The first alpha builds for Paranoid Android that have the new HALO feature baked in have been out for a week now, but one thing they seriously lacked was the ability to handle multiple notifications. Well, it appears the addition of this feature is just about ready for launch and have been previewed in a new video found on YouTube. 

HALO allows users to access any system app notification while inside another app. No more backing out of apps to view notifications and reply to friend’s messages. Everything is handled through HALO. Once this is launched, multiple notifications will be handled with an easy swipe of your finger. Watch the video and then stand up and clap for the developers of PA. This feature looks slick.

All I can say is, I want it right now.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Cheers JetBlue!

Video: Preview of Paranoid Android’s HALO With Multiple Notification Support is a post from: Droid Life

Paranoid Android’s HALO feature is currently the talk of the custom ROM town. Acting as a “Chat Head on steroids,” you can get system-wide notifications popped up in a fully-functional chat bubble for easy access and management. It works for any app no matter where you are throughout your device. If you are playing a game and get an email, you can easily pop up the bubble, reply, then get back to gaming. No need to leave the game. It’s pretty sweet. 

With all of that said, there is still some work to be done. For example, the ability to manage multiple notifications simultaneously would be helpful, as well as the ability to re-size the HALO. These are alpha builds, so who knows what else we can expect from this extremely talented team of developers.

To get Halo onto your device, download the ROM here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video: Hands-on With Paranoid Android’s HALO Feature is a post from: Droid Life

Over the weekend, the first alpha builds of the 3.50 Paranoid Android ROM hit the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7. Starting today, all of you Galaxy Nexus owners can get in on the fun too. What makes Paranoid Android so special is that it features the fancy new Halo feature, something we have been chatting about for the past week. With Halo, you can have a system-wide Chat Head-like feature for your most recent notification. It’s new, sexy, and very cool. 

To download the build, follow the via link to XDA down below. Be on the lookout for a hands-on video with Halo sometime later today.

Via: XDA

Cheers Will, Jeremy, and Mike!

Builds of Paranoid Android 3.50 Now Up for Verizon “toro” Galaxy Nexus is a post from: Droid Life

The HALO feature for Paranoid Android ROM is now available in to owners of the Nexus 4 (mak0). This first build with HALO should be considered an “alpha” or really early build, but will at least give you a chance to play around with what should be considered one of the most groundbreaking ROM features we have seen in some time. 

For those who missed our coverage of HALO, think of it as the ultimate multi-tasking add-on, in that it takes notifications and apps, and allows you to access them via floating icon that can be moved to any location on your screen. In a way, it takes Facebook’s Chat Heads concept and pushes it to the limit.

The video below shows off its power.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’ll see builds for the Nexus 7 next, followed by the Galaxy Nexus.

Download Links:  Nexus 4 ROM | Nexus 7 ROM | Google Apps

Update:  Nexus 7 ROM now available.

Via:  +Paranoid Android

Cheers Mitchell!

First Builds of Paranoid Android With Alpha HALO Feature Rolling Out (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life

Click here to view the embedded video.

We first wrote up that the Paranoid Android team was working on something big earlier this week, with many folks voicing quite a bit of excitement. It appeared to be a multi-window/Chat Heads feature that allows users to be inside any app and access other app’s notifications from anywhere on the device, without having to access the notification bar. So in essence, this feature acts as a Chat Head, but is completely system wide for all apps. Today, we are getting our first real look at Halo. 

Halo looks to almost reinvent the way we interact with notifications, taking regular multi-tasking and injecting it with steroids. So far, it looks very smooth for still being in early development stages, which has me pretty excited.

It is still unavailable for download, but as soon as alpha builds starting going up, we will link you to them.

Cheers Shamus!

Video: First Look at Paranoid Android’s Halo Feature in Action is a post from: Droid Life

Details are still scarce as to what exactly is going on, but there are plenty of teasers on Google+ and YouTube taking place, showing proof of concept for a new “multi-window” feature that is to be baked into the Paranoid Android ROM. Please allow me to try and explain. Imagine a Chat Heads-like function for every application on your device. That is what they are working on. 

From what they have said on their G+ page, this will be a marriage (that’s what we’re calling it) between multi-windows and Chat Heads, allowing users to access apps/messages while they are doing anything else on their device. For example, if you are playing a game that takes up your full screen, then get a message on Gtalk, a window will pop up allowing you full control over Gtalk while still inside your game. This functionality will work for any app on your phone. Facebook, Skype, uploading photos to Dropbox, or anything else you might need to do on your phone.

If this sounds exciting to you (it certainly should), you can expect alpha builds to start popping up for Nexus devices within the next couple of days according to the video’s uploader on YouTube. In the mean time, below is a video showing off the initial concept, but how it actually works and looks will be different according to the uploader. Once builds go up, we will link you to them.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via: +Paranoid Android

Cheers Chris and everyone else who sent this in!

