CyanogenMod 13.0 Release 1 Released (androidpolice.com) 54
An anonymous reader writes: CyanogenMod 13.0 Release 1 is now available as the Android community's first release based off Google's 6.0 Marshmallow. [...]
Not long after Google released the code for Android Marshmallow, CyanogenMod started rolling out nightly builds. Now, CyanogenMod has officially released its first Snapshot release for those looking for more stable development. Many of the improvements detail changes to the privacy settings. For example, CyanogenMod 13.0 has removed encrypted Whisperpush text messaging, and Privacy Guard has been altered to comply with Marshmallow's new permission model. Some other changes include a new AOSP SMS/MMS application, memory screen that shows memory usage over a selected period of time, new controls for the status bar icons, and an enhanced Snap camera app based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon camera. A Cyanogen Apps pack is not yet available, but should be coming in a week or so.
Not long after Google released the code for Android Marshmallow, CyanogenMod started rolling out nightly builds. Now, CyanogenMod has officially released its first Snapshot release for those looking for more stable development. Many of the improvements detail changes to the privacy settings. For example, CyanogenMod 13.0 has removed encrypted Whisperpush text messaging, and Privacy Guard has been altered to comply with Marshmallow's new permission model. Some other changes include a new AOSP SMS/MMS application, memory screen that shows memory usage over a selected period of time, new controls for the status bar icons, and an enhanced Snap camera app based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon camera. A Cyanogen Apps pack is not yet available, but should be coming in a week or so.
Can I run CyanogenMod on my PC? (Score:2, Funny)
Can I run CyanogenMod as the main OS on my PC? I currently use Debian GNU/Linux but I'm getting very disappointed with it all. Systemd has caused me nothing but trouble, GNOME 3 is awful, Wayland is going nowhere fast, and desktop Firefox keeps getting worse and worse.
But I'm really happy with my Android phone. It gives me the kind of experience I want: graphical, simple, and efficient. I would absolutely LOVE it if I could ditch Debian from my PC, and run Android or ideally CyanogenMod instead. I like how
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It works great on my Apple IIe
I couldn't get it to correctly run the second half of the 800 submodules of systemd on my IPhone 6S plussity plus.
Re: Can I run CyanogenMod on my PC? (Score:1)
Re:Can I run CyanogenMod on my PC? (Score:5, Informative)
Since he asked let me add a question myself: now that CyanogenMod is in bedsheets with M$....
CyanogenMod isn't in bed with Microsoft. You're thinking of Cyanogen Inc., which commercializes CyanogenMod and includes MS services, but CyanogemMod doesn't align with any single provider, and can be used with Google, Amazon or FDroid app stores, or no app store at all.
citation [cyanogenmod.org]
BTW. I actually find the Microsoft Arrow Launcher [google.com] quite good.
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My problem, and most people's I believe is needing to physically upgrade the smartphone all the time (i.e. buying a new phone). Right now I have a 4.0.4 Android one and need to run an app (for work!) which requires 4.1. My otherwise excellent phone would be made obsolete by a .1 release. I also consider the problem of using too many "conflict" resources because of increasingly frequent purchases -- not to mention it's painful to pay the same amount on a smartphone and on a Linux notebook. What do we do with all the older hardware we accumulate? These are limited machines with no hard disk, little RAM, a moderate CPU (probably as powerful as Pentium III), but they cost me an arm and a leg in the past...
I find upgrading old phones an interesting exercise, and have learned much in the process. if you don't mind risking your phone to an upgrade, I'd recommend doing it (if supported) just for the mental exercise, let alone the practical benefits having a newer stock of software brings (performance, security, features, etc.)
As to uses for old phones? As a plaything for experimenting with later custom Android roms? Use the camera as a CCTV device? Donation to someone who might not have a smart phone?
Re: Can I run CyanogenMod on my PC? (Score:1)
Why's that at -1? Looks like a reasonable question to meâ¦
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Not CyanogenMod, but you could try Remix OS [jide.com] - I've run it in a QEMU+KVM virtual machine, and it looks pretty nice.
