Even though I’m a Cyanogenmod user, I’m okay with this. The installation process isn’t foolproof, and it’s entirely possible to brick your phone with the installer.
That’s my thinking, I thought Cory’s “one of the advantages of Android is that it doesn’t attempt to prevent you from installing unapproved software” line kinda misses that point.
There are certainly advantages to not having a single-point of access for apps - but I don’t think this is one of them…
Any opportunity for a dig I suppose!
Yes, but Google allowed the App, plus other similar ones. To now, ask for them to be removed sends a muddled message to developers.
So, assuming you didn’t brick your phone, what was your reason for risking it, and are you still happy with your decision?
Genuinely curious. There’s a lot of Samsung crapware on my phone that I would be glad to uninstall if I thought the probability of killing my phone was low enough.
You might get some battery life back too!
My device (Galaxy Nexus on Verizon) has no warranty - I bought it used on eBay. Considering that Google has (quite arbitrarily) decided that the Galaxy Nexus does not merit the KitKat treatment, I think it is both petty and disingenuous to evict the Cyanogenmod installer off the Play store because it “will” void my warranty.
Furthermore, Google Play store differentiates which downloads are permitted by device - not all apps are available for all O/S versions or devices (a major pain point for Android developers) - so they could quite easily still permit the Cyanogenmod installer for devices that are clearly too old to still be under warranty.
I was really pleased to hear about this, I hoped it would have solved some of the issues I was having with my phone. Going through the process to install the firmware was really frustrating, searching for the app in Play never gave the right app as a result. No matter the combination of terms, the app I needed to do this was not listed.
I know it’s not CGMs fault, but in light of this article maybe they were being buried already.
Well, that answers the question of how long it would last on Play. Google has very Google-centric definitions for words like “free” and “open”.
I have no problem with CM leaving Google Play, though. It could be a dangerous toy for people whose only experience with software installation has been searching and clicking “Install”.
Which was actually the problem here - the cyanogenmod installer needs something like 3 clicks and a few minutes of your time, no tech skill required.
As to the “You can brick your phone!” argument, well yes sure it is possible, but it’s along the same lines as “You’ll shoot your eye out!”. Stick with a stable release for a supported device and you are unlikely to have a problem.
replying to scav ; I don’t know what the probability of something going wrong is, but it went smoothly enough for me. I just grabbed it from the Play Store the other day (so was surprised to read here that it got removed). If you were going to install it, you should OF COURSE back up your phone before doing the install process.
Yes my Samsung (and ATT) crapware is gone now. Tethering so my phone can offer an internet connection to my laptop when needed seems to work very well (I know installing CyanogenMod isn’t the only way to get tethering but the feature is there by default). Homescreen and other things seem more customizable, battery life and performance and stability seem fine. No real complaints here so far. More info here ;
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/index.php?title=About
As a Verizon Galaxy Nexus owner who runs Cyanogenmod, I wasn’t terribly pleased either, but apparently it’s not all that arbitrary. The support ended three months before it was scheduled to. Let’s all let that soak in a bit.
And let’s get real here: the Cyanogenmod installer, from what I’ve seen about it, basically just enables ADB and instructs the user on how to plug the phone into a PC and run the Windows installer. It’s…not that big of a deal.
The odds of bricking your phone may be small, but they’re real. But I think it’s more significant that installing Cyanogenmod will wipe most of your phone’s settings, and that you’ll have all sorts of small differences to your operating system that you may not have anticipated. You end up with a faster, better Android, with the bloatware stripped out, and with greater flexibility, which is why people use Cyanogenmod. But it’s not a casual decision, like installing a typical app.
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