Before the 2013 ends, Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy S3 Mini received new firmware releases of Android 4.4.2 KitKat based on the latest CyanogenMod 11. It features all CM goodies with stable system on Galaxy S3 Mini and less CPU usage on audio playback on the Galaxy Ace 2.

CyanogenMod 11 Latest Release

Maclaw Studio caught the latest firmware releases of CyanogenMod 11 running Android 4.4.2 KitKat for Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini and Galaxy Ace 2. It include several system improvements and fixed certain bugs to bring stability on the system.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini CM 11

Released on December 29th for Galaxy S3 Mini and recommended to be flashed using TWRP custom recovery. It highlights the following changes on the Galaxy S3 Mini running the previous CM 11 build.

- Updated CyanogenMod sources

- Stable release

- New RIL is now stable

- Repaired the camera app sources

- Removed the no-needed codecs from OMX implementation

- Faster boot up

- Odin package updated

- No longer buggy Bluetooth, GPS, sensors, drivers and offline charging

It still bring the following features found on the previous build:

- 2D/3D hardware acceleration

- Audio support

- GPS and A-GPS

- Glonass navigation

- Compass and sensors

- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 with LE support plus native tethers

- CM 11 functionality

- Kernel version 3.0.101

- YouTube HQ

- Camera and video playback

- Offline charging

- No 1 GHz bug

Samsung Ace 2 CM 11

New CyanogenMod 11 firmware for Galaxy Ace 2 was released on December 30th and can be flashed using any recovery mode. Here are the following changes of the latest CM 11 version for Ace 2:

- Updated CM sources

- Less CPU usage on audio playing

- Changes for native FM radio support

- Added missing codec in OMX implementation

Features from the previous build:

- 2D/3D hardware acceleration

- Working audio output

- A-GPS and GPS

- Glonass navigation

- Compass and sensors

- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth with A2DP with native tethering

- CM 11 functions

- CPU sleep mode

- YouTube HQ

- Camera and video playback

- Working storages

- Offline charging

- Can be flashed via Odin tool

If you are interested to bring both devices on Android 4.4 KitKat, you need to root the smartphone then install a custom recovery as recommended.

Quick Steps to Flash

1. Download the CM 11 ROM and Google Apps package to your computer.

2. Enable USB debugging on your smartphone.

3. Copy and paste the CyanogenMod 11 build and Google Apps package to the SD card of the device.

4. Reboot into recovery mode then create a nAndroid backup of the current ROM.

5. If you are not from any previous CyanogenMod custom ROM, you need to select wipe data, wipe cache partition and wipe Dalvik cache.

6. Install the CM 11 and Google Apps by selecting "install zip from SD card."

7. Reboot the smartphone and wait for at least five minutes before it reaches the home screen.