When Facebook released their Home and Chat Head app many dismissed it out right. But it was clear that whether you were a fan or not, Facebook had created something unique for Android. Although Facebook Home is too limiting of a launcher the Chat Head is a great messaging app. I’m currently using it along with Google Voice on Sprint and really loving it. This concept has now inspired the team behind the Paranoid Android (PA) ROM to take this concept to the next level. We have some glimpse of what they are building.
Paranoid Android ROM is one of the best and most unique ROM on the market. It’s based on AOSP but it’s unique in that it let’s you adjust your device and each app layout and ppi setting. That means you can turn a boring Gmail phone app into the tablet layout with your desired ppi setting. It’s an amazing level of control that works great and enhances your phone capabilities.
So not only is the ROM great but the PA team then introduced PIE control which they made open source so other ROM can use it. PIE are swipe control that appear from any direction you choose and let’s you go home, back, and app list. I absolutely love PIE control and can’t imagine having a ROM without it.
Now the PA team has teased us with a brand new concept inspired by Facebook Chat Head. They have only released a quick picture but digging through the comments it seems to go beyond messages. It’s more of a notification popup that will work with any app and let’s you multi-task. Imagine being on the browser then you get an email. Instead of switching to the Gmail app you get the bubble head notification that you can open and respond while never leaving your browser app. It could lead to real multi-tasking much like we have on windows. The details aren’t fully know yet but hopefully soon. For now check out the PA post on Google+ and stay tuned.
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