14 DAY TRIAL // Anticipating the release of Google’s Android M operating system later this year, Cyanogen has outlined its plans for the upcoming months, which include finalizing work on CM11 and CM12.
According to an official post, the startup is in the process of prepping the final builds of CM11 and CM12, which will be made available to users shortly. After that, Cyanogen is planning to shift its focus to the development of CM 12.1.
You might be wondering why Cyanogen is still continuing to pay attention to the Android 4.4 KitKat-based CM11 and working out ways to develop it. Apparently, it is because users have been quite skittish in making the jump to Lollipop-based CM, preferring the comfortable arrangement that KitKat provides.
Cyanogen’s stats clearly confirm that a vast majority of users have decided to stick with CM11 as their release channel of choice, so the startup felt compelled to provide them with a final version showcasing all the work that went into that branch.
Cyanogen is moving the spotlight somewhere else
While CM11 and CM12 nightly development will soon be brought to a close, the startup will continue to focus on working on CyanogenMod 12.1. Afterwards, the team will eventually start working on a new version of Android M, Google’s latest mobile OS version which is expected to make an appearance sometime later this year, possibly alongside one or two new Nexus smartphones.
Last year, Cyanogen famously partnered up with Chinese device maker OnePlus for the OnePlus One smartphone, only to retract from the partnership a few months later.
The startup signed an exclusivity deal with Indian device maker Micromax in India for the Yureka and Yuphoria smartphones (and maybe others), which left OnePlus to fend for itself in the software department.
We expect to see more Cyanogen OS phones make a debut into the wild in the upcoming months, as some device makers have already announced such devices. Smartfren Telecom, for instance, has launched the Cyanogen-powered Andromax Q handset in Indonesia.
Moreover, Lenovo’s brand new subsidiary, ZUK, is expected to roll out its first smartphone called the Z1, which will take advantage of Cyanogen OS too. The phone will also bundle a fingerprint scanner.