Black Market Apps Welcome

CyanogenMod software is based on Android software, minus some restrictions.

Image: CyanogenMod

Black-market apps not welcome on the Android Market may soon find a home with the CyanogenMod App Store currently under development.

The mobile application store will sell apps based on classic games that were banned from the Android app store for various reasons: They might be apps that pose copyright violations, unsanctioned “tethering apps” that transform any mobile phone into an Internet hotspot for free, Visual Voicemail apps, one-click rooting apps designed to sever ties between the phone and restrictions placed on it by Android, or something similarly cast aside by the official Android store, according to a report by TechCrunch.

CyanogenMod bills itself as an aftermarket store offering firmware that can replace the standard-issue settings for Android mobile phones with other unauthorized firmware that is still based on Android open-source operating system. The alternate software gives users the ability to sidestep settings hardwired into their phones, including the controversial tracking system Carrier IQ. Basically, their products give users increased control over their own phones.

However, such sidesteps come with multiple downsides, including transforming the cell phone into something totally different, a paperweight. Rooting is a risky process, and even such easy-to-use applications as the one-click rooting app come with no guarantees.

Not to mention the actual declared purpose of such monitoring software, which Sprint told BGR is to “understand what problems customers are having with our network or devices so we can take action to improve service quality,” may be undermined by rooting one's phone.

Already, over 1 million active users have decided the benefits of increased control and privacy outweigh the risks and installed CyanogenMod products.