After Nova Launcher was acquired by Branch about two years ago I did keep using it. For the past two years this has been mostly fine and I also have not seen any indication they did anything shady...
After Nova Launcher was acquired by Branch about two years ago I did keep using it. For the past two years this has been mostly fine and I also have not seen any indication they did anything shady with the launcher. But this news does not bode very well for the future of the Launcher.
So I guess it is about time to find another launcher. It is a shame there are very few choices for the features I am looking for. A lot of the open source ones seem to go for minimalism, not something I am all that interested in. The rest of the open source ecosystem is sort of meh...
Lawnchair might work for what you're seeking. I use Unlauncher, which is minimal, but with a great search bar and ability to rename all your apps. KISS looks like another interesting...
Frankly, I don't trust Lawnchair's development either. It has some activity this year but practially had been abandoned for a few years before that. The new version is still in Beta so I might...
Frankly, I don't trust Lawnchair's development either. It has some activity this year but practially had been abandoned for a few years before that. The new version is still in Beta so I might check back on it from time to time.
I appreciate the other suggestions, but am explicitly not looking for minimal launchers. I am actively using the different homescreen pages:
The main one has just a clock and a weather widget from our local weather agency.
One agenda related with two widgets (month vs next appointments)
One page with app shortcuts to apps I frequently want to use. To be clear, sorted and determined by me, not the sort of automatically determined thing.
kvaesitso checked most boxes when I last looked at an alternative a few months ago but I didn't quite like it either. I probably need to bite the bullet and try it (and possibly still a few other launchers) without expecting it to do exactly the same as before :)
Edit:
Just installed kvaesitso again and put a bit of time into setting it up. Found a setting that allows me to double press home to open search which is great! Still doesn't feel quite right but most of what I want it to do no does work :)
Out of curiosity, what version of android are you on? I'm on 14 and the home button is long gone. It took me a while to get muscle memory for the new gestures, and sometimes the back gesture...
Out of curiosity, what version of android are you on? I'm on 14 and the home button is long gone. It took me a while to get muscle memory for the new gestures, and sometimes the back gesture overlaps with application UI, but when I used my daughter's phone (which has the home/back buttons), it doesn't make me miss them.
With a lot of android phones you can just choose to either use gestures or still use the old fashioned buttons at the bottom. At least with OnePlus this used to be case and with Samsung that...
With a lot of android phones you can just choose to either use gestures or still use the old fashioned buttons at the bottom.
At least with OnePlus this used to be case and with Samsung that certainly is still the case.
I have tried gestures, but they feel like doing more with the same result. As you also said, sometimes they conflict with applications as well.
That looks really nice. I have an iPhone now, but I used KISS for years on my Android phones. I really miss its simplicity compared to the cluttered pages iOS forces you to construct (with the...
That looks really nice. I have an iPhone now, but I used KISS for years on my Android phones. I really miss its simplicity compared to the cluttered pages iOS forces you to construct (with the most frustrating drag and drop system ever).
I've never used iPhone and things like this make me avoid it further heh. I like to keep my homescreens as simple as possible to avoid getting somewhat addicted to/distracted by all the shiny buttons.
I've never used iPhone and things like this make me avoid it further heh. I like to keep my homescreens as simple as possible to avoid getting somewhat addicted to/distracted by all the shiny buttons.
There's the App Library, similar to the app drawer on Android, so you can just have your apps in the library and your home screen is just whatever apps you want rather than every single app you...
There's the App Library, similar to the app drawer on Android, so you can just have your apps in the library and your home screen is just whatever apps you want rather than every single app you have installed.
Like the other user mentioned, iOS 18 will finally (just 16 years after Android) let you place apps and widgets anywhere on the home screen, not just have them forced to the upper left corner.
Overall, iOS has slowly been adding more options for customization over the last few years thankfully.
Is there something broken with the current version? For me nothing has changed and I have the same general layout since 2017 or so. I was half-convinces that the launched would enshittify...
So I guess it is about time to find another launcher.
Is there something broken with the current version? For me nothing has changed and I have the same general layout since 2017 or so.
I was half-convinces that the launched would enshittify following the acquisition , but nothing so far happened (but then, I'm in the paid tier with my license key dating from 2013). I guess/hope that maintenance will continue and new feature will roll out slower?
Nonetheless, thanks for the recommendation of kvaesito!
No, but I do not trust there to be future development given the team got fired. So any new development is very likely the enshittification type of development. I also do not want to just stick to...
Is there something broken with the current version?
No, but I do not trust there to be future development given the team got fired. So any new development is very likely the enshittification type of development.
I also do not want to just stick to an old version as that opens you up for security issues and eventually it will stop working anyway. So I rather start looking for an alternative now instead of down the line when things are already bad.
This is such sad news. I've been using Nova for years. Like you I want something with more features rather than less. Gonna start my search now, if I do find anything I will definitely share!
This is such sad news. I've been using Nova for years. Like you I want something with more features rather than less. Gonna start my search now, if I do find anything I will definitely share!
Since the news I have been tinkering with kvaesitso and for my use case it will probably be a good enough replacement. Most of the features I want are in there, although some of they do work...
Since the news I have been tinkering with kvaesitso and for my use case it will probably be a good enough replacement.
Most of the features I want are in there, although some of they do work distinctly different so that will take some getting used to.
It also isn't available in the playstore, only on F-droid (with some external providers cut out) or from a different repository. With which I don't have an issue, but not everyone wants to sideload.
I had to give up Nova when I put GrapheneOS on my Pixel. (I mean, I could still use it on the secondary account on which I have some Play apps, but it kind of ruined the idea.) I'll definitely...
I had to give up Nova when I put GrapheneOS on my Pixel. (I mean, I could still use it on the secondary account on which I have some Play apps, but it kind of ruined the idea.)
I'll definitely check out kvaesitso, since I can install FD apps on both sides of the phone.
I did the same thing - tried other launchers when the acquisition was announced but eventually went back to Nova because I couldn't find anything that did what Nova does. All the launchers are...
I did the same thing - tried other launchers when the acquisition was announced but eventually went back to Nova because I couldn't find anything that did what Nova does. All the launchers are minimal, but I don't want something that's minimal - I want most used icons and a widget on my main page, I want a search bar at the top, custom icons, and the app drawer button at the bottom, and to call it a day. But this development changes things, and now I'll have to go back to researching alternative launchers and I'm not happy about it!
I'll keep an eye on this thread for suggestions, here's hoping there's a good replