All may not be lost for Android fans fond of Cyanogen’s customized Android ROMs. Following on a cease and desist order from Google, Cyanogen has apparently found a way to keep developing custom Android ROMs (CyanogenMod) while keeping Google’s legal hounds at bay. Cyanogen, known to his mother as Steve Kondik, posted on his blog that he intends to keep crunching out Cyanogen ROMs stripped of those closed-source “Google Experience” apps like Maps, GTalk and YouTube.
By unbundling the offending apps from Cyanogen-flavored Android builds, Kondik hopes to side-step Google’s legal concerns. Going forward, Kondik will offer a “bare bones” version of his CyanogenMod. And, to keep the “Google Experience” alive for users that want to keep Android Market and Google Sync, Cyanogen will be releasing a backup utility that will copy all the “Google Experience” content from your device. The point is to re-install these Android apps after flashing the smartphone with a CyanogenMod ROM.
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.
Kondik also plans to release an alternative app store with his stripped-down CyanogenMod for users without a “Google Experience” Android smartphone.
Props to Cyanogen for continuing his mod-work on Android!
[Via: CyanogenMod]