This probably isn’t usually the case, but once in a while some people might install a certain flavor of a custom ROM just to get some of the apps that come pre-installed with it. Not all custom ROMs come with their own versions of apps either. CyanogenMod does though and they have become quite popular with those who have ever flashed one of the CyanogenMod ROMs over the years. For those of you that are hesitant to root your device and flash a custom ROM, there really hasn’t been any other way to get a hold of the apps that come along with CyanogenMod short of getting a hold of each of the apk files, thankfully though a generous individual by the name of Maarten Dekkers has changed that and has put out an app called “CMapps”, that is basically just a launchpad to get download access to the apps that come with the ROM, all in one place so anyone can install them fast and easy.
Now if you want a little bit of CyanogenMod on your phone without having to root, these apps will allow you to do so, whether you were wanting the CM flashlight app or perhaps just wanted the DSP equilizer. Maarten mentions though that while you can download these favorite apps from the CM ROM, he doesn’t guarantee that they will work with all devices and all variations of software that are out there. They are after all, developed for the ROM and meant to work with CyanogenMod in mind, so you may choose to download Apollo-CM’s music player-and find out that it doesn’t want to work on your device. If that’s the case, it seems that is just how things will be.
What’s most likely happening if you experience such a thing is that the app is probably incompatible without the ROM. In either case if you want to get your hands on some of the apps that come packaged with CyanogenMod without having to flash the ROM yourself, you can download CMapps here from this link and pick and choose the apps you like. The CMapps package includes these CyanogenMod apps inside: Appollo which is CM’s music player, the Clock Widget, DSP Manager which as stated above is like an equalizer so you can tweak the audio during music and such, the CM File Manager, Sound Recorder, Calculator, Torch which is CM’s flashlight app, the Trebuchet Home Launcher, and of course it wouldn’t be complete without CM wallpapers. CMapps is free, so if you’re interested go ahead and grab it.