New messaging app falls short of the old one (Score:4, Insightful)
For those of us that do not sync with Google, or as is my case, do not have any Google services or apps, the new messaging app is worse than the previous one.
The CM12 messaging app allowed all SMS/MMS to be exported as a zip file, that could be imported to another phone, or to the same phone after a clean wipe. The CM13 messaging app is missing this functionality, and I could not find another one that would replicate it.
Otherwise, CM13 is pretty solid. I've been running the nightlies since they came out on an LG G3 d852, which is a bit of a crappy phone, and it is much more stable than CM12. I do like the new camera app, as it has a lot more functionality than the old one, and the OS overall is a bit more polished.
YMMV, as it really depends on the hardware. I'm sure on a Nexus 5p or 6x, CM13 is stellar. On my frankenstein LG G3, it's ok, as I am forced to run a KK bootloader (only rootable bootloader), a LL modem (most recent modem released by the Canadian carriers) and a MM CM13 OS.
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That is precisely my setup. And if you'd look into it a bit deeper, you would see that your bootloader is KK, modem is 20x or 21x, or LL, and that finally CM13 is MM.
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I have LG phones, but considering all the pain you need to go through to use CM13, I don't know why not just stick with a stock-based ROM. The LG G3 supposedly will get the official MM update soon. My preference is actually just use a stripped down OEM ROM.
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I've always used the SMS Backup+ from f-droid to manage SMS/MMS.
I use that too, it's great. Though no good if you're avoiding Google's servers (like the original poster)
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Huh? SMS Backup+ works fine with any IMAP server. I'm using it with my own server and have not had any problems. All of my SMSs show up in my mail client as I'd expect.
Oh - my mistake!
Full-disk encryption is still a big question mark (Score:4, Interesting)
For some reason the CM releases have had immense problems with implementing full-disk encryption over the years. It just doesn't work, not even on popular flagship models.
On my Galaxy S3 (CM11) I was once able to encrypt my phone, but it would only allow the use of either a PIN or password – and CM also wiped the user data clean one day by itself. The use of a password is very much desirable per se, but the thing is you'd have to enter it every time you unlock the screen. A PIN is as secure as leaving your phone with a post-it note on it with the actual PIN written on it.
After trying the new CM13 nightlies on my Galaxy S5, I'm still having problems with full-disk encryption. This time around it won't encrypt at all, and even if it would, the aforementioned limitations with the password/PIN are still present. In the newer version you theoretically could use a pattern too, but it's still not secure enough (nor does the whole damn encryption work to begin with).
It's been discussed for several years now how people could have a secure FDE key and a also use a pattern or PIN to unlock the screen. For some god-knows-why reason the password has also been limited to 16 characters in the official Android documentation and nobody came up with the idea to actually increase that. Having experimented with encryption on my Android/CM devices, I have to say that security never really was a key feature in the whole damn ecosystem.
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Rooted Android can already combine a pin screen lock and password for FDE. Cm11 had it built in. For CM12 or stock Android with root, there are apps that can set the FDE password, or you could do it via command line over adb if you want to spend 15 minutes to figure out the right syntax.
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Rooted Android can already combine a pin screen lock and password for FDE. Cm11 had it built in.
It was indeed "possible", but it was not a supported solution like it is not one even in the current releases. Manually decoupling the FDE password and screen lock means trouble, especially when you update the phone. I once tried this approach, but eventually it wouldn't accept the FDE password upon boot any more even though the password had not been changed. Getting this stuff to work properly is a hassle.
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When you change the screen-lock PIN, the FDE password will be reset as well. Are you sure that that isn't what happened?
But yes, I admit that I have had my problems, too. When I updated my nexus 7 (2012) from stock 4.4.4 to 5 lollipop, I got the boot message: something went wrong with the encrypted data partition. Factory reset needed. Grrrrr.... That's when I moved to Cyanogenmod.
