If you thought that Paranoid Android would be taking a break after unleashing version 4.4 to its fans, then you have another thing coming. PA developers seem to have an itch they just can't get rid of and have announced two, yes, not one but two, releases. While 4.43 is practically a maintenance release, Paranoid Android 4.5 Alpha 1 contains a preview of the revamped Recents that the team teased before.
Since both 4.43 and 4.5 are based on the same source tree, fixes that have been included in the former also make their way to the latter. These include fixes to Paranoid's OTA system, as well as fixes for Quicksettings. As usual, the new Theme Engine has been synced with upstream. This time, however, a new theme feature was also included, namely the ability to theme the background of the notification list, though PA notes that it only uses a static color for now. Pie will also now be invokable even in KitKat's immersive mode if Pie was called using on the spot feature.
But perhaps those monitoring PA's movement will be more interested in what 4.5 Alpha 1 has to offer. The interest seems to be focused around the redesigned Recent Apps visuals. In particular, this new Recents tries to bring the visual style that was shown in Android L, making the vertical list of apps take up the center of the screen in a tickler style instead of a simple and straight list. PA's implementation, however, is also a bit fancier, with animations and skewed perspectives applied when fiddling with the list.
PA notes that this is just a preview, meaning that not only should bugs and issues be expected, but also that the design hasn't been set in stone yet. It definitely needs a few more iterations, which will most likely make PA fans all the more eager for the next update.
SOURCE: Paranoid Android