Paranoid Android 3 (PA3) Released For Nexus Devices

I'm sure by now you've heard of Paranoid Android. There’s also a good chance that if you own the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, or Nexus 10 you’re either running the ROM yourself or you’ve given it a try in the past.

For these unfamiliar, Paranoid Android’s defining characteristic is what they call Hybrid Engine. Contrary to what many believe, this is not “tablet mode” though that is one of many things that can be accomplished using Hybrid Engine. Rather, Hybrid Engine allows you to select both dpi and layout on a per-app basis. Rather than being forced to modify the look of your entire device, you can optimize your applications to what works best for each and every one.

A new and important feature that has come to light in the recent beta builds, and now sees light in the official release of PA3 is the PIE control system. What this allows one to do is to disable onscreen buttons and use a swipe gesture to access various common functions, thereby freeing up valuable screen real estate. The menu can be seen in the header image above, as well as the video below.

Per-app color, another significant feature in PA3 and recent pre-release builds, allows you set system UI colors on a per-app basis. Want a black system bar for your launcher, but a blue one for Facebook? No problem. Have more eccentric choices in mind? That’s fine too.

The most recent addition is screen calibration for the Google Nexus 4. While the vast majority of third-party reviews have praised the device for its screen, build quality, responsiveness, and overall value; some have been quick to point out that the screen seems under-saturated, especially to those coming from  overly saturated S-AMOLED devices. Rather than trying to offer a simple band-aid solution with RGB calibration, PA3 also corrects for the device’s gamma issues to give it the punch the IPS panel deserves. While you’ll be hard-pressed to find  anyone who says that the Nexus 4 screen looks “bad,” the calibration has been met with much praise thus far, and the team only hopes that these changes are incorporated upstream.

Those eager to get started should visit the link below.


Samsung Galaxy Nexus
LG Nexus 4
Asus Nexus 7
Samsung Nexus 10



Source: XDA Developers

LMT Launcher Brings PIE Without The Custom ROM

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.

Source: XDA Developers