Cyanogenmod on Moto E Revisited

When I first installed Cyanogenmod 11 on the Moto E a few months ago, it was very unstable, with much further development needed. Mobile data did not work whatsoever, the Google apps kept crashing, and the general feel was... meh. After that I reverted back to stock Kitkat for a while before deciding on AndroidArea51's AR10 for the Moto E. Arearom is an always an excellent choice if it is supported on your device. They're a friendly, small, and apparently underfunded community that still manages to churn out brilliant ROMs. I stayed on AR10 for a while, was very happy with it, and would totally run it again.

However, recently I began to notice reports of a completely stable Cyanogen (KK) CM11 build for the Condor, with CM12 (L) in the alpha stages of development. Today I made the decision to give CM on the Condor another shot. There is nothing wrong with AR10, I simply wanted a change of scenery for my mobile. As it turns out, this ROM has come a long way.

Installation was the most painless out of any ROM I can remember installing. I simply downloaded the zip file along with the GAPPS zip (the Google applications) and verified the md5sums. Than I threw them on a fresh SD card, stuck it in the phone, and booted to TWRP. Once you get that far, simply factory reset (cache/dalvik/data wipe), and navigate to install zip from sdcard. It's a good idea to have the md5sum file on the card as well, so TWRP can verify it again before flashing. Once that was done, I was greeted by the nifty Cyanogen Droid boot animation, and than asked if I wanted to create a CM account. Sure, why not.

Due to license restrictions and CM's pure open source commitment, you need to flash the GAPPS zip after you install the ROM. So, log in to your Google account, reboot to recovery, flash GAPPS, wipe cache/dalvik to ensure everything goes smooth, and reboot. At this point you have a fully functional, and totally awesome phone. Cyanogenmod feels very snappy and stable. Apps load as smooth as butter, and there is barely any noticeable lag. App-ops is built in to the settings and thus does not require Xposed to enable. OpenVPN appears to be pre-installed to the system, and I had absolutely no trouble connecting to a VPN. I attribute that more to knowing how to configure it than to CM. Google's apps no longer are randomly crashing on me, mobile data finally works, and even the APN settings were configured for me. Root access is protected by SuperSU, which is also built into the settings menu.

I was able to easily get my purchased apps back. The Xposed framework installation was a cakewalk too. Themes are available for Cyanogen ROMs in the Play Store, and virtually anything you want to change is customizable. This is one hell of a ROM.

I've only been running it for 3 hours and I already love it. I may stick with this ROM until CM12 Lollipop matures into an equally stable ROM,  at which point I may run that. If you are thinking of installing a custom ROM on your Moto E or similar device, CyanogenMod and AreaRom10 both come highly recommended.

Of course, there are a few extra packages every Android enthusiast should have:

• The Xposed Framework, with Xprivacy is a must have. It does an excellent job protecting your privacy while not breaking app functionality. I won't ever live without it. Gravitybox is nice, but I may not need it on this ROM.
• AFWall+, the best firewall for rooted Android systems I know of. Smartphones need firewalls for obvious reasons. OpenVPN is also a must have for smartphones, as the security of mobile networks is laughable. GSM encryption is totally broken, in case you didn't know.
• Textsecure for end to end SMS/MMS encryption
•  APM for awesome power menus, ES file explorer cause it's awesome,
•  AIMSID to avoid creepy stingrays & rogue LE run base stations (which are disturbingly prevalent these days. Yes, that is a real thing indeed. As of this very moment, I am connected to a cell tower that should not exist, according to the OpenCellID database. I'd say the chances are around 25% that you are too.