In a Reddit AMA, the then-Branch CEO Alex Austin also revealed that if Kevin ever left Branch, they would open-source Nova Launcher's code and release it to the community.
Austin is the CEO of a spyware company, while these days it's not seen this way, it's not too far from being a leader of a criminal organization (in my humble opinion).
Two years later, Kevin Barry left Branch and is no longer involved in Nova’s development. In his announcement, Barry revealed that he had been the sole developer for the past year, spending recent months preparing to open source Nova Launcher and clean up its codebase. However, Branch ultimately asked him to stop both development and his open-sourcing efforts.
Depends on the phone. I hated the one on my oneplus 3 so i needed nova but the one on my current phone has the basic customisation options i was using nova for.
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
That talk about substitutes happened when it was initially handed over to said data miner, and anybody concerned should have switched back then. I did, moving to Lawnchair, and never looked back. Oodles of other options are doubtlessly available.
Seems like lemmy.world has the opengraph/teaser stuff disabled? When I open the post on lemmyworld, without an account, it doesn't have a teaser at all.
If you open this comment source link it may very well show.
The interoperability of ActivityPub is nice, but all these differences make it confusing and cumbersome too.
Yep, have been using and currently using Nova for the last 8 years I think. Suuucks to see it go as I couldn't find a viable search based launcher like Nova when it was sold.
I switched to Niagara a few years back because Nova didn't have good support for foldables and tbh I haven't looked back. It's very different but once you get used to it it's much faster than a traditional launcher.
I've been using Niagara for about 6 months now and love it. Having the alphabet down the side of the home screen for immediate 2 tap access to any app is so slick.
I switched to Niagara a few years ago when Nova was sold. True game changer once you get used to it (which doesn't take too long). It works great on phone or tablet. And there is still something SO satisfying about watching the alphabet and apps move with your thumb. It's so smooth and the haptic feedback is perfect (running on Pixel 7, GrapheneOS, and a cheap old Samsung tablet A8).
Random video showing the UI within the first minute:
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
You make it sound as if human greed as part of the human condtion will suddenly and magically disappeared under any other form of trade or political system. That is not what literal history has us shown to be the case, over, and over again.
What fucked it up was he selling to the wrong company. But we do not know why he did it. For all we know, he was tired to taking lead in the project and wanted to cash out. He was entitled to do that, or what is the option, force him to work on it just for your needs or to sell to only the company that you or I approved of? What gives us the right to force their hand?
It sucks but that is what he wanted. We both agree that it us unfortunate though. It is too bad.
That human nature will disappear when provided an egalitarian society is the biggest lie I see parroted over and over again by folks who also demand I read theory.
Our nature isn’t a result of our systems, our systems are a result of our nature
The human condition is dictated by the hegemonic system that is governing.
Monopoly™ the game is structually engineered so that players kill the competition and secure the entire board. Would playing by the game's rules make me inherently a capitalist jerk? No, because they dictate my behaviour and not following them would put me outside the realm of the game (i.e. the system) resulting in my loss (decay).
If the capitalist system incentivizes me to outcompete others and hoard my wealth and, conversely, punishes me for my altruism; then, I am forced to play by the rules of such a system.
"Human nature" is much more complex to be reduced to just greed. This is what's so cool about being humans, we are so malleable and can be many many things either at once or separately.
Edit: I want to give some concrete examples to what I'm saying. Initially, the Google leadership was skeptical about AI funding, because of privacy and environmental concerns. Yet, as rival competition grew they backpedaled because this would mean their spot as the strongest teck company would be usurped. The late hop into AI funding and development heavily impacted their prospects and they remain falling behind in this respect (source). Here, we have an exemplary case of how the system automatically punishes hood deeds and reinforces predatory and greedy acts.
The human condition is dictated by the hegemonic system that is governing.
