Cyanogen Inc. maintains a close partnership with YU in India

There was a time when Cyanogen OS was heading into the hands of lots of users, through new products from OnePlus, Alcatel and Micromax, but things seem to have died down a little. After ending its relationship with OnePlus, Cyanogen Inc.’s OS also disappeared from the YU Yuphoria phone, leaving many to wonder if Cyanogen was running out of major partners.

However, Cyanogen Inc. states that it still has a strong partnership with YU and that it doesn’t necessarily make sense for the company to support every device that YU developers. The company has also announced that its OS will be shipping with YU’s upcoming Yutopia smartphone. This will be the first flagship grade YU phone, powered by a Snapdragon 810.

“We have a great partnership with YU, and happy to announce that Cyanogen OS 12.1 will be powering YU’s upcoming flagship – Yutopia. We’ll also be rolling out the latest 12.1 update to Yureka / Yureka Plus very soon. It doesn’t always makes sense for us to support every device in a partner’s portfolio, and there are one-off model variations. We want to put the unfounded rumors to rest.” – Cyanogen Inc.

What makes the case more curious however is that Cyanogen OS Yuphoria model (YU5010) originally launched but is now no longer available. Instead, there is now a YU5010A model running stock Android 5.5.1 for sale at a slightly reduced price. Unfortunately we don’t have an explanation as to why the OS was swapped out so shortly after launch. Perhaps, there wasn’t a suitable update roadmap planned, which is what happened with the Onetouch Hero 2+.

Additionally, the YU brand is partly own by India’s MicroMax. MicroMax has previously gone on record stating that it is developing its own Android based operating system for smartphones, tablets and wearables. While not necessarily even destined for the YU range, this leaves a few unanswered questions hanging over any long term partnership with Cyanogen Inc. The first phones powered by this new OS are expected to appear by the end of this financial year.

For now, Cyanogen Inc and YU are still working together on at least one new smartphone.