Until then that line summed up the project for you and then gave the latest news, and ended with ... when it was longer than the row.
What it said is still in the app: the unread updates are the grey number next to the name, split across the project's tabs when you open it; someone working now is the green dot next to the name; a connection problem is the yellow sign in place of the icon, which explains the reason when you click it; the latest news is in the project's Activity and Overview, where every event is in full.
Search projects still looks in the latest activity of each project, so you can find a project by what was done in it, and clicking anywhere on the row opens the project. See What does a project row in the Projects list show?.