This version represents a second major refactoring of the Application Framework:
All code which the developer should be able to edit (theme, emails content, front end modules) have been moved to the "Application Framework Implementation" application, which is the "demo" of this component. Think of the "demo" as a starter kit for your application. Going forwards, while new features/functionality may get added to the demo, you should not be too worried about if new versions of these modules get release. The actual component itself is where the important changes will occur.
Menus have been reworked, eliminating the data-driven approach which many developers found to be confusing. It was too much configuration.
Due to architecture considerations, the email service module was removed, and the internal REST API was restored, but set up in a way where no post-installation configuration is needed.
At this point, the Application Framework is now a full version 1, production-ready release.
The next version will re-write the demo/starter kit to be Reactive, and be considered version 2.