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Since our last LineageOS post, the project has continued to add new features and support new devices. In addition to new Quick Settings tiles and changes to included apps, the ROM now supports 16 additional devices.
Team Win Recovery Project is the de facto standard for Android custom recoveries. While the open-source project often makes its way to disparate Android phones and tablets by the efforts of interested indie ROM developers, the maintainers of the project work tirelessly to bring official builds out as well. Today no less than seven new devices get the official treatment, and most of them are more niche, low-volume hardware that might not get major attention otherwise.
The partnership between Cyanogen Inc and Micromax subsidiary YU has given birth to another smartphone for the Indian market. Unlike past collaborations, this one is undeniably a flagship device. The Yutopia has all the bells and whistles and will retail for INR 24,999, which works out to roughly $377.
Yu's Cyanogen OS-running Yuphoria phone, sold primarily to the Indian market, has had CyanogenMod 12.1 (Android 5.1) available for almost half a year now. The catch is that it's been available as a CyanogenMod nightly build, requiring end users to flash a custom recovery, then a custom ROM in order to access it. Yesterday, the Cyanogen company and Yu itself announced the over-the-air rollout of the finished, consumer-ready update for the stock software build.
Back in the early Gingerbread days, CyanogenMod provided geeks and tinkerers with a way of installing the most up-to-date Android version on virtually any device. It wasn't for everyone, but if you were willing to deal with a few bugs and instability issues, you could easily turn your phone into a quasi-Nexus device running stock-ish Android. Updates are a little slower now that commercial entity Cyanogen Inc. is supporting devices, but two of those phones — the Yureka and Yureka Plus — are being updated to Cyanogen OS 12.1, which is based on Android Lollipop 5.1.
Cyanogen Inc. blew up its partnership with OnePlus last year in order to pursue an exclusive partnership with Micromax under its YU brand in India. YU has released a few devices running Cyanogen OS since then, but the internet had a touch of schadenfreude a few days ago when YU dropped Cyanogen from its Yuphoria phone. However, Cyanogen says everything is still cool.
After launching its first phone in India at the end of last year, Micromax subsidiary Yu is now ready to follow up with the ever-so-slightly upgraded and pricier Yu Yureka Plus. Like last time, this handset ships running the latest version of Cyanogen OS.
The Yuphoria is a Cyanogen OS phone in India from Micromax subsidiary Yu. It's a mid-range device that competes with hardware along the lines of the Moto G, but that doesn't mean it's not a decent piece of tech to tinker with. That's especially the case now that the first CyanogenMod nightly has hit the web.
Cyanogen Inc's exclusive partner in India, Micromax has a new phone on the way called the Yuphoria. Why the funky spelling? Because it's part of the YU line of devices along with the Yureka. The Yuphoria is launching later this month with respectable mid-range specs and a low price.
Micromax's Yureka phone for the Indian market has been the center of quite a bit of controversy in the more passionate parts of the Android community, thanks to its official build of the CyanogenMod custom ROM. But if you happen to own one, said controversy probably isn't as important to you as the phone's ability to be tinkered with. So if you're ready to try another ROM on the Yureka, here's an official build of the Team Win Recovery Project to enable your tinkering.
YU, the Micromax sub-brand that has been stirring the news lately thanks to its Indian Cyanogen exclusivity deal and OnePlus One legal action, has just officially launched in India its first smartphone: Yureka, and you could say it has a bit of a God complex.