Monopoly™ the game is structually engineered so that players kill the competition and secure the entire board. Would playing by the game's rules make me inherently a capitalist jerk? No, because they dictate my behaviour and not following them would put me outside the realm of the game (i.e. the system) resulting in my loss (decay).
If the capitalist system incentivizes me to outcompete others and hoard my wealth and, conversely, punishes me for my altruism; then, I am forced to play by the rules of such a system.
"Human nature" is much more complex to be reduced to just greed. This is what's so cool about being humans, we are so malleable and can be many many things either at once or separately.
Edit: I want to give some concrete examples to what I'm saying. Initially, the Google leadership was skeptical about AI funding, because of privacy and environmental concerns. Yet, as rival competition grew they backpedaled because this would mean their spot as the strongest teck company would be usurped. The late hop into AI funding and development heavily impacted their prospects and they remain falling behind in this respect (source). Here, we have an exemplary case of how the system automatically punishes hood deeds and reinforces predatory and greedy acts.
Did you know that Monopoly was originally invented by a woman whose point was how horrible monopolies are? It originally had a co-op mode that could topple monopolies through unions and co-ops.
Her game was bought by a jerk who removed the co-op mode and then claimed Monopoly as his own game. She died penniless.
If the capitalist system incentivizes me to outcompete others and hoard my wealth and, conversely, punishes me for my altruism; then, I am forced to play by the rules of such a system.
So change it... or be a pebble in the mountain of change.
You make it sound as if every system is perfectly equal, and that all humans are the same, and that nothing we choose or decide matters at all and that the only form of existence is the one we are seeing right now.
Jesus christ if this was a film you'd happily be hooked up to a bunch of tubes in a goo pod pretending you're free.
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 stuck with Neo for ages waiting for updates to fix the last few issues.....and they never came. Neo would be perfect if someone forked it and continued development.
Nice list. I recently started using Fossify Launcher and have been pretty happy with it. It's simple but does what I need. Thought I'd mention it as it's absent from that list.
Fossify is a tad too basic for me. I use the dialler and calculator. Both have slight issues. The calculator always starts with zero so tapping 1416 will give you 14016.
Dialler doesnt seem to wake or respond as quick as others.
I take it as it is given I know it is private and open but still there are gaps in UI and UX with foss that I wish were a bigger priority.
Speaking of calculators on android, I recently found an old silver link cable on ebay, which connects TI calculators to a computer, allowing me to dump the ROM of my old TI89. Loading up that rom in the 'graph89' emulator app is an amazing addition to a phone. Blows the socks off any calculator app.
But yes, fossify apps are simple. They do seem to be under active development, so hopefully they shape up nicely in the future.
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.
That's the one feature I am missing after switching to Lawnchair. This and the additional gestures it allowed to configure which I used extensively for like quickly opening my 2FA app. Man how I miss those features...
Man, I've been using it for a long time. I was going to buy the forever sub a while ago and never did. When did it jump to $42. I could've sworn it was like 20.
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?
Searching is way faster than trying to keep stuff organized in folders and screens. You get at least two clicks anyway and you keyboard is already there.
I just use the Fairphone 2 Launcher and it's fine 🤷🏻
I used Nova on my last phone and it worked great, I paid for pro. So I know what I'm missing, not worth it to get back in the Google Play Store system though. I like being anon with no Google account, especially considering Nova sold to a company that data mines user data?
themurphy
in reply to ardi60 • • •We still have hope if they keep their promise!
Alphane Moon
in reply to themurphy • • •themurphy
in reply to Alphane Moon • • •Alphane Moon
in reply to themurphy • • •noodlejetski (he/him)
in reply to themurphy • • •And thanks for all the Tempeh
teslacoilapps.comthemurphy
in reply to noodlejetski (he/him) • • •trashcan
in reply to themurphy • • •Read a bit further:
themurphy
in reply to trashcan • • •Yeah, I read it. But they still promised open source, nothing about Barry working on it or not.
