The Truth About Google vs Cyanogen
Ok, so apparently everyone is freaking out about Google issuing a cease and desist to one of the prominent unofficial Android developers, Cyanogen (you might have seen his ROM in our Downloads section until he removed it recently).
I just wanted to clarify what this is about and why people don’t need to worry about their rooted phone getting taken while they sleep by Google’s super ninja gnomes. (If anyone has super ninja gnomes, it’s Google).
I. Background on Android Open Source
Android is an open source project, but there are a few apps in Android that are NOT part of the normal Android OS. The Market, GMail, and Google Maps for instance (if you live overseas and bought an HTC Magic without the Google Experience logo on the back, you would have noticed that these apps are definitely missing from your phone). These apps not only are not technically part of the Android OS but they are also closed apps (they do not allow people to alter them and get into their code). There is a good reason for this, especially with the Market. As Google, you would not want people to be able to get into Market code and change anything for the security of the people purchasing apps through the Market.
II. What Google is ACTUALLY Mad About and Why
Cyanogen received a Cease and Desist notice from Google because of the inclusion of “certain closed source apps” in his ROM.
These apps are not licensed to Cyanogen for redistribution, so Google can definitely stop him from giving them out technically.
Bottom line though guys, this is NOT about rooting it is about the Market, GMail, and Google Maps apps that make up the Google Experience being given to phones that do not normally have them installed. Google charges manufacturers to distribute these apps and do not want those who did not pay for them to have the ability to get these apps by using the Cyanogen ROM.
If anyone has any more insight into the situation, please comment.
Update: GOOGLE RELEASES A STATEMENT!
Google officially APPROVES of custom Android builds!
Google goes on to talk about how GMail, Market, and Maps are their own developed software for Android (as opposed to apps that are normally included with Android) and they make money off them just like any other developer would if they made an app for the Market. Google makes money by selling the Google Experience (all of these apps combined) to manufacturers, even though the Android OS is free (sneaky if you think about it, who would want Android without the market?). So they don’t want people to be able to get them for free.
The issue I have with this explanation is that Cyanogen was making ROMs mainly for devices that already have the Google Experience logo on them so what are they losing? Couldn’t he just put in something that would stop non Google experience phones from loading his ROMs (there are so few of these phones out anyway and I doubt there will be any of them in future versions of phones from manufacturers, I mean who would honestly want an Android phone without the Market??)
IN CONCLUSION
1. The Google Market, GMail and Google Maps are NOT free apps and are separate from the Android OS. Even though we don’t pay for them as end users, the manufacturers do.
2. Google doesn’t want phones that don’t normally have those apps on them (because the manufacturers did not pay for them to be there) to be able to get them for free using Cyanogen’s ROM.
3.. This came about all of a sudden most likely because of Cyanogen releasing the not-yet-released version of the Market.
4. Phones that already have the Market, GMail, and Google Maps on them are of no concern to Google as those manufacturers have already paid for those apps.
5. Google encourages rooting and modding of Android, they just don’t non Google Experience phones to gain the Market, GMail, and Google Maps without their manufacturers purchasing them.
6. Can’t Cyanogen just put in a block to stop certain Non Google Experience phones from loading his ROMs (they are such a small percentage of devices anyway) and stop Google from breathing down his neck about this?
7. KEEP ON MODDING! 🙂
So do that mean the devs can still make roms and upgrade roms just as long as they don’t official apps that are not out yet. And after they come out then the devs can do what they want. Is this correct?
I’m using a hero Rom right now. How would people with rooted phones get the new style market. Would you know the answer to that?
very detailed explanation but i see loopholes in Google’s reasoning. i dont understand Google’s reasoning for the C&D letter and going as far as to say ROMs are basically illegal [stated in their response to the controversy]. Cy and other devs only modify the os itself, not necessarily everything that’s in it. They only modify “Google Experience†phones so all these apps that Google says it makes its profit from go untouched. Never has Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail, market, gTalk and any other Google app been modified by the devs. The only thing they do is redistribute them in their ROMs which i believe is ok. This is because they’re not profiting from anything, including Google apps, they dont modify the G-apps, and these ROMs are only available for people that have already paid for these apps and services. Google’s reasoning doesnt make any sense to me but if this is the case, there probably wont be anymore ROM updates so staying with a rooted G1 is pointless
If someone who has HTC magic without Google Experience want Google Experience, they don’t need CyanogenMod. It is much much simpler.
