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add back source for the legal company name + comment explaining that this has been confirmed via the Ontario business registry through Opstart and Service Ontario
Pitchcurve (talk | contribs)
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→‎History: Correct the early history with a citation for the date of the company's incorporation. Can also easily provide citations for the project starting in 2014 (GitHub and copperhead.co via the Internet Archive) and being publicly available before the company was incorporated.
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==History==
==History==


In 2015 CopperheadOS was being developed by a newly formed security company, Copperhead, based in Toronto. In November 2015, Copperhead CTO, Daniel Micay, controversially criticized security of the newly released [[BlackBerry Priv]], particularly in comparison to Nexus devices.<ref>{{Cite web|last=November 2015|first=Lucian Armasu|date=November 13, 2015|title=Copperhead CTO: Nexus Phones Already More Secure Than BlackBerry Priv|url=https://www.tomshardware.com/news/copperhead-nexus-more-secure-priv,30565.html|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-19|website=Tom's Hardware|language=en}}</ref>
CopperheadOS began development as an open source project in 2014. Copperhead was incorporated in November 2015 as a Toronto-based company backing the project.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://beta.canadasbusinessregistries.ca/search/results?search=%7BCoppperhead%20Limited%7D&status=Active|title=Canada's Business Registries}}</ref>
In November 2015, Copperhead CTO, Daniel Micay, controversially criticized security of the newly released [[BlackBerry Priv]], particularly in comparison to Nexus devices.<ref>{{Cite web|last=November 2015|first=Lucian Armasu|date=November 13, 2015|title=Copperhead CTO: Nexus Phones Already More Secure Than BlackBerry Priv|url=https://www.tomshardware.com/news/copperhead-nexus-more-secure-priv,30565.html|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-19|website=Tom's Hardware|language=en}}</ref>


In July 2016, the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X could be purchased from Copperhead website. The Nexus 6P was sold for $750 with CopperheadOS installed, as compared with $500 from Google.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Chokkattu|first=Julian|date=July 12, 2016|title=Copperhead is selling Google's Nexus devices with its pre-installed secure OS|url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/copperhead-selling-nexus-devices/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-11|website=www.digitaltrends.com}}</ref>
In July 2016, the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X could be purchased from Copperhead website. The Nexus 6P was sold for $750 with CopperheadOS installed, as compared with $500 from Google.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Chokkattu|first=Julian|date=July 12, 2016|title=Copperhead is selling Google's Nexus devices with its pre-installed secure OS|url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/copperhead-selling-nexus-devices/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-11|website=www.digitaltrends.com}}</ref>

Revision as of 00:57, 26 August 2020

CopperheadOS
Screenshot of CopperheadOS on a Nexus 5X
DeveloperCoppperhead Limited[1]
OS familyUnix-like
Working stateCurrent
Source modelClosed source (source-available under proprietary licensing for approved partners)
Latest release2020.08.07 / 7 August 2020; 3 years ago (2020-08-07)
Repositorygithub.com/CopperheadOS
Marketing targetSecurity / privacy-focused smartphones
Update methodOver-the-air (OTA) or sideloaded update packages
Package managerAPK with F-Droid bundled as a frontend
License CC NC 4.0, GPL2 (kernel) or GPL3 (F-Droid)
Official websitecopperhead.co/android Edit this at Wikidata

CopperheadOS is a proprietary mobile operating system for smartphones, based on the Android mobile platform. It adds privacy and security features to the official releases of the Android Open Source Project by Google.[2][3]

History

CopperheadOS began development as an open source project in 2014. Copperhead was incorporated in November 2015 as a Toronto-based company backing the project.[4]

In November 2015, Copperhead CTO, Daniel Micay, controversially criticized security of the newly released BlackBerry Priv, particularly in comparison to Nexus devices.[5]

In July 2016, the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X could be purchased from Copperhead website. The Nexus 6P was sold for $750 with CopperheadOS installed, as compared with $500 from Google.[6]

In March 2017 CopperheadOS sources or install files were available for download, or Google Pixel phones could be purchased with the OS pre-installed. The 32GB version was $1,049 or with 128GB it was $1,149.[7]

In November 2017 CopperheadOS OTA updates were briefly shut down because competitors were flashing CopperheadOS on devices and selling them commercially, in violation of license terms.[8]

As of January 2018, Pixel and Pixel XL devices were available from Copperhead with CopperheadOS pre-installed.[9] Pixel 2 and 2 XL alpha versions were announced, but downloads were no longer available, except for Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P.[10]

In June 2018, Copperhead and then Chief-Technology Officer Daniel Micay parted ways after an undisclosed dispute.[11]

After December 2018, Copperhead stopped publishing sources for stable releases via GitHub[12] and did not make them available for public download elsewhere. The development branch continued to be published at irregular updates over the next year.

In March 2019, Android Pie based versions were available for 4 supported devices, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2XL, which could be purchased from Copperhead's website.[13]

In September 2019, it was revealed that Micay had continued the open source project as GrapheneOS.[14]

After December 2019, Copperhead stopped publishing sources via GitHub[15] and did not make them available for public download elsewhere. Previously, the development branch was still being made available despite stable releases not being published.

As of August 2020, CopperheadOS sources are not available for public download and can only be obtained from a "partner network"[16] under a combination of licenses.[17]

Reception

In January 2018, Tarus Balog of opensource.com was favorably impressed by features in CopperheadOS, but he found the lack of Google applications difficult, and was confused by licensing terms and conditions. Balog said he initially used a Nexus 6P because available Pixel and Pixel XL phones from Copperhead were too expensive. At that time source code was available, but he was unable to successfully complete his own build.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Canada's Business Registries".
  2. ^ Porup, J.M. (August 9, 2016). "Copperhead OS: The startup that wants to solve Android's woeful security". arstechnica.co.uk. Ars Technica UK.
  3. ^ Corbet, Jonathan (February 17, 2016). "CopperheadOS: Securing the Android". lwn.net.
  4. ^ "Canada's Business Registries".
  5. ^ November 2015, Lucian Armasu (November 13, 2015). "Copperhead CTO: Nexus Phones Already More Secure Than BlackBerry Priv". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2020-08-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Chokkattu, Julian (July 12, 2016). "Copperhead is selling Google's Nexus devices with its pre-installed secure OS". www.digitaltrends.com. Retrieved 2020-08-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "Google Pixel with CopperheadOS is Available for Purchase in the U.S. and Canada". xda-developers. 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  8. ^ "CopperheadOS Disables Nexus Update Server After Licensing Violations". xda-developers. 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  9. ^ a b Balog, Tarus (29 Jan 2018). "CopperheadOS: Security features, installing apps, and more". Opensource.com. Retrieved 2020-08-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "CopperheadOS is Coming to the Google Pixel 2/2 XL". xda-developers. 2018-01-17. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  11. ^ "GrapheneOS is a security and privacy focused mobile operating system". YugaTech | Philippines Tech News & Reviews. 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  12. ^ "CopperheadOS".
  13. ^ "CopperheadOS' Android Pie update is now available for the Pixel & Pixel 2". xda-developers. 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  14. ^ "GrapheneOS: Ein gehärtetes Android ohne Google, bitte - Golem.de". www.golem.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  15. ^ "CopperheadOS".
  16. ^ "Installation - Copperhead". web.archive.org. 2020-08-20. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  17. ^ "Licensing - Copperhead". web.archive.org. 2020-08-20. Retrieved 2020-08-20.

External links

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