There has been a lot of drama surrounding Cyanogen recently, which has been putting some pressure on the software company. Most of this has surrounded the supposed fallout with OnePlus, but some of it has also come from Android 5.0 (Lollipop). Whether a user of CyanogenOS (the commercial variant) or CyanogenMod (the community variant), since the day Lollipop was announced, users have been asking when Cyanogen will roll out its version of Lollipop, dubbed CM12. Now, Cyanogen is not one to be phased too much by pressure. In fact, they usually adopt a much more relaxed approach to updates and not providing too many upfront details on when updates will become available. That said, this is Lollipop we are talking about and this is not like your normal incremental update.
Of course, for those that could not wait there have been various unofficial CM ports made available for some time. These are experimental (aka nightlies) and do contain some bugs. However, if you have been holding out for the official CM12 then it finally looks like your waiting has paid off. The CyanogenMod team in a post today on the CyanogenMod blog, finally announced the release of the official CM12. Now again, before you get too excited, this is not the final or finished product. In fact, according to the blog, Cyanogen note that this is in fact, about 85% complete and as such, is again a nightlie version. That said, CM12 has arrived.
Before you do download, here is what you need to know. According to the blog post the following features are not fully implemented in the current release and will be updated in the next few weeks. Theme Engine, Quick Settings reorganization and customization, Quick Settings Ribbon mode, Navigation bar reorganization and customization, Sound panel customization and Lock-screen quick unlock. Following on from this, CM12 is not currently available for all devices. However, it is available for a quite a few (too many to name here in fact). To see if you are on the list, you can click the source link below. With all the recent tensions between OnePlus and Cyanogen, OPO owners will be glad to know that they are on the list. In fact, interestingly, ‘Bacon’ (the codename for OPO for those who don’t know) appears at the top of the list. Symbolic? Not really, the list is alphabetical. So there you go. For the CM users out there, this really is your first good opportunity to see stock CM12 Lollipop in action. Do remember this is a nightlie and you should certainly expect bugs and minor problems. Make sure to click the source link below to read the blog post in full. It is worth reading to know all the ins-and-outs.