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Startup Cyanogen announced that it will be ending all services related to CyanogenMOD OS on December 31, a move that saddened the open source community project. This decision is attributed to the company's failures to unseat Google's Android and to receive mainstream acceptance from mobile phone users.

Cyanogen posted the announcement on its official blog, which stated that the company is undergoing a consolidation. The company clarified that those who want to build CyanogenMOD personally can still have access to the open source project and source code.

OnePlusOne and Lenovo ZUK Z1 are the devices that run the CyanogenMOD OS. Mobile phone owners, whose units have the CM, need to move over to the open-source CyanogenMOD ROM, which is developed by a community of designers, coders, device maintainers, and translators.

Cyanogen's move did not sit well with developers who consider the company's demise as a "death blow" to the CyanogenMOD community. The same blog announcement touted the next open-source Android project called Lineage.

Lineage OS is sort of Cyanogen's 'Plan B' after CM and is more than just a rebranding effort. Lineage's goals are to enable the company's return to the grassroots community effort that is firmly associated with custom Android releases and to maintain its professional quality and integrity.

Cyanogen was founded in 2013 to compete with Google's Android by reimagining mobile computing and enabling the community of developers to customize their mobile device and content experiences. Based on Android, CyanogenMOD OS boasts of personalization features, intuitive interface, and improved battery life.

The company received funding from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Benchmark. Though well funded, Cyanogen spent half of the year reducing costs and fired some people over the summer. CEO Kirt McMaster resigned as part of a reshuffle.

Cyanogen failed to urge more handset makers to ditch Android and Google services. Politics also affected the company when its largest partner, OnePlus, soured their partnership after just one device.

See the video below for more information about CyanogenMOD OS.  Share your thoughts on the article in the comment section.