Ad company buys popular launcher -> promises its not going anywhereΒ°> breaks promise
Who could have seen that coming? /s
this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2025
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Android
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WTF
Open sourcing would've been so great...
Fuck Branch.io
So glad I moved on early
Same. I moved to lawn chair when I head about the Nova sale.
Open sourcing Nova would be a huge game changer. Hopefully the original creator can find something in legal where he can release it himself. I am sure a lot of devs would love to help him clean it up ready for open sourcing.
So Branch reneged on their agreement? Super scummy.
I've been using Lawnchair ever since the buyout was announced. It's a downgrade from Nova tbh but it's good enough.
Dang. I still haven't found a replacement that has features I use like pulling up on an icon giving different actions, the separate "work" tab in the app list for my ~~porn~~work profile apps, assigning apps to categories such as 'games', etc.
I'd love suggestions if anyone is using something feature full that they like
Kvaesitso
Hmm. Doesn't look like it supports traditional put-them-where-you-want-on-multiple-screens icons. That's a deal breaker for me, but thank you
Ah sorry I should've mentioned that. I saw the part about the work tab which kvaesitso can show.
Check out Octopi Launcher. It's in early development but it's been usable for awhile now. I like it so much I contributed to the developer.
Shelter from f droid is what I use to keep a separate work profile on my phone
Sure, I'm using Island for that (found it first years ago), but my point was that Nova launcher handles it nicely.
I've been quiet please with Neo Launcher
A build hasn't been released on GitHub for awhile, but there is an active branch and a more recent build on the telegram/matrix chat. The 0.9.3 version has worked well enough for me.
I haven't used the features but in the Drawer section of the settings, there is "Categorise Apps" and "Second tab for Work apps".
I do wish that Nova was open source, that's basically the only reason I switched.
Ok, I'll try that out. Thanks!
I'm also looking into Lawnchair.
Smart launcher has auto app categorizing. You can add a catergory for work apps and put their work related apps in there.
I've been using Niagara since the first stink of this was in the wind - price tag, yes, but I love it.
Weird, launchers like this have such a small niche community already. I'm surprised they want to piss them off. Linux/nerds like us aren't well known for being forgiving.
Good on the nerds.
Any replacements? I'm looking for a traditional launcher that let's me put apps and widgets on screens, let's me choose the grid size, and which let's me set a search bar that is not chrome.
The minamalist ones or the ones with everything in a list aren't what I need.
Been using Lawnchair. Not as good, but best I've found.
I tried it multiple times but I can't add a single widget :/
I think there's a system level permission for that.
As I remember it, the pop up asking, appeared automatically the first time.
Yeah I get the pop up, check always allow but it's still not working
I get the same issue with widgets on Fossify Launcher (but not Nova or OneUI) and sadly the other FOSS launchers are really too minimamist for my use
I've been on Neo Launcher ever since Nova was sold. It's FOSS and has the features you're looking for but not nearly what Nova had. Been happy with it all this time.
Unfortunately, it hasn't updated in nearly 3 years, which doesn't bode well for future Android release compatibility.
Unfortunately, it hasnβt updated in nearly 3 years, which doesnβt bode well for future Android release compatibility.
Commits to the Github repository keep going but the developer doesn't seem to realize the importance of more regular but smaller in scope releases which attracts users and more users mean more contributors.
I'm shocked and disappointed. But I also moved to kvaesitso when the ad company bought it.
the buying of it by the ad company was awful but there were never any open source fdroid launchers that were as good. kevin open sourcing it will hopefully help get a decent open source launcher going, hopefully!
I'm reading this as it's not going to be open sourced. He was asked to stop working on the app and the open sourcing effort.
yeah i just re-read it and i misunderstood the first time :/
This was bound to happen. Perhaps Barry can make a new launcher that replicates the Nova Experience.
This fucking sucks.... Nothing comes close to Nova and even when it was bought by that shit company I didn't switch because there simply is no good alternative....
First google killing sideloading, now no nova... Android is basically becoming Apple but shitter.
I've never owned an Apple device but I feel like I'm getting pushed to the brink.
Everything that has made Android awesome has been getting killed off.
I totally thought this was about the PBS show.
What's the opinions on pear launcher?
π€¦π€¦π€¦π€¦π€¦π€¦π€¦π€¦π€¦π€¦
I got Nova Premium on a sale and used it ever since, but I had some issues with it on an older phone with lower resources, so I switched to the default launcher (which was still cool btw, I could open the app drawer straight from the recents menu).
After I got a new phone and went for Android 14 I discovered that the search bar in the app drawer of the default launcher opened the Google app instead of being a simple search screen with all the apps. Also, I couldn't have themed icons in the app drawer. So I tried Nova again and it didn't have these either.
I took advantage of this and decided to try something that would not be based on AOSP, and Kvæsitso seems to be pretty much what I was looking for. My only problem is the fact that I cannot add more than one widget per row but that does make for a more minimalist setup tbh.
I guess you can keep using it? I don't think I noticed any new features lately anyways.
I tried other Launchers mentioned like Niagara, MSFT, Octopii, Lawnchair. But, I want horizontal App Drawer and stability like NOVA. Nothing beats NOVA atm. that is shame
I'm looking for a launcher that can hide a folder under a typical icon. I love the swipe up to open the folder, or tap to open the app functionality from Nova. It looks nice but still has everything i commonly use just a swipe and tap away.
I've taken a quick look at Lawnchair, Kvaesitso, and KISS, but those don't seem to have that capability.