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Yes, I'm sure it wasn't a case of resetting the password. I was simply rebooting the phone every now and then and then it suddenly wouldn't accept the FDE password any more. I've read about similar cases and it's probably not even a bug, but a feature somewhere in the OS that somehow overwrote the password because something specific happened in the OS.
I really hope one day we'll get a proper encryption suit in Android. Supported, easy to use and secure. :-\
Re:Full-disk encryption is still a big question ma (Score:4, Informative)
A PIN is as secure as leaving your phone with a post-it note on it with the actual PIN written on it.
You should submit that as expert advice in the current Apple vs Three Letter Agency debate case.
For some god-knows-why reason the password has also been limited to 16 characters in the official Android documentation and nobody came up with the idea to actually increase that.
Stupidity protection. You get all sorts of strange issues when you start allowing users to enter stupidly long passwords such as them forgetting them mid typing, timeouts, and my favourite: complaints that they take a long time to enter as it is :-)
Having experimented with encryption on my Android/CM devices, I have to say that security never really was a key feature in the whole damn ecosystem
Depends. Are you trying to protect yourself from the NSA, or just want your data encrypted so when you lose your phone no one sees your dick picks? The vast majority of uses cases are the latter and for that it is well and truly good enough.
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You should submit that as expert advice in the current Apple vs Three Letter Agency debate case.
You need to remember this is Android we're talking about. Most Android devices lack any real hardware or software security infrastructure, which means you have infinite tries. In many cases you could also brute force the whole thing offline by dumping the contents of the phone on a computer. Even in Apple's case, though, the PIN is incredibly weak. If apple decides to help, it means there's practically no protection for the data. If a long enough password was used instead of a PIN, even with Apple's help th
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if the government really wanted to send their secret ninja assassins after us we'd be as good as dead.
You mean I bought the Secret Ninja Assassin Defense System in vain?! Makes me look rather silly now doesn't it.
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I find this type of argument just as fallacious as "if you have nothing to hide...".
I wasn't implying that. More like "if you have nothing super important to hide from people who are unlikely to be a threat against you..."
I'm a good proponent of encryption and privacy, but honestly you hit the point of diminishing returns very quickly with security. Pin code is good enough for most use cases, though I would have to say if you travel to Russia frequently and have something to hide a little physical security sense would be wise. I haven't experienced Russia yet but before I went to China I d
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I'm a good proponent of encryption and privacy, but honestly you hit the point of diminishing returns very quickly with security.
True enough. But I think despite this it should be an option for those who want it or need it as it's rather easy to implement such features.
Here back home? I'm pissed off enough that work enforces that I need a 6 digit pin on my phone. Pattern unlock would be far more convenient.
From what I have come to understand, PIN and pattern lock can offer comparable protection if configured properly so there really should not be any significant difference in the level of security you get with either choice. The phone should simply refuse any further attempts after the PIN or pattern has been entered incorrectly X times (and if the device has been encryp
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True enough. But I think despite this it should be an option for those who want it or need it as it's rather easy to implement such features.
I believe several vendors offer enhancements beyond stock Android, but the problem with Android itself is that it was supposed to be somewhat hardware agnostic. If you're looking for Apple style security then you're going to have to beg Samsung for it not Google. On the side note Samsung did try something along the lines with Samsung Knox but from what I can see the implementation is half arsed (security info stored in plain text) which doesn't surprise me given some of the, excuse my French, FUCKING STUPID
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The two of you have "glass half empty vs half full" arguments. On devices supported by Cyanogenmod, they usually provide more recent version of Android than stock ROM's do, BUT usually they need to find updated devices drivers out of updated stock ROM's for other phones with the same hardware as yours. Usually after 2-3 years no manufacturer provides updates and so without updated device drivers, support totally dies off. This is also the reason why there are delays before older phones are updated for newer
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FYI they do have their own ROM, it's called Cyanogen OS (not to be confused with CyanogenMod).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
M based preview (Score:1)
I stopped using Cyanogen as their releases have gotten slower and slower. This is an "M" based release 1 after Google has released the preview of "N".
Cyanogen's releases were faster as a community based fork then they are as a company.