Is Android about to be taken away?

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When Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster announced that he wanted to take Android away from Google, it immediately attracted a lot of criticism and doubt. The reason for the criticism is that many Cyanogen users are also supporters of Google (some people flash third-party ROMs just to enjoy the original Android), and its corporatization is unsatisfactory; the reason for the doubt is that although removing Google services is feasible, it requires strong strength or a special market to achieve commercial success, so even the powerful Samsung does not dare to do so.

Does it seem like Cyanogen's plan is just a ridiculous idea? After interviewing CEO Kirt McMaster, Fastcompany believes that Cyanogen's plan to take over Android may not be so ridiculous.

First, Cyanogen reached an agreement with chip manufacturer Qualcomm to put the Cyanogen system into reference design phones. This means that phone manufacturers can obtain functions beyond native Android, such as themes and privacy controls, and Cyanogen is responsible for system upgrades. This is not enough to pose a threat to Google. However, as the number of users continues to increase, Cyanogen has the strength to replace Google services.

Cyanogen's plan is to find alternatives to Google services and then deeply integrate them into the system. For example, replace the automatic backup service with Dropbox, or use Spotify as a built-in music software. In this way, when you ask the phone to play music, it will play Spotify instead of Google Play Music. "I can say to the phone, 'Play a song,' and then that song will play on the Sonos speaker in my bedroom, using Spotify," McMaster said. In addition, Cyanogen will cooperate with some small companies, such as companies that develop virtual assistant software. Their services may be superior, but they can't compete with Google Now, because Google Now is a system-level integration.

In addition to system-level services, Cyanogen will also provide its own software store. Unlike Google Play, Cyanogen may provide multiple application stores from different providers. He said that China has a variety of application stores, some of which provide professional software. This model is also feasible in other countries.

Even so, it's still difficult to build an ecosystem that can compete with Google. So Cyanogen hopes that it won't completely cut ties with Google. "As a company, we like Google. We like Google's services. I use Google services every day," McMaster said. "We want to work with Google. As for whether they want to work with Cyanogen, it depends on their willingness."

"That was more of a rallying cry that we desperately need an open Android and an open computing platform," McMaster said of the talk of taking over Android. "We're not naive enough to think that we can take over Android and have 500 million users."

"We want people to have an open choice, and that's what we fight for. Believe me, it's a fight. So we're not going to sit back like kittens and play with this," he said. "We're going to be aggressive."