We had the big event of CM 11 M7, the latest and, to date, most stable and up-to-date build of CyanogenMod’s custom ROM based on Android 4.4 Kit Kat. That was exactly a week ago, and CyanognenMod has yet another treat for us all, their faithful users (of those that found out and flashed it right away). The CM Team’s signature launcher, because all of Google’s launchers are closed-source, meaning it’s not part of AOSP (Android Open-Source Project), which is what Cm builds their ROM(s) from/using as a base.
What does that mean for all us regular users? It means we haven’t had Google’s ‘swipe to see you cards’ feature if we don’t have the Google Now Launcher, until today/this morning/last night (depends, really). The feature came out to us (and still is) in the June 13th nightly build of CM 11. Now, on Trubchet’s left-most page, we can swipe left to right and get to *curtains open* our Google Now! Yes, CyanogenMod have finally managed to build a way into their launcher to let us access our Google Now cards without having to use Google’s launcher, or go scrolling through the app drawer or wherever you kept your before now.
The caveat here is that it only exists in Nightly June 13 right now, so if you happen to have a file named “cm-11-20140613-NIGHTLY-XXXXXX.zip, then you can get this feature right now. But if you happen to not have it on-hand (or on-device, it would be), you may have to wait a bit. For me personally, my Samsung Galaxy S III (d2lte) doesn’t actually have a June 13 nightly, while my Sprint Galaxy Nexus (toroplus) does, and therefore has the new feature ready for it. And coincidentally, the nightly for tomorrow, the 20140614 build, is being put up as you read, so go check on that and come back.
Back? Good. We missed you. So, now that you have you phone or tablet all flashed up with the latest and greatest from CyanogenMod, want to set up that nifty feature new convenience (or feature, since it’s new and not-native to AOSP)? Here we go. Boot up the newly updated device, let it get you to setup, and go through it all. Once on your homescreens, check for updates to both Google Search and Google Play Services, then set up Google Now. Go back to home, long press, tap the three dots that make an up arrow, and tap ‘Search Panel’ and make sure ti says ON instead of OFF, and voila, she is done! You now have Google Now access from Trebuchet.
Now here come the warnings. Since the June 13th build is the first, and the June 14th is the second, that includes the new feature, this feature is very much a ‘Nightly’ feature, so it WILL have lag, crashes, errors, etc. Be merry and rejoice, CyanogenMod users, because you now have Now, as well as CM’s customizable Google Launcher-equivalent. The feature may lag a few moments before opening, and closing it may take a back key press, instead of the usual ‘return swipe’, but these issues will doubtless get fixed in upcoming Nightly builds
