Among all the custom ROM solutions out there for Android phones, there are a few that stand out and are recognizable by name alone. CyanogenMod is one of course, but there are also the likes of AOKP, Paranoid Android and Carbon to name a few. Each ROM has its own unique traits that draw users in, and the Paranoid Android team is no stranger to designing new and exciting features for its users. One of the recent developments from the team has been something called Notification Peek, which gives you a Moto X style lockscreen that gives you a quick glance at notifications that have appeared since you last turned your screen off. This feature is found in the settings menu on any newer build of Paranoid Android, and is activated by simply lifting the phone off a flat surface after a notification is received. You can then toggle through active notifications by clicking the icons on the screen and Peek will give you a preview of what that notification says all without having to turn off your phone.
But what if you’re not willing to root and install a ROM on your precious phone, or another ROM is your OS of choice? Thankfully developer Zhe Lu on Google+ has released a stand alone APK that can be installed on any Android phone running Android 4.4.2 KitKat, and best of all it’s not only easy to install, it’s also free! Simply head on over to GitHub and grab the latest version, which is denoted by the green latest version image on the left side of the page. The file is called NotificationPeekPort-release.apk and then can be installed by simply clicking the notification you received in your notification bar, or if you can’t find that go to your app drawer and click on downloads. Once you start up the install it’s likely going to ask you to enable “unknown sources,” which can be done by clicking the button presented and checking the “allow unknown sources” box in security options. Once that’s done the installer will finish and you can open the application, found in your app drawer as Notification Peek.
The interface is simple as it only has two buttons, “enable notification access” and “enable device access.” The first is needed to display your notifications on the screen, and the second is to take over your lock screen when notifications are present. Once these two are enabled all you’ve got to do is effortlessly lift your device after receiving a notification, and enjoy!