Technology

I hate being hinted and asked to click on the link, so I save you a click:

It’s the end of an era: the founder and original developer of Nova Launcher — Kevin Barry — has stepped away from the development of the iconic custom launcher. This essentially marks the end of the road for the launcher, as it is unlikely to receive updates or new features. For years now, Nova Launcher has been the go-to launcher for power Android users, standing out for its plethora of customization options and features.

Now that Nova is in literal limbo, if not allegedly in the hands of some data miner, there should be talk about substitutes.

• This app may share these data types with third parties
• This app may collect these data types

if it's nova launcher I'm gonna be pissed.

edit: it's nova launcher. fucking fuck.

For those coming looking for alternatives, this mega comparison chart is what I used to select an alternative launcher when I switched.

I would strongly recommend checking this site for the trackers in an app if you're at all concerned about privacy. Links to each app's exodus privacy report is also at the end of the table linked above.

I might be misremembering but wasn't it bought out by one of those data harvesting companies a while ago?

I'm very thankful to Kevin for this amazing launcher that I'm still using to this day.

Also a bit disapointed he trusted Branch and gave them the opportunity to ruin it.

I don’t even know how to use Android without Nova…

Why does nothing good ever last?

Fuck, I've been using this since I got an android phone in 2008. RIP.

God DAMMIT.

I don't know why, but this is some proverbial straw for me today. Motherfuck.

Mine for the last 3 years

https://f-droid.org/packages/fr.neamar.kiss

Its Lawnchair or nothing for me.

KISS has been the only reasonable launcher ever since Android ruined it's overview system.

Does anyone have recommendations to replace Nova?

I've been using kvaesitso. I like it!

https://f-droid.org/packages/de.mm20.launcher2.release/

Niagara launcher has been my go to for years now

These companies lack any sort of common sense. Nova is used (and suggested) by Android users that are at least minimally tech-savvy. What on earth would make them believe that news like this one would remain secret, and therefore allow them to keep the userbase to suck on their data?

Niagara is my favorite by far, i have been paying for pro for years

gahdam...end of an era. This sucks.

Am I the only person that uses KISS launcher on this site? Once I got used to how it functions switching to something different will be hard.

Dammit. I knew I should she already switched once they were bought but I couldn't find anything that matched the features at the time.

I really like being able to set swipe actions on my icons. For example swiping up or down on an icon will open an alternative app, folder, or a specific functionality. It's allowed me to keep a clean screen while keeping everything I need accessible.