If someone want to have CyanogenMod, basically they need a phone with Google Experience, or capability to have Google Experience.
So, by disturbing CyanogenMod, Google can not disturb non-Google-Experience phones to have Google Experience.
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In future, all Android should come with Google. Android without Google is a shit. It is bad business strategy. Need better strategy.
My old Nokia got Maps installed. But my new HTC Magic could not get Maps installed. When I come to know it, I felt bad about Google.
Google should make Google Experience free. They need to find a better business strategy to earn from Android.
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If this continues, Google sells bad names to the world. We need to save Google! I want to keep love for Google.
I just wanted to comment on one thing. I bought my unbranded HTC Magic here in Sweden and it has no “Google Experience” logo on it, just HTC logos on the front and back. It does however come with all the binary-olny apps mentioned above. GTalk, Gmail, Market, GMaps, YouTube, and so on are all there.
not that your response isn’t reasonable, it certainly is. As it stands now though, the google android os the way it is currently built(thats the code that devs have been modding) won’t boot without google sync, another one of their proprietary apps. It can’t make phone calls without some of the google proprietary stuff, check out xda devs dream development section, they talk about it a lot. Essentially the mod community is going to have to build an os based on android from the ground up now, it’s possible but by no means easy. That’s the real issue devs are having with this: Phones don’t work without google proprietary right now.
How to protest?
Developer should release their code only in GPL license.
Not Apache or BSD stype free license, but copyleft license.
If they don’t give us their important binary code,
we don’t give our code into their closed source.
GPL licence keep code in opensource forever.
The bizarreness here is that all these “google experience” apps are free and freely distributed for blackberry and win mobile….so what’s the point here. Sounds like bizarre double talk from google. They thought they would be making money on android this way….but now they are basically in an undefendable position. Hey…come use our mobile phone os….where you have to pay for our apps….not the other oses….where our apps are free.
idk google does seem to be very hacker friendly, however i just feel this is some kind of way to get money. now as far as the distribusions in crayenons rom. being that the root is mainly made for phones with google, gmail, etc already on the phone or try to find a loophole where its just not in his version n we have to save the apps on the phone before we root, or as u suggest just try to make it available to phones with these apps already. google is starting to suck they shoud be trying to be the other bs company whos data plan isnt $35.00+plan+$400.00 phone.look at it this way: $400.00PHONE AT LEAST $100.00BILL A MONTH GETTING YOUR PHONE ROOTED PRICELESS TIP OF THE DAY:WHY DOESNT GOOGLE JUST HIRE HIM AND WE ALL WOULDNT HAVE TO GO THROUGH ANY OF THE BS.
power to cyanogen man fuck this shit. Google has been really sneaky all these years with all there free shit but what people dont realize is how they make so much money off of manufacturers and advertisers how the hell do you think google was wealthy enough to start putting there name in a bin where only two names have ever been Microsoft and Apple they are really starting to show there true colors over the next few years and were really gonna see if google is a company of the people for the people by the people or just another multi-million dollar corporation. fuck that stay free google but if you do realize the devs are gonna rip apart everything you got take a look at the insides and spit in them cuz there are devs out here that make donut 1.6 look like childs play…Holla at me @MonsierLapadite on twitter i think you can also follow the top devs of the day like cyanogen, drizzy drake, The dude, and modaco.
u r talking here about cyanogen, what about eclair from manup456 ( that what I have on my magic eclair 2.1 )does google have a problem with eclair ???
cyanogen sucked for me. completely screwed me. i’m smart and computer savvy. the “stable release” was more buggy than the nastiest beta i’ve seen. retarded
cyanogen sucked for me. completely screwed me. i’m smart and computer savvy. the “stable release” was more buggy than the nastiest beta i’ve seen. retarded