After Working on it alone for a year, the founder and original developer of Nova Launcher Kevin Barry has stopped working on Nova Launcher and the open sourcing efforts. More Info: https://teslacoilapps.com/nova/solong.html
I had noticed that Nova had been falling behind for the last couple of years, but I didn’t know why. I’ve been using it for over 10 years.
It sounds like a case of “buy it, kill it” which is pretty sad. If it had been open sourced we might have been able to improve it and keep it alive.
Yeah, they laid off the whole team behind Kevin. I would quit too, if I saw my creation fall that way.
What team? He wrote he was the only one working on Nova for the past year.
For people like me who are worried about the data collection of Nova, we can try asking to remove it.
I had no idea it was sold to an analytics company. That’s real sad.
Edit: direct link to request removal of novalauncher personal data
Having used pixel phones as long as they’ve been around, and used some AOSP based OS, I cannot imagine what it would be to not be able to block network access on a per-application basis.
Calculator app? No, you don’t need to read my contacts or network access to ship it to God knows who. Keyboard app that is an ipso keylogger, also no. Launcher, no… Image gallery? Fuck off.
I trust companies to do the wrong thing, always. They all sell your data. If they ever get caught, the punishment will be less than what they made by it, so why wouldn’t they.
I turned off internet connectivity for Nova and the Nova launcher prime with tracker control, I figure that may help.
I paid for Nova years ago, and have been happily using it ever since. For me, it’s set up in a really minimalist way that fits how I like to use my phone. I’ve never had any need to switch away from it because it works for my needs. Is there any reason I should consider switching away from it :?
When the next version of Android breaks support for it…
My phone still work’s perfectly fine, so I plan to keep using it for as long as I can & it won’t be getting any android os updates any time soon, so I think I’ll be fine. When my phone eventually does give up the ghost, I’ll deal with it then, but until that point, nova should keep working just fine for me…
Does anyone know of a good replacement launcher that supports Private Space?
Lawnchair supports it.
I think Lawnchair is the closest visual / UX replacement to Nova that I’ve found, but it is missing many features compared to Nova 🙁.
Also, I’m starting to learn Private Space is a pain, as amongst other shortcomings it forces you to use a logged-in Play Store to install apps (“private”, my ass!). You can install apks via ADB, but who can be bothered to do that.
Under the hood, it looks like Private Space uses another hidden user, so I think I’ll just make another user logged into nothing and switch to it occasionally instead of using private space.
“Private” from other people who may have access to your phone, but not private from Google. I use it to segment my work and personal stuff, and can still get notifications for both accounts, where as separate users wouldn’t get that.
I’ve been very Happy with Kvaesito which supports private space, but it’s not a typical launcher format
I’m surprised to see how many people use launchers …I’ve always found them heavy for my shitty phones…AOSP launcher seems good enough for me to wanna try something else.
What even is it? Is it like fdroid for example?
That was/is the best part of Nova launcher. Highly customizable, but not laggy or slow
I started using them back in the day, when most phones had a very limited launcher. I have used nova for many years, it has a ton of customization options. I’m not sure how it is these days, but previous phones also came with thing that I did not like and could not disable or remove. Like a permanent Google search bar, or the Google assistant being a dedicated page on your home screen.
I used it many years ago, perhaps 10, and started using it again because it allows me to rename PWAs. I have four instances of Frigate running for various locations and now i can edit their name based on location.
What’s going on, should I stop using Nova? I never paid for it and I like the way it functions…
Technically you can disable automatic updates for it. However at anytime the rights to Nova could be sold to anyone else, and not just a data miner some are talking about, and suddenly the app gets updated but possibly to the wrong direction given its massive install base.
Why would anyone give Nova launcher internet access to begin with?
Fossify launcher is buggy but at least it’s always been open source to my knowledge. Actively developed. All the fossify application. I use them
What’s the appeal of all these alternative launchers? Stock launcher works fine and I’ve never felt like anything was missing. I’m a poweruser on PC but I can hardly think of anything I’d want to do with a phone along poweruser lines.
People want to interact with their devices in ways that fall outside the blessed functions permitted by the corporate designed pattern deemed appropriate for them. If corporate UI works for you, that’s great for you, but it doesn’t for everyone.
I have no idea why you’re so confrontational. I asked a question. I never judged anyone for their preferences. Nobody seems to be able to have a normal conversation on the internet…
It wasn’t meant to be confrontational, sorry about that! I’m not judging anyone who is comfy with the stock experience, just saying that it’s not for everybody.
Consistency between devices. Android isn’t android, everyone mucks with it, especially Samsung.
Yeah, I used Nova on all of my phones before I got a Pixel… The stock Android experience is decent enough that I haven’t felt the need for a third party launcher yet.
Aside from functionality, stock launchers are more often than not inperformant and battery hungry piles of crap.
I add an extra row and column of apps on the home screen, and make the icons bigger so there’s less space between. And bump up the text size since my eyes are getting older.
I’m with you, I never heard of nova launcher until now, and not sure why I would want it.
What’s nova launcher? All I can find is a seemingly proprietary Android launcher with a Twitter as only social media. Doesn’t scream FOSS to me.
Nova Launcher was a very popular launcher many years ago. Its not Foss. If you read the post you’d known that the developer was working to make it open source but now stopped.
Note that the linked article answers your FOSS question.
