Cyanogen CTO Reaffirms Commitment To OS And Denies ‘Pivot’ To Android Apps
Cyanogen Inc. is up to something, that much is clear and even company co-founder Steve Kondik doesn't dispute it. However, Kondik takes issue with the recent "circus of misinformation" making the rounds, namely that his company is cleaning house in order to phase out development on an alternative version of Android while making a pivot to apps. That's just not true, Kondik says.
The short of it is that "CyanogenMod isn't going anywhere, nor has Cyanogen Inc. discontinued its efforts the goal of bringing it to a larger audience." Kondik followed that up with a longer explanation, noting that it's been seven years since he released the first version of CyanogenMod and three years since he co-founded Cyanogen Inc.
Since forming his company, Kondik says that like any startup, there's been a few successes and "stuff which just didn't work at all." It comes with the territory and when things go wrong—which they often do before things go right—you have to fix it and focus on the things that work.
"CyanogenMod is something that works," Kondik added. "Perhaps it doesn't need to 'go big' to work. I'm still wildly inspired by the idea of a platform which forces participation. Whether it's the choice to hack your phone to bits and figure out how to install the damn thing to begin with, learning what's possible afterwards, or just having the confidence of being in control, it still serves an important role which hasn't been filled outside of the custom ROM community."
Kondik goes on to say, in no uncertain terms, that he and his company are fully committed to CyanogenMod. He also stated that "contrary to popular belief, we are not 'pivoting to apps' nor are we shelving CyanogenMod." He then promised to provided additional information on his company's website soon.
In the meantime, all we can do is speculate. Kondik didn't address the reported layoffs in his blog post, though he may have hinted at them when conceding that CyanogenMod doesn't necessarily have to go big to work. Instead of transitioning to apps, it could be that he and his company are simply scaling things back. After all, the unofficial mantra of Cyanogen Inc. when it comes to a new OS release is that it will be ready when it's ready. A smaller team could be less frequent updates, which is still better than the alternative.
The short of it is that "CyanogenMod isn't going anywhere, nor has Cyanogen Inc. discontinued its efforts the goal of bringing it to a larger audience." Kondik followed that up with a longer explanation, noting that it's been seven years since he released the first version of CyanogenMod and three years since he co-founded Cyanogen Inc.
Since forming his company, Kondik says that like any startup, there's been a few successes and "stuff which just didn't work at all." It comes with the territory and when things go wrong—which they often do before things go right—you have to fix it and focus on the things that work.
"CyanogenMod is something that works," Kondik added. "Perhaps it doesn't need to 'go big' to work. I'm still wildly inspired by the idea of a platform which forces participation. Whether it's the choice to hack your phone to bits and figure out how to install the damn thing to begin with, learning what's possible afterwards, or just having the confidence of being in control, it still serves an important role which hasn't been filled outside of the custom ROM community."
Kondik goes on to say, in no uncertain terms, that he and his company are fully committed to CyanogenMod. He also stated that "contrary to popular belief, we are not 'pivoting to apps' nor are we shelving CyanogenMod." He then promised to provided additional information on his company's website soon.
In the meantime, all we can do is speculate. Kondik didn't address the reported layoffs in his blog post, though he may have hinted at them when conceding that CyanogenMod doesn't necessarily have to go big to work. Instead of transitioning to apps, it could be that he and his company are simply scaling things back. After all, the unofficial mantra of Cyanogen Inc. when it comes to a new OS release is that it will be ready when it's ready. A smaller team could be less frequent updates, which is still better than the alternative.
