Cyanogen Inc. is looking to kill off apps for good with its MOD platform

Most of us know Cyanogen Inc. from their OnePlus series of handsets. Their OS, CyanogenOS, was, and still is at the forefront of the Android modding community. At MWC 2016, Cyanogen Inc. announced their new MOD platform. A platform that opens up CyanogenOS’ Android platform to much deeper integration with apps and services.It does sound complicated to the layman so here’s a simpler explanation. Your phone’s apps are usually isolated, self-sufficient but with little lee-way to really integrate with your OS. Suppose you don’t like Google Now, you can’t really replace it with something else that integrates just as well. With the MOD platform, you can insert, say, Cortana into Cyanogen OS and give it as much power and control over your OS as Google Now.Essentially, the MOD platform will allow third-party apps an unprecedented level of control and integration with CyanogenOS. Kirt McMaster, CEO & Co-Founder of Cyanogen calls apps “single-minded and boring.” He hopes to change that with MOD.The Microsoft connection"Our partnership with Cyanogen is part of our ambition to provide great digital experiences to customers across all of their devices, in all aspects of their lives," said Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President of Business Development at Microsoft. "MOD reinvents productivity for Android users by giving them access to the power of Microsoft's services in an engaging and modern way."The list of mods included at launch include Skype and Cortana integration, an enhanced OneNote with a Quick Settings tile, TrueCaller integration within the dialler, and more.The MOD platform will roll-out to all users as part of the Cyanogen OS 13 update.