Cyanogen's Microsoft deal includes removable apps and ‘contextual’ suggestions
Russell Holly / Android Central :
Context & Ripple Effects
Cyanogen has spent 2015 assembling an Android alternative stripped of Google's grip: it raised a $70M-plus round that included Microsoft as a minority investor, then signed a partnership to natively integrate Bing, Skype, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook and Office into Cyanogen OS — all feeding toward the first Google-apps-free Cyanogen phone from Blu.
This detail matters because the obvious objection to that strategy is that swapping Google's preinstalled suite for Microsoft's just trades one bloatware problem for another. Making the bundled apps removable — and layering in 'contextual' suggestions instead — is Cyanogen's answer, and it foreshadows the deeper-integration direction the company later formalized with its Mod platform for third-party OS hooks like Cortana.
First-order effects
- Cyanogen OS users get the right to uninstall the very Microsoft apps Cyanogen just agreed to ship, directly defusing the bloatware critique that would otherwise undercut its 'open Android' pitch against stock Android.
- Microsoft secures services distribution on a fork that ships without Google apps, reaching devices where Play Services and Google search defaults are absent.
Second-order effects
- Blu's upcoming Cyanogen OS handset can now market 'no Google apps AND no forced Microsoft apps' as its differentiator, pressuring mainstream OEMs whose Google contracts don't permit removing preinstalled rivals.
- The contextual-suggestions layer gives Microsoft a default surfacing mechanism for Bing and Cortana on Cyanogen devices — a wedge Google doesn't control on those phones.
Third-order effects
- If removable bundles plus deep API access become Cyanogen's template, the company's competitive position shifts from 'Android without Google apps' to a customization platform — the logic that culminates in the Mod framework opening Cyanogen APIs to third-party apps like Cortana and Skype.
- For the broader Android ecosystem, a credible fork with removable first-party software raises the question of how much of Google's hold comes from its services versus contractual lock-in — though Cyanogen's long-term viability against Google's scale stays genuinely uncertain.
The trend: Microsoft is buying mobile services distribution through minority stakes and native integrations in non-Google Android, using Cyanogen as its testbed for life beyond its own phone platform.