About us
The story behind CyanLabs
What started in 2011 as 965Mods.co.uk has grown into the home of Syn3 Updater, Ford guides and databases, and a whole collection of free, open source tools, all backed by a friendly community.
2011
founded
0
apps created
0
downloads
0
registered users
Meet the team
The people who build the apps, write the guides and keep the community running.
What we do
Windows .NET Applications
C Sharp .NET Windows based applications.
PHP Applications
PHP based web interfaces.
Tutorials
Various tutorials for various topics.
Ford Databases
Many AsBuilt , HW and SW Databases.
Ford Guides
Detailed SYNC 3 update guides and helper applications
Community
A thriving community forum.
Our history
The start of 965Mods.co.uk
2011 marked the start of 965Mods.co.uk which was the original name of this website. The website name came about as part of my username Fma965 and that it originally had some console modding tutorials.
Shortly after the launch of 965mods.co.uk, Lock Me was released. This application was made for personal use to circumvent the limitation of being unable to lock computers at my college. Lock Me (windows screenlock) is a simple and handy tool that enables you to lock your computer using a custom image or video.
Shortly after the launch of 965mods.co.uk, Lock Me was released. This application was made for personal use to circumvent the limitation of being unable to lock computers at my college. Lock Me (windows screenlock) is a simple and handy tool that enables you to lock your computer using a custom image or video.
The end of 965Mods.co.uk
At the end of 2011 it was decided to move from 965mods.co.uk to ForgottenCoders.co.uk, just prior to this re-brand a few applications were released including Lock Me V2 which added video and audio support and SA-MP Advanced Log Manager (unfortunately the code for this has been lost).
Work for Lock Me V3 was also started however the project was later abandoned due to lack of spare time, it was planned to be WPF based rather than WinForms.
There was briefly plans to create a PS3 AIO Tool however this never came to fruition.
Finally just before the end of 2012 Cyanlabs started playing Portal 2 and uploading the playthroughs to YouTube.
Work for Lock Me V3 was also started however the project was later abandoned due to lack of spare time, it was planned to be WPF based rather than WinForms.
There was briefly plans to create a PS3 AIO Tool however this never came to fruition.
Finally just before the end of 2012 Cyanlabs started playing Portal 2 and uploading the playthroughs to YouTube.
The start of ForgottenCoders.co.uk
The start of 2012 marked the start of Portal 2 Map Launcher or P2Map for short, this was an application released prior to Valve adding workshop functionality to Portal 2 and was designed as a simple to use map launcher for launching custom Portal 2 maps.
It started off as purely a map launcher but it advanced in to much more.
Eventually being able to automatically launch both client and server players, change level without killing the server and optionally load in split-screen mode for local coop play.
Less major events included the release of the final version of Lock Me and for some reason a color changer for the website (RGB before it was cool?)
It started off as purely a map launcher but it advanced in to much more.
Eventually being able to automatically launch both client and server players, change level without killing the server and optionally load in split-screen mode for local coop play.
Less major events included the release of the final version of Lock Me and for some reason a color changer for the website (RGB before it was cool?)
A big year for the now named CyanLabs
At the start of 2013 ForgottenCoders was re-branded to CyanLabs.co.uk.
As part of our newly re-branded site SACNR Keybinder was created. Although this application started of as a simple keybinder it became one one of the most complicated applications that CyanLabs had made at the time.
Along with the release of SACNR Keybinder an application called XBMC JSON Command Sender was created (code has since been lost) and many tutorials were written on modifying the Xperia Play Android device, A experimental SACNR Macro Recorder and Let Me Google That From Clipboard For You was also released.
Slightly later on in 2013, SACNR Keybinder 2013 Edition and SACNR Keybinder Evolution were released, not only did these dokeybinds and mouse binds (including non standard buttons) but also supported XInput (Xbox controllers), toggle binds, macro’s and eventually DInput as well.
Near the end of 2013, Cyanlabs ROM Kitchen for Xperia Play was released, this was CyanLabs first web based application, unfortunately it was later abandoned due to no longer having the phone available for testing. It was designed as a way to easily build your perfect ROM using parts of various others and removing/adding any desired apps. more information on this project can be found here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2391169
The year 2014
In 2014, various tutorials were created, mostly for Synology, all of which can be found on the Tutorials page. Simple applications developed that year included:
- Synology DDSM: A Windows application for accessing the Synology UI.
