Floatify has been around for a little over a year now. It's an app that presents an alternate way to display notifications, specifically the Heads Up (AKA Peeking) notifications that were hidden in Android 4.4 and fleshed out in 5.0. The app has been continuously updated even as Lollipop has become public, and now it's a full-fledged alternative to most of Android's built-in notification systems. The latest update is something really special - we kind of wish Google would steal some of developer Jawomo's ideas.

Specifically, Floatify's notifications are now contextually aware and allow for a staggering amount of customization and extended functionality. While a few apps allow for some actions in a Peeking notification (like the stock alarm's Snooze or Dismiss commands), Floatify adds thoughtful extra capability to some of the most-used apps. Here's a quick look at some of the more notable features:

Swipe down on a text message notification for quick canned replies or a full typed reply, without opening the application itself

Full music controls for Google Music, Poweramp, Spotify, and some stock players

Gestures to manage notifications: swipe down on a notification to expand all notifications currently in the tray

Compatibility with the stock lock screen

Per-app disabling of heads-up notifications and other options

Customizable tap and swipe gestures

Themes, icon pack support, and color settings

It's an impressively comprehensive alternative to Android's stock notifications. Give the free version of Floatify a try if you're using Android 4.1 or later. If you like it and want to enable all of the advanced features, the full version unlock key is $2.49.