Cyanogen has pushed out two major updates ― CM11 and CM12 ― for its users around the world. The latest releases focus both on current and former Android versions as CM11 is based on the dated Android 4.4 KitKat while CM12 takes its base from Android 5.0.2.
The new software releases are mainly focused on improving the overall performance and security fixes. But that's not all in store as Cyanogen is now focusing on the next major release of CM12.1 based on Android 5.1.
Even as the custom ROM maker is moving forward with the latest software builds, it is quite surprising to see Cyanogen release CM11 based on Android 4.4 KitKat. But the company has an explanation to defend its move.
"Why another CM11 build? Rather surprisingly, many users have been slow to upgrade to L – whether due to the lack of a snapshot release or adverse reaction to the Material design, we don't know. The meager stats that we have show that there is a rather large contingency of users who are sticking to CM11 as their release channel of choice, so we felt compelled to give a release showcasing all the work that went into that branch to make it ship ready," the company explained in an official blog on Thursday.
With the final snapshots for CM11 and CM12 in place, compatible devices such as Google Nexus 7, HTC One M8, LG G2 (Sprint), Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One and Sony Xperia Z Ultra among others can be flashed with the new software. Before upgrading to the new builds, users must ensure the GApps packages match the Android version that you are flashing. Specifically to those who are upgrading from CM11 to CM12, update your recoveries to fend off any SELines issues in the process.
In the blog, CM advised against downgrading from CM12.1 nightly to the newly-released builds. Also, Cyanogen promised nightlies and weeklies for CM11 and CM12 branches sans ETA.
