protected apps I don't know about that option. Go for srisurya aosp with layers,slimsaber and my favorite Exodus in original development section. you are good to go. battery life on cyanogen mod roms in always bad. Well only slim based rom going to give you good battery life after aosp.
I have been using this awesome feature since cm11. Settings>Apps>upper right corner. U can also access proected apps by long pressing homescreen.