CyanogenMod 12s on the OnePlus One!
Although CyanogenMod and OnePlus are no longer working together, and OnePlus DID just release their operating system, Oxygen OS, the folks over at OnePlus and Cyanogen are still releasing an update to the original CyanogenMod 11s. The update is going to be Android 5.0 lollipop based, just like Oxygen OS. If you go to the OnePlus One forums and find this specific thread, you will find download links to the OS AND instructions on how to install CyanogenMod 12s. If you already have a custom recovery installed, then all you need to do is add the zip file to your internal storage and flash the ROM. It takes about 3 minutes for the entire process and its pretty simple! As I mentioned before, both operating systems are based off Android 5.0 Lollipop and so they are both pretty close to being stock android. Oxygen OS is VERY close to stock Android with a few differences in the quick settings and gestures.
CyanogenMod 12 has a few more bonus features. Starting with the lock screen, you have a normal looking lollipop lock screen. The background of whatever current app you are running will be blurred, a feature that has been with custom ROM and CyanogenMod for quite some time. You also have your camera and phone icons in the right and left corners of the screen. Something new with Cyanogenmod 12 is the ability to customize what apps these swipe gestures open up. Instead of being stuck with only the phone and camera apps, you can change them to your messaging app and youtube app if you wish to do so. Aside from that, you have a basic lollipop lock screen with your floating notification cards and all. Performance for the OnePlus one running CM12 has been very positive so far. Everything seems to be very snappy. I have heard early reports that the OS has been a battery hog, but I have yet to notice anything drastic. As far as the launcher is concerned, it is very close to Google now launcher, although the actual swipe right to get into Google now is not present, everything else is pretty similar. To get into your wallpapers, widgets, and general settings from the home screen, a simple long press on the home screen will do the trick.
When you swipe down from the left, you will be greeted with your notification shade, you can also program CM12 to swipe down your notifications AND settings with one swipe from either the left or right corner. I like to keep mine in the right corner as you can see here.
The quick toggles can be customized, and you have a plethora of different toggles to choose from. Adding and removing is quite easy with a drag and drop style action. In order to add more options, simply navigate to the notification drawer tab in the settings menu. Here you will find different toggles like audio fx, battery mode, and hotspot to name a few
When browsing your phone’s settings menu, you will notice a few different features and options that are specific to your OnePlus one. Although some of these are not new, they are still useful and it’s nice that Cyanogen still included them in the update. For example, you still have extra settings for your capacitive or on screen buttons. Personally, I prefer my menu button to open up recent apps with a quick press and menu options with a longer press.
Under Display & Lights, you will see that you have the ability to double tap and wake your device from sleep or double tap the status bar (something that has been around in previous iterations of CyanogenMod) to put your device back to sleep.
Gestures are still available although I do not like to use them because of the sensitivity in my pocket. However, you still have the option to toggle music controls, draw a v for your flashlight, and a circle to activate the camera all while your phone is asleep. Speaking of camera, Oxygen OS removed the camera’s ability to record in 4K. Don’t worry, CM12 has your back and brought back the 4K camera recording feature.
CM12 divided the settings menu into a few different sections. Where you will find, the most CM12 related features can be found under the “Personal” section. Here you will find access to different custom controls for your status bar, notification drawer, and your privacy settings.
In your status bar menu, you can control the way your clock looks and where its positioned, as well as different battery icons and percentage text. You can also control your brightness by sliding back and forth on your status bar if you choose to do so. A feature that has also been around in the custom ROM community for quite some time. Notification drawer is where you can select and re-order your quick toggles and toggle other features such as enlarge first row of settings tiles, show brightness slider, and show weather above the quick settings panels.
Now Cyanogenmod is known for adding a few custom apps to their ROM’s, and CM12 is no different. Some people do not like or have no use for some of these apps, but I like these apps and find them useful. Some apps that appear new or at least new to me since the last version of CM I used was CM 11s and these apps were not present are the new custom Email app that’s powered by Boxer and Baton.
I have not set up Baton yet but from what I understand from the menu is that you can sync app settings and data so that when you access that app from another phone or tablet, your setup will be present. This allows you to have cloud like storage and access for select apps that might not offer this service.
CM 12 also has a custom email app to battle Gmail. The look of the email app is rather similar to gmail but has a few different features caked in. Swipe gestures seem to be all the rage these days and with Google Inbox and Mailbox apps implementing these features, I am not shocked that CM has included this in their email app.
Swiping right to left will allow you to archive or delete a message while swiping from left to right will bring a few different quick actions to the table. Actions such as Like, To-do, star, label, archive, delete, mark as spam, send to Evernote, and mark unread can all be accessed by a simple swipe.
The strangest feature being the like button, which automatically sends an email back to the sender simply stating that you liked their last email to you. A very simple way to get back to someone with a click of a button.
CM 12 has also added their audio fx app and their theme engine.
The theme app has been redesigned and carries a few different features. The most notable being the app specific theme option. For example, if you like the look of the stock system theme for all the apps but want the settings app to look like the CM12 hexo theme, all you have to do is click the app themer button and then navigate to the app you want to theme. You can then click the floating paintbrush icon and select whatever theme pack you want. This will apply the theme to that specific app but leave the rest of the phone alone. The theme possibilities are endless.
About the Author
Dan Barbera Obsessed with everything tech, music, and Cleveland sports. I tweet about these things. A lot. Follow me! @danbarbera.
Related Posts
OnePlus 2 Unboxing and Setup →
$389 OnePlus Two Announced & Return of ‘A Week in Tech’! →
A Week in Tech – Episode 13: Gmail 5.0, Project Ara and More →