That's why I said "keeping their promise"
Rob T Firefly
in reply to themurphy • • •Laurel Raven
in reply to Rob T Firefly • • •trashcan
in reply to themurphy • • •NaClKnight
in reply to ardi60 • • •gilokee
in reply to ardi60 • • •like this
miguel likes this.
Lena
in reply to ardi60 • • •Pipster
in reply to Lena • • •9point6
in reply to ardi60 • • •Covenant
in reply to 9point6 • • •ScrotusMaximus
in reply to ardi60 • • •anguo
in reply to ScrotusMaximus • • •ScrotusMaximus
in reply to anguo • • •Stovetop
in reply to ScrotusMaximus • • •0x0
in reply to Stovetop • • •UnfairUtan
in reply to ScrotusMaximus • • •DrDystopia
in reply to ardi60 • • •lechekaflan
in reply to ardi60 • • •I hate being hinted and asked to click on the link, so I save you a click:
Now that Nova is in literal limbo, if not allegedly in the hands of some data miner, there should be talk about substitutes.
like this
dcpDarkMatter, miguel e giantpaper like this.
dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️
in reply to lechekaflan • • •Lawnchair
lawnchair.appAkasazh
in reply to dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️ • • •Edce
in reply to dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️ • • •Lawnchair was too bare bones for me. However, I was able to recreate 90%+ of my Nova setup with Neo.
github.com/NeoApplications/Neo…
GitHub - NeoApplications/Neo-Launcher: Neo-Launcher
GitHubStatick
in reply to Edce • • •Edce
in reply to Statick • • •Their other projects are in active development, so I wouldn't consider it to be abandoned.
I haven't had any issues besides the desktop being occasionally unresponsive. Same thing used to happen to me in Nova.
It's FOSS and suits my needs. But I can see why others may want to stay away from it.
github.com/NeoApplications
Neo Collective
GitHub0x0
in reply to lechekaflan • • •Kissaki
in reply to lechekaflan • • •Are you using a different client? Without teaser texts? The Lemmy website mentions Nova in the teaser.
lechekaflan
in reply to Kissaki • • •I'm on the PC and using Firefox, viewing Lemmy directly rather than on mobile.
I see only this.
Kissaki
in reply to lechekaflan • • •Seems like lemmy.world has the opengraph/teaser stuff disabled? When I open the post on lemmyworld, without an account, it doesn't have a teaser at all.
If you open this comment source link it may very well show.
The interoperability of ActivityPub is nice, but all these differences make it confusing and cumbersome too.
That Weird Vegan
in reply to lechekaflan • • •it's android. what do you expect? It's one giant data miner.
nshibj
in reply to lechekaflan • • •kaitco
in reply to ardi60 • • •I don’t even know how to use Android without Nova…
Why does nothing good ever last?
like this
miguel e giantpaper like this.
overload
in reply to kaitco • • •Rekorse
in reply to kaitco • • •Dran
in reply to kaitco • • •spacejank
in reply to Dran • • •oaklandnative
in reply to Dran • • •I switched to Niagara a few years ago when Nova was sold. True game changer once you get used to it (which doesn't take too long). It works great on phone or tablet. And there is still something SO satisfying about watching the alphabet and apps move with your thumb. It's so smooth and the haptic feedback is perfect (running on Pixel 7, GrapheneOS, and a cheap old Samsung tablet A8).
Random video showing the UI within the first minute:
youtu.be/sh6q5bjcaXQ
- YouTube
youtu.beYaxPasaj
in reply to ardi60 • • •like this
miguel likes this.
Tetsuo
in reply to ardi60 • • •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.
like this
miguel likes this.
arin
in reply to Tetsuo • • •FriendBesto
in reply to arin • • •You make it sound as if human greed as part of the human condtion will suddenly and magically disappeared under any other form of trade or political system. That is not what literal history has us shown to be the case, over, and over again.
