CyanogenMod: the History of an Android Hack

An anonymous reader points out a Wired story about some of the efforts behind CyanogenMod, a popular piece of Android modification software. Quoting: "CyanogenMod expanded into a team of 35 different 'device maintainers,' who manage the code for the 32 different devices that the project supports. Like Google, the team publishes its code to an online repository and accepts online submissions for changes to the code from other developers. Seven core members decide which of the submitted changes make it into the next release of CyanogenMod, and which don’t. ... Ultimately, CyanogenMod aspires to be more than just a software mod. 'I think one of our biggest dreams is to see a phone ship with Cyanogen on it,' says Soyars. But pairing the software with a phone is no easy task. First, CyanogenMod would have to pass the tests required by Google’s certification program in order to bundle Google’s proprietary apps — Gmail, Calendar, etc. — on the phone."

CM7 saved me from crucifying my Samsung Captivate

[APE992]

I've been using CM7 on my Samsung Captivate for roughly two months now and the change between it and the ROM Samsung/AT&T make available is astounding: A) GPS actually works. On my stock eclair ROM it'd take upwards of a few minutes to get a lock if ever. B) Stock eclair/froyo would give you 3G at best. The Captivate is capable of HSDPA which CM7 offers (but to be fair all you'd really need to do is flash a compatible radio firmware to enable this on stock ROMs). C) Instead of randomly shutting itself off during the day and night, CM7 keeps on ticking 24/7 unless something catastrophic happens. D) I'm not 100% what filesystems each use, but the stock filesystem causes a well known very noticeable lag that CM7 doesn't have. E) Easily modified for Netflix usage. F) None of those god awful AT&T apps forced upon stock ROM users. I hated those with my Palm Treo 680 and I still hate them. To be fair most, if not all, custom roms are capable of the above. I have used others but typically found that my device would continue to randomly shut itself off, though this might be fixed by virtue of having gingerbread instead of eclair.

It's like getting a new phone

[obarthelemy]

I have installed CM7 twice:

- Once on my brother's X10 mini pro. The thing was barely usable before, extremely slow, bloated crapware... With CM7 it feels like a new phone, much snappier, and with a much better interface and software portfolio.

- On my own WinMob 6.5 HTC HD2. More to check if it actually worked than to really use it, I am quite happy with WinMob since I don't do anything fancy with my phone. Well, strike that. I now run android all the time. The interface is much better, so are the apps... I only miss winmob's RDP server.

So kudos, and thanks, to the CM team. Phone manufacturers should pay you, or at least help you. You breathe new life into old and clunky phones.

One remark though, being totally new to modding phones, I struggled a bit with the instructions on the XDA-Dev site. The hackers there assume some knowledge of modding (how to boot in "Flash Update" mode, installing the root...). Following 10 lines of instructions for the X10 install took me about 3hrs, lots of cold sweat... but worked on the first try.

Odd that bit about the Google cert program...

[PrimeNumber]

I consider it odd that carriers can hobble Android at will and pass the Google cert program, but a community of dedicated programmers devoted to restoring functionality to Android users would have problems passing this so-called certification process.

Read between the lines: You must be a mobile carrier with $$$ to pass a certification process -- this permits you to have carte blanche to lock down your phones and remove features as you see fit. A real certification process would ensure the Market app would be able to run on each phone or tablet running Android, prevent the device from being loaded with crapware by the carriers, and allow the user to have "root" privileges.

Until a user can do what he or she wants on their mobile, this certification is a bad joke by Google and mobile carriers at the expense of their users and customer base.