Google reportedly tried to buy Cyanogen

It has been reported this week that Cyanogen the company that builds and distributes smartphone software CyanogenMod, based on Google’s Android mobile operating system, has refused an offer by Google to acquire it.

In a report over on The Information website the Cyanogen team explained that they refused to be bought by Google to help keep the Android ‘open’.

The Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster told shareholders that it recently shrugged off Google SVP of Android Sundar Pichai's interest in purchasing the company -- choosing instead to focus on obtaining a $1 billion valuation to aid in its third round of funding.

CyanogenMod started as a hobby project by Steve Kondik in 2008 after he found that Android phones could be rooted and their software could be modified. Soon more people joined in. The community around CyanogenMod grew at XDA, a web forum for mobile developers, hackers and enthusiast.

CyanogenMod achieved success as it gave people an option to upgrade popular phones to the latest version of Android even if the companies that made the phone stopped supporting them. Initially, the user interface was based on stock Android but as its popularity grew, CyanogenMod community started adding its own features.

It's unclear what Google would want to do with Cyanogen. The company basically does the same software work any other OEM does: it takes AOSP, customizes it, and ports it to devices. It doesn't have a ton of features that replicate Google services, so without a Google Play license, it's just as poor as any other AOSP-derived Android distribution.

Buying Cyanogen would give Google an in-house Android distribution and a team of engineers, both of which it already has in abundance. We suppose the plan could be to buy it and shut it down, but we're not sure what that would accomplish.