What fucked it up was he selling to the wrong company. But we do not know why he did it. For all we know, he was tired to taking lead in the project and wanted to cash out. He was entitled to do that, or what is the option, force him to work on it just for your needs or to sell to only the company that you or I approved of? What gives us the right to force their hand?
It sucks but that is what he wanted. We both agree that it us unfortunate though. It is too bad.
prettybunnys
in reply to FriendBesto • • •That human nature will disappear when provided an egalitarian society is the biggest lie I see parroted over and over again by folks who also demand I read theory.
Our nature isn’t a result of our systems, our systems are a result of our nature
See: sh.itjust.works/comment/208518…
Tatar_Nobility
2025-09-06 17:24:12
Tatar_Nobility
in reply to prettybunnys • • •The human condition is dictated by the hegemonic system that is governing.
Monopoly™ the game is structually engineered so that players kill the competition and secure the entire board. Would playing by the game's rules make me inherently a capitalist jerk? No, because they dictate my behaviour and not following them would put me outside the realm of the game (i.e. the system) resulting in my loss (decay).
If the capitalist system incentivizes me to outcompete others and hoard my wealth and, conversely, punishes me for my altruism; then, I am forced to play by the rules of such a system.
"Human nature" is much more complex to be reduced to just greed. This is what's so cool about being humans, we are so malleable and can be many many things either at once or separately.
Edit: I want to give some concrete examples to what I'm saying. Initially, the Google leadership was skeptical about AI funding, because of privacy and environmental concerns. Yet, as rival competition grew they backpedaled because this would mean their spot as the strongest teck company would be usurped. The late hop into AI funding and development heavily impacted their prospects and they remain falling behind in this respect (source). Here, we have an exemplary case of how the system automatically punishes hood deeds and reinforces predatory and greedy acts.
Google unceremoniously dropped its promise of carbon neutrality, with emissions rising nearly 50% over the last five years
Eva Roytburg (Fortune)joshchandra
in reply to Tatar_Nobility • • •Did you know that Monopoly was originally invented by a woman whose point was how horrible monopolies are? It originally had a co-op mode that could topple monopolies through unions and co-ops.
Her game was bought by a jerk who removed the co-op mode and then claimed Monopoly as his own game. She died penniless.
So change it... or be a pebble in the mountain of change.
prettybunnys
in reply to Tatar_Nobility • • •Yes of course, humanity didn’t start until we figured out capitalism.
How could I have been so naive
tomiant
in reply to FriendBesto • • •You make it sound as if every system is perfectly equal, and that all humans are the same, and that nothing we choose or decide matters at all and that the only form of existence is the one we are seeing right now.
Jesus christ if this was a film you'd happily be hooked up to a bunch of tubes in a goo pod pretending you're free.
neclimdul
in reply to Tetsuo • • •like this
SaltySalamander likes this.
Edce
in reply to neclimdul • • •I wonder if additional revenue may have helped.
cRazi_man
in reply to ardi60 • • •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.
Home
εxodussurfrock66
in reply to cRazi_man • • •cRazi_man
in reply to surfrock66 • • •100%
I stuck with Neo for ages waiting for updates to fix the last few issues.....and they never came. Neo would be perfect if someone forked it and continued development.
thax
in reply to cRazi_man • • •Squizzy
in reply to thax • • •Fossify is a tad too basic for me. I use the dialler and calculator. Both have slight issues. The calculator always starts with zero so tapping 1416 will give you 14016.
Dialler doesnt seem to wake or respond as quick as others.
I take it as it is given I know it is private and open but still there are gaps in UI and UX with foss that I wish were a bigger priority.
joshchandra
in reply to Squizzy • • •Qalculate! | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository
f-droid.orgthax
in reply to Squizzy • • •Speaking of calculators on android, I recently found an old silver link cable on ebay, which connects TI calculators to a computer, allowing me to dump the ROM of my old TI89. Loading up that rom in the 'graph89' emulator app is an amazing addition to a phone. Blows the socks off any calculator app.
