Kirt McMaster, the CEO of Cyanogen, has denied recent reports that the company is switching its strategy to apps, saying, “We are an OS company and our mission of creating an Open Android stands.”
Late last week, rumors hit the internet that Cyanogen had laid off as many as 20% of its team members. McMaster admitted to some layoffs, without revealing specific numbers, on his Twitter account:
really sad we had to let go of some wonderful folks this week. startups and disruption are brutal.
— Kirt McMaster (@cyanogenone) July 23, 2016
Those same reports suggested Cyanogen was going to work more on apps rather than its alternative smartphone OS as part of a shift in its business. Today, McMaster posted again on Twitter to deny those rumors:
Cyanogen NOT pivoting to apps. We are an OS company and our mission of creating an OPEN ANDROID stands. FALSE reporting was outstanding.
— Kirt McMaster (@cyanogenone) July 25, 2016
The Cyanogen OS has made its way in a few phones, most notably those made by OnePlus, but it has yet to have a huge impact on the market.
Update: CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik has now taken to a blog post to clear things up further, stating that “CyanogenMod isn’t going anywhere, nor has Cyanogen Inc. discontinued it’s efforts towards the goal of bringing it to a larger audience.” Kondik continues:
CyanogenMod is something that works. Perhaps it doesn’t need to “go big” to work. I’m still wildly inspired by the idea of a platform which forces participation. Whether it’s the choice to hack your phone to bits and figure out how to install the damn thing to begin with, learning what’s possible afterwards, or just having the confidence of being in control, it still serves an important role which hasn’t been filled outside of the custom ROM community. Cyanogen Inc (including myself) will still be sponsoring the project and will continue to have an active role in it’s development. Contrary to popular belief, we are not “pivoting to apps” nor are we shelving CM 🙂 We’ll have additional information on the Inc site soon.