At the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Cyanogen, the company known best for its forked Android-based OS — CyanogenOS — has announced the launch of MOD. The platform has been designed to make the entire app usage experience a more OS integrated one for the users, rather than leaving them like standalone experiences which they currently provide.
Cyanogen describes these new mods as “Intelligent, contextually-aware experiences integrated directly into the operating system”. With this fresh platform, the company wants to make a more deeper and seamless integration of an apps UI into the core OS.
The basic logic behind the launch of MOD is to give developers access to the core, native APIs of CyanogenOS, that were previously only available to the OS developers themselves, to help them integrate their apps more seamlessly with the OS.
However, the platform is understandably currently open to only a select group of noted developers — TrueCaller, Microsoft to name a few.
An example of this, posted by Cyanogen itself is the Truecaller Mod. A global database of over two billion numbers allows the Truecaller mod to identify incoming spam calls and texts in the native dialer and messenger apps itself, without having you to go to the app separately and do all the functionalities.
Cyanogen also has a mod for both Skype and Cortana — pretty understandable considering the maker of these two — Microsoft — is a major investor in Cyanogen.
The Skype mod is integrated directly into the native dialer, so searching for Skype contacts and viewing your Skype call history has never been easier. You can even seamlessly upgrade to a Skype video call directly from an ongoing phone call. 
As for the Cortana Mod, it is deeply integrated into Cyanogen OS, allowing you to do everything from setting reminders and scheduling meetings, to calling and texting friends — pretty much like Siri is for iOS and Ok Google is for Android.
In addition, the company is also launching a program for its OEM and MNO partners (“MOD ready”) who want to enable their devices for the platform. Cyanogen will provide these partners with a development kit and it will ensure that its software is ready for the latest generation of chipsets.