But yes, fossify apps are simple. They do seem to be under active development, so hopefully they shape up nicely in the future.
trashcan
in reply to ardi60 • • •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.
Eldaroth
in reply to trashcan • • •hefty4871
in reply to trashcan • • •trashcan
in reply to hefty4871 • • •ripcord
in reply to ardi60 • • •God DAMMIT.
I don't know why, but this is some proverbial straw for me today. Motherfuck.
SoleInvictus
in reply to ripcord • • •alecsargent
in reply to ardi60 • • •/home/pineapplelover
in reply to alecsargent • • •TrumpetX
in reply to /home/pineapplelover • • •glitchdx
in reply to ardi60 • • •if it's nova launcher I'm gonna be pissed.
edit: it's nova launcher. fucking fuck.
like this
jafffacakelemmy likes this.
interdimensionalmeme
in reply to glitchdx • • •Hey by any chance do you have the last APK file and the SHA256 of that file ?
Oh wait, it this it ?
apkmirror.com/apk/teslacoil-so…
Name: com.teslacoilsw.launcher_8.1.1-81001_minAPI26(arm64-v8a,armeabi-v7a)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk
Size: 11970405 bytes (11 MiB)
SHA256: 30bccfdd995969089ad364a7a6bb7bbea482a703fbfb30ebccad6418aa977fec
Is there an x86_64 version ?
Just making sure we've got the last version saved
Oh wait, it's not open source ? And they've been acquired in 2022 ?
date of acquisition 2022-07-19
Ok, last one before the acquisition, just in case
apkmirror.com/apk/teslacoil-so…
Name: com.teslacoilsw.launcher_8.0.2-80002_minAPI26(arm64-v8a,armeabi-v7a)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk
Size: 12580956 bytes (11 MiB)
SHA256: 61a760413387dde99f2a2ef4b065caf278b575c8028cc5b3092f05192cfee258
thatradomguy
in reply to glitchdx • • •hansolo
in reply to glitchdx • • •cheers_queers
in reply to ardi60 • • •crocswithsocks
in reply to cheers_queers • • •Tiefa
in reply to cheers_queers • • •Gaja0
in reply to ardi60 • • •Mine for the last 3 years
f-droid.org/packages/fr.neamar…
KISS Launcher | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository
f-droid.orgAbsolutePain
in reply to Gaja0 • • •ksyko
in reply to ardi60 • • •Matriks404
in reply to ardi60 • • •Derpgon
in reply to Matriks404 • • •AussieWanderer
in reply to Matriks404 • • •youmaynotknow
in reply to ardi60 • • •Lileath
in reply to ardi60 • • •Demdaru
in reply to Lileath • • •Lifter
in reply to Demdaru • • •AbsolutePain
in reply to Lileath • • •pulsewidth
in reply to ardi60 • • •I just use the Fairphone 2 Launcher and it's fine 🤷🏻
I used Nova on my last phone and it worked great, I paid for pro. So I know what I'm missing, not worth it to get back in the Google Play Store system though. I like being anon with no Google account, especially considering Nova sold to a company that data mines user data?
HulkSmashBurgers
in reply to ardi60 • • •I've been using kvaesitso. I like it!
f-droid.org/packages/de.mm20.l…
Kvaesitso | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository
f-droid.orgEvil_Shrubbery
in reply to HulkSmashBurgers • • •HulkSmashBurgers
in reply to Evil_Shrubbery • • •Evil_Shrubbery
in reply to HulkSmashBurgers • • •Oh yeah, I don't often use it, but it helps me sometimes for apps I rarely use (but have tagged).
Also the button to disable all work (profile) apps is neatly placed.
ilinamorato
in reply to HulkSmashBurgers • • •galunga89
in reply to ardi60 • • •alekwithak
in reply to galunga89 • • •ibot
in reply to ardi60 • • •