The T-Mobile Smartphone Community
Google’s Response to the Cyanogen C&D Letter
Thanks to krazyconejo for sending this in. In this letter, Google addresses why they had this exchange with Cyanogen, without saying his name! Anywho, here it is for you.
A Note on Google Apps for Android
Posted by Dan Morrill on 25 September 2009 at 2:31 PM
Lately we’ve been busy bees in Mountain View, as you can see from the recent release of Android 1.6 to the open-source tree, not to mention some devices we’re working on with partners that we think you’ll really like. Of course, the community isn’t sitting around either, and we’ve been seeing some really cool and impressive things, such as the custom Android builds that are popular with many enthusiasts. Recently there’s been some discussion about an exchange we had with the developer of one of those builds, and I’ve noticed some confusion around what is and isn’t part of Android’s open source code. I want to take a few moments to clear up some of those misconceptions, and explain how Google’s apps for Android fit in.
Everyone knows that mobile is a big deal, but for a long time it was hard to be a mobile app developer. Competing interests and the slow pace of platform innovation made it hard to create innovative apps. For our part, Google offers a lot of services — such as Google Search, Google Maps, and so on — and we found delivering those services to users’ phones to be a very frustrating experience. But we also found that we weren’t alone, so we formed the Open Handset Alliance, a group of like-minded partners, and created Android to be the platform that we all wished we had. To encourage broad adoption, we arranged for Android to be open-source. Google also created and operates Android Market as a service for developers to distribute their apps to Android users. In other words, we created Android because the industry needed an injection of openness. Today, we’re thrilled to see all the enthusiasm that developers, users, and others in the mobile industry have shown toward Android.
With a high-quality open platform in hand, we then returned to our goal of making our services available on users’ phones. That’s why we developed Android apps for many of our services like YouTube, Gmail, Google Voice, and so on. These apps are Google’s way of benefiting from Android in the same way that any other developer can, but the apps are not part of the Android platform itself. We make some of these apps available to users of any Android-powered device via Android Market, and others are pre-installed on some phones through business deals. Either way, these apps aren’t open source, and that’s why they aren’t included in the Android source code repository. Unauthorized distribution of this software harms us just like it would any other business, even if it’s done with the best of intentions.
I hope that clears up some of the confusion around Google’s apps for Android. We always love seeing novel uses of Android, including custom Android builds from developers who see a
Source: Android Forums and ADB
No related posts.
about 3 years ago
well in that case android better make its own cell phone service because the g1 and my touch wont even really work without a gmail account unless you have a rooted phone.that letter didnt even make any sense “we love to see novel uses of android” but god forbid we should use it for anything. without the google services the phone is pretty much just a picture frame. as far as i am concerned when i bought the phone i paid for the rites to google appes, and if google doesnt like that then they should not have teamed up with the open handset alliance.
about 3 years ago
Great point Andrew! Since all the phones with Android have already been paid and no one is really putting Android onto other phones that don’t already have Android. Maybe Google should embrace Cyanogen instead of scolding.
about 3 years ago
Yeah, like hire Cyanogen so Android can evolve into less of a candy-coated dumphone OS.
about 3 years ago
The problem is that Google doesn’t want any of their apps to be installed on other Android phones that are not “Google-powered.”
about 3 years ago
I don’t understand why that’s a big deal. Google apps are installed thousands of times a day on WinMo phones, and they are by no means google powered. I think google is just getting an ego because thier “little OS that could” is finally taking off. They need to be humbled, and they will be, just wait and see.
about 3 years ago
If Google do not embrace 3rd party ROM’s and keep the device locked I fear that Android will start to go down hill with developers.
about 2 years ago
The problem with this is that Google is saying by distributing these items or apps if you wish…They are being hurt. It is implied financially… BUT THESE APPS ARE FREE!!! It’s not like anyone, is distributing paid apps through the “modded” OS. Google, get your heads out of you ass! It has ALWAYS and WILL ALWAYS be the modding community that takes company’s software, firmware, and OS’s to the next level. If it weren’t for the modding community, your ship would sink!
…on a side note, this goes to Google… It was Cyanogen and his “modded” OS that made me keep my Google powered G1. I’m just 1 person of THOUSANDS that has kept a GOOGLE powered phone because of him, not you!