The Android 7.1-based CyanogenMod 14.1 (CM14.1) nightlies have landed.
Technically, CM14.1, the latest version of the community-built Android distribution was already launched a few days ago with an experimental build roll out for the OnePlus 3. Now, more devices can get a taste of CyanogenMod 14.1 as handful of nightly builds get pushed out.
In a blog post Tuesday, Nov. 8, CyanogenMod project founder Steve Kondik announced a number of handhelds that are getting CM14.1 nightly builds. The list includes the Nexus 6P (angler), Nexus 5X (bullhead), Xiaomi Mi3w/Mi4 (cancro), LG G3 (d855), Moto G variants (falcon/peregrine/thea/titan), LG G4 (h811/h815), Samsung Galaxy S5 (klte/kltedv/kltespr/klteusc/kltevzw), OnePlus 3 (oneplus3) and ZenFone 2 (Z00L/Z00T).
At the moment of writing, roughly 20 CM14.1 ROMs have been uploaded. Almost everything in the said list — from angler down to Z00T — except for ZenFone 2's ZE550KL (Z00L) variant.
Nightly Explained
Since these are nightly builds, they're unstable just like most software beta versions. And given that they are usually updated every 24 hours and include the most up-to-date changes in AOSP source codes, they can introduce a number of bugs.
Moreover, there are a number of features missing in them. According to Kondik's post, features such as Themes are yet to be available for this wave of nightlies. Nonetheless, he assures that development is progressing.
Kondik says that for nightlies, bug reports are OK. However, he discouraged reports pertaining to missing features since the releases are still a work in progress.
"As always, more devices will be added to the list over the coming weeks and maintainers bring everything up to date, so if you don't see your device listed here just give us a bit of time," Kondik concludes his post.
The Nougat Advantage
Android 7.1 Nougat brings a number of new features and performance improvements. It has an enhanced UI experience and a revamped notifications menu, which makes better use of the available space and bundles all notifications from the same app.
This relatively new Android version also has lower system requirements due to tighter core components, and it's able to offer better multitasking using features such as quick switch and multi-window. Another of its new features is "Doze on the Go," which is a better version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow's Doze mode.
Perhaps the biggest thing it brings to the table is the support for the Vulkan graphics API, which is quite a good news for graphics-intensive applications, gaming and VR experiences. And speaking of VR, only specific devices running on this Android OS version can take advantage of Google's new virtual reality platform, DayDream View VR.
