Paranoid Android introduces Hover notifications in latest beta

The Paranoid Android team announced that they would reinvent their custom ROM as well as how they incorporate new features and they have slowly been delivering on that promise. In the latest beta release, Paranoid Android is introducing Hover to replace the multitasking but somewhat obtrusive Halo notifications.

Halo was a notification system that took inspiration from the Chatheads popularized by Facebook. Notifications popped up in floating circles that users can drag around to reposition. Tapping and dragging on the circle will then reveal a floating window that will then let users interact with the notification in the associated app without having to leave the app you were previously using. But while the feature offered multi-tasking convenience and gained a good amount of fans, the code for Halo stagnated, which gave Paranoid Android the perfect opportunity to rethink the feature, leading us to the new notification called Hover.

Hover does away with the floating circle and instead uses a panel that slides out from the top, practically the same effect you'd see in the current Android notification system. Of course, Hover offers more features than that. The slideout panel itself is quite larger, making it easier to see and hit with your finger, something that you will want to do. The notification automatically disappears after a few seconds but tapping and holding on the notification will keep it visible until you release your finger and let the timer count down again. Like Halo, however, you still have the floating window that contains a full app in case you want to read the notification in full or reply to it. The video below shows Hover in action.

Hover is definitely an interesting and potential useful feature but, unfortunately, it isn't available to just any Android user but only those running the Paranoid Android ROM. Together with the new Peek lockscreen notifications, Hover is sure to bring Paranoid Android new users who will appreciate the added functionality without straying too much from an AOSP experience and codebase.

SOURCE: +Paranoid Android

Story Timeline

• Paranoid Android 'HALO' unified notifications get shown off
• Paranoid Android drops Halo floating notifications
• Paranoid Android redefines itself to stick closer to AOSP
• Paranoid Android teases Peek active notifications
• Paranoid Android Peek notification explained and demonstrated

source: androidcommunity