Ars Checks Out CyanogenMod's New Installer 143
Ars Technica runs through the pretty and simple (but Windows-only) installer that is one of the first big fruits of the newly commercialized CyanogenMod project, and finds it very worthwhile. However, and despite being far easier for ordinary mortals than the error-prone process of the old way to put on CyanogenMod, it's not perfect: reviewer Ron Amadeo ran into troubles using it on his Nexus 4, and cautions: "If CyanogenMod Inc. really wants to lower the barrier to entry, they next thing they need is a way for users to just as easily go back to the setup they had before installing CyanogenMod. Currently, the installer is a one-way street. If the user decides CyanogenMod isn't for them and wants to go back, they're stuck. Even worse, they could run into the situation I did, where CyanogenMod installs but everything is broken. I've done this enough that I know how to go back to stock, but for a novice, they would have been abandoned with a broken phone."
Re:FOR-PROFIT CORP !! NO THANX !! (Score:5, Informative)
uh ... go ask your carrier for upgrade then .
This is a fair point. CyanogenMod's strength is that it offers an upgrade path to a great many devices that have been abandoned by their manufacturers.The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, for instance hasn't seen an upgrade from my carrier in well over a year. CM also offers a clear way to de-googlify your phone, for those worried about Google's monitoring their activity. If you want the benefits of (say) Google maps and navigation, you have to consciously download and install the gapps.
Re:Reflash it back to stock (Score:3, Informative)
Some issues with this. Take Sony Xperia phones for an example: the PC Companion will not automatically update a phone or reflash it back to stock if the bootloader is unlocked. To top it off, there is no official way to relock the bootloader once unlocked. To relock you have to download a 3rd party program called Flashtool which allows you to do this plus more. I wouldn't expect a normal user to find this out easily.
Re:FOR-PROFIT CORP !! NO THANX !! (Score:4, Informative)
Once upon a time CM bundled the common Google apps like Calendar, GMail, Market etc. Google came down hard on them, and CM were forced to put those apps into a separate package — they couldn't bundle them with the standard CM image anymore.
In short, CM is de-googlified by default because Google told them so.