android better. Hats off to you, and thank you. A small donation is on the way.

I could easily live without many of the Google apps on my Dream (I will never call it a “G1″ again–in protest). Maps, Market, and Sync are the only things I care about. I would venture to say most people would agree.

We need a flash player Android app, so Google can keep their “data-mining” YouTube app.
Michael Adick

having worked in the corporate world i understand what google is doing, but it’s foolish, oh so foolish.

even in the industrial world there a companies that keep EVERY IP proprietary and there a companies that keep most IP open, and then there are companies that PRETEND to keep every IP proprietary, but look the other way, when other companies copy, rip or reverse-engineer… (that would be similar to what MS or Apple are doing)…

history and development of company results have shown that those latter companies fared better both in revenue and profits… by keeping a large modding-base (and user-base of mods) happy and thriving, you gain so much publicity, so much viral spin on your marketing, why would you instead pretend to be open and sticking it to the modding community – just as it has gained publicity and scale, pi**ing off a large of community and drive consumers to the competition?

i just don’t get it.

I never understood the the use of Google Apps, Google Desktop didn’t do it for me – uninstalled, Google Maps is about a 2/4 mile inaccurate in the location I am (MAPNIK of Rmaps is spot on…) … only BING doesn’t do it for me yet, but I have no romantic feelings if it becomes better then Google Search.

Mmh… another word… wasn’t/isn’t google trying to digitalize all books of the world? Have they ever thought whether that falls under illegal redistribution?

Hypocrisy will not prevent Google from dying a slow death…
http://www.jumy.es Jumy Elerossë

Good news, Cyanogenmod it’s still alive! Let’s give time and peace for the genius Cyanogen, I think that after all this, he will need tranquility for creating

I think he will need long time for all modifications, so no more questions like “it’s not finished yet? It’s not finished yet? It’s not finished yet?….” Use RSS sindication, please
http://h3g3m0n.WordPress.com H3g3m0n

I would love to see a market app that let’s you choose between the different markets, and even shows the prices side by side. Google would quickly realise what a fuckup on their part this was when there is a market that takes only 10% profit rather than Google’s 30%, end users shoping there would save 10% and devs selling through there would get 10% more. What about a YouTube replacment that also supports Daily Motion, etc… Direct sync services to other calendar/email providers.

This whole thing has shown a very different side of Google, and their attitude towards OpenSouce (only when it benefits them, keep control of it). They also shut down that OpenSouce Google Earth implementation. Makes me suspicious of other projects like Chrome, Wave and Google OS.

I understand the need for a company to make a profit, and that we wouldn’t have Android without them (at least the bits we do have) but this whole thing could have been handled a lot better. There really isn’t likely to be some phone manufacturer selling unlicensed Android phones with the intent for end users to install Cyanogen builds and now we are likely to see open implementations of the Google components around which could end up on unlicensed hardware. If the lawyers had to act (they probably don’t get paid to look the other way even when its best), they should have talked to the Android engineers and worked out a viable solution/workaround befoure contacting Cyanogen, such as providing a download source for the apps for Google licensed devices (they are already part of the firmware updates avilable from the HTC site).

As for people suggesting a pay system, I don’t see why we should pay twice for something.
Pawel

You’re just totally awesome.
Corey

Cyanogen, most, if not all, of us were behind you all the way! You have greatly enhanced the overall Android experience for all your users, and I am grateful that found a workaround that doesn’t end with your nuts in a sling!

I personal am a loyal user of CyanogenMod, and will continue to be as long as your producing ROMs.

Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.
pascanu

Very professional atitude!
I think the best way to convince Google to provide us the closed source apps is to find good alternative ones. Then Google will try to win us back by providing their apps in an installable way (Market or whatever).
I guess I don’t hate Google, I just don’t love them that much anymore…
aaron

I’m a true follower to cyanogen he makes my phone what I want stand tall cyanogen and I will keep following …..google should be hireing u and fireing the rest of their paid developers u make some of the best roms don’t think I would have kept my phone this long if it wasn’t for u…..thanks again and will be lookin forward to ur work…..F.U.C.K google everyone should rebel and stay with cyanogen
Donald

Much impressed. Keep up the good work and great attitude. Cyan, are the GOOGLE apps that you download to get count? I know there is a Google Maps available for download that replaces the one on the phone. Google Places, Listen, etc?

Google, if you read this, Please make it easy/feasible for modders to do what they do and us still use our Google phones. Make these apps available for download etc

Cyan, I look forward to the updates.

Don
zhang yixi

???4.2···I AM WAITTING FOR 4.2`ROM··COMING SOON“I HOPE··
ACTPOHABT

You are the best!
setupr

If someone who has HTC magic without Google Experience want Google Experience, they don’t need CyanogenMod. It is much much simpler.

If someone want to have CyanogenMod, basically they need a phone with Google Experience, or capability to have Google Experience.

So, by disturbing CyanogenMod, Google can not disturb non-Google-Experience phones to have Google Experience.

—-

In future, all Android should come with Google. Android without Google is a shit. It is bad business strategy. Need better strategy.

My old Nokia got Maps installed. But my new Indian HTC Magic could not get Maps installed. It was not google experience enabled. I never imagine this to happen. When I come to know it, I felt bad about Google.

Google should make Google Experience free. They need to find a better business strategy to earn from Android.

—-

If this continues, Google sells bad names to the world. We need to save Google! I want to keep love for Google.
vain

now thats integrity. hats off to ya
Ryan

I’m glad to hear that Cyanogen will keep on trucking along. You sir have all my respect for how well you have handled this situation, despite what’s happened. I look forward again to owning my own Android-based phone, now that I know I still have a chance with Cyanogen.
Ismael

YOU are making history.
strikeoutss

Cyanogen, thanks for continuing on with this despite the setback. My G1 thanks you too.
Max

I love this idea. Keep up !!