Paranoid Android to Introduce New Multi-Windowing Chat Head-like Feature in Upcoming Alpha Build is a post from: Droid Life

This week, the CyanogenMod team announced that their newest nightly ROM builds of CM10.1 would include Pie Controls. We have been a fan of Pie since we first saw it being used in Paranoid Android, so it made us happy to hear it was coming to the more widely-used CyanogenMod. To help show some folks how to enable Pie Controls and set them up, we put together this nice little video that you see below. 

The truth is that we spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to set it up ourselves, so we are sparing you any possible frustration down the road.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video: How to Set Up Pie Controls on CyanogenMod Nightlies is a post from: Droid Life

Custom ROM’s are still a large part of this community, with two of the top dogs being AOKP and Paranoid Android for a multitude of devices. If you are currently running one of their previous builds, then it looks like it is time to update.

Over the weekend, a release candidate for Paranoid Android 3+ was uploaded to XDA, along with an extremely awesome/in-depth hands-on video giving an overview of the ROM and its features such as hybrid property settings. These settings allow you to change the layout of the entire device and for individual apps. For example, you can use the tablet UI for the Gmail app if you so choose and any other app that is compatible. Definitely watch the video if you are prepared for your mind to be blown. 

As for AOKP, Build 3 of the JB-Mr1 ROM is up and ready for flashing. Inside there is a new UI mode selector, lockscreen options, and a ton of new options for the navigation bar. For a full rundown of each new addition for the ROM’s, go ahead and follow the download links which will take you to their respective homepages.

Don’t forget to make a backup!

Downloads: AOKP | Paranoid Android

Click here to view the embedded video.

Cheers Jeff and Kimir!

Custom ROM Monday: AOKP JB-MR1 Build 3 and Paranoid Android 3+ is a post from: Droid Life

If you have been following our coverage of Paranoid Android ROM’s PIE and full desktop features, then we also wanted to direct you to an app with similar qualities that can be installed outside of a ROM. It’s called LMT Launcher, and it has been around for quite some time – November 2011 to be exact. It received a pretty major update today, though, so we wanted to make sure you were all aware of it. Its set of features is quite close to the PIE from PA’s ROM that we showed you, but only requires that you be rooted in order to use it. So for those of you looking for PIE goodness while remaining stock, this is an option. 

In the video below, I summarize the launcher in the briefest of manners. It’s one of those apps that you could probably spend a couple of hours with, tweaking and testing, until you find a setup that you like. But the basics are this – it allows you to setup regions to swipe from to access the PIE menu (pictured above), use gestures for completing actions, and set invisible swipe areas so that you can perform tasks from anywhere. There are custom color options, buttons that can be turned to actions in the PIE menu, and so much more.

If this sounds interesting enough, and it should since it received a sizable update this morning, then check out the video before jumping through to the XDA thread down below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  XDA [Download]

Cheers to everyone that sent this in over the last week!

LMT Launcher Brings “PIE” Goodness Without the Custom ROM is a post from: Droid Life

Last week, we were the first to highlight a feature in Paranoid Android’s ROM called “expanded desktop mode” – better known now as PIE. We called it the coolest ROM feature we had seen in quite some time, even if it was a bit slow and buggy. We could see the potential, something that is now close to a reality.

Yesterday, the PA team posted a status update along with a new video to show the progress they had made. After having re-wrote almost all of the code from scratch, PIE is now “blazing fast” thanks to hardware acceleration and optimized drawing. There is no lag anymore – just watch the video at the bottom of the post to see how far it has come. They are still calling it a beta, yet are willing to admit that it’s mostly good enough for daily use.

Their post claimed that new builds with this latest PIE should be ready within hours. Are any of you running this? 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  +Paranoid Android

Paranoid Android’s “PIE” Feature is Now Incredibly Fast, Closer Than Ever to Prime Time is a post from: Droid Life

The guys behind Paranoid Android ROM are in the process of finishing up their latest build, version 3.0. In a quick teaser to help get their base excited about the release, they published a video that highlights a their “Expanded Desktop Mode” and some of its new features. What is “Expanded Desktop Mode,” you ask? Only the coolest ROM feature I have seen in quite some time. 

The idea behind this feature is to do exactly as the name suggests – give you more desktop space to play with. With a phone like the Nexus 4 or Galaxy Nexus, you have on-screen navigation keys that take up screen real estate, so this idea makes perfect sense. The Paranoid team decided to hide the navigation keys from sight, but still make them accessible with a swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen. They also chose to hide the notification bar in this mode to give you even more display space.

What you get is a full-screen experience, but with quick access to all of your important functions with a single swipe and hold. As you’ll see in the video, Google Now is still easily accessible, as is multi-tasking, a battery meter, the clock, date, and even notifications. Oh, you can also control the color of the nav menu depending on the app you are in.

Go watch the video, then pick your jaw up, and think about flashing this ROM. From what I can tell, the first builds are rolling out today.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  +Paranoid Android [2]

Cheers FrankN!

“Expanded Desktop Mode” in Paranoid Android ROM is the Coolest ROM Feature I’ve Seen in a Long Time is a post from: Droid Life