- Floating Browser: A PiP-style web video player.
- Select Application: A tool for opening two applications simultaneously, inspired by the Windows "Select Application" screen.
- XBMC Remote Keyboard: A tool to control XBMC from another computer.
- MyBB Notifier: A Windows app for receiving notifications of new posts and comments on a MyBB forum.
A companion Windows app for the ROM kitchen was also created to simplify the installation process further.
The year 2015
In 2015, the next major application, VSX Volume, was created. It started as a simple tool to control Pioneer VSX Audio Video Receivers using the media keys on a Windows PC keyboard.
This year also saw the launch and eventual discontinuation of AlienFX Database. Designed as a searchable database for applications and games supporting Dell’s AlienFX lighting API, it unfortunately lacked community support and was later retired.
Skipping to 2017
Due to personal life circumstances not much happened in 2016 so lets jump to 2017.
At the start of 2017 UnRAID Temperature was released, this was a extremely simple application designed to work like coretemp and speedfan and show your UnRAID host temperature on your Windows guest OS taskbar.
This year also marks the year of CyanLabs most popular tutorial to date, The Complete UnRAID reverse proxy, Duck DNS (dynamic dns) and letsencrypt guide.
At the start of 2017 UnRAID Temperature was released, this was a extremely simple application designed to work like coretemp and speedfan and show your UnRAID host temperature on your Windows guest OS taskbar.
This year also marks the year of CyanLabs most popular tutorial to date, The Complete UnRAID reverse proxy, Duck DNS (dynamic dns) and letsencrypt guide.
2018
In 2018 RGBSync was released, An easy to use “RGB Syncing” application for the RGB.NET library.
During visits to the RGB.NET Discord channel it became quite apparent that there was a high demand for a simple UI to go with the RGB.NET library, time was sparse but RGBSync was created.
The developer of RGB.NET eventually released a much more refined application called RGBSync+ and therefore RGBSync was discontinued.
During visits to the RGB.NET Discord channel it became quite apparent that there was a high demand for a simple UI to go with the RGB.NET library, time was sparse but RGBSync was created.
The developer of RGB.NET eventually released a much more refined application called RGBSync+ and therefore RGBSync was discontinued.
2019
In 2019 I started getting in to home automation and also upgraded my AVR around the same time. This meant my VSX Volume application was no longer compatible, rather than making a new application using what ever API was available to my Onkyo AVR I decided to make HAVolume, similiar to VSX volume except it worked with any media player entity on Home Assistant meaning it was compatible with way more AVR’s and even Google Home, Spotify, etc.
A new guide on updating older hardware versions of the Sync 3 APIM found in Ford cars was also written.
A new guide on updating older hardware versions of the Sync 3 APIM found in Ford cars was also written.
2020 - The Year Of Ford Guides
Right near the end of 2019 / start of 2020, Unraid JSON API was released. This is a small Unraid plugin that wraps the statistics files into a friendly JSON format for easy access to data from other services such as Home Assistant.
In Q2 of 2020, CyanLabs began receiving massive traffic for its Ford Sync 3.4 Upgrade Guide. The demand was so high that we decided to release a Windows application, FordSyncDownloader, to simplify the process. This program handles everything, from downloading the necessary files to preparing the required USB drive.
Shortly after, Syn3 Updater 1.0 was released, featuring a completely new backend system and numerous bug fixes!
2021 - Syn3 Updater
Around the start of the New Year (2021), CyanLabs released Syn3 Updater 2.0. This was a completely re-designed version of Syn3 Updater.
This was our first application created using WPF instead of WinForms. Along with the redesigned UI, we added new functionality, including parsing of the log XML and a webpage to view your extracted AsBuilt data.
Due to the massive popularity of Syn3 Updater and our Ford guides, we launched our Community Forum to allow our users to communicate with us better.
2022 - Ford Hub
CyanLabs continues to update the website adding new Ford related resources.
- AsBuilt Databases for many many modules, thanks to F150Chief on our forum
- A new Ford Hub for a "one stop shop" for everything relating to Ford
- The forum was reorganized to make it much easier to find what you need
- A new documentation section was also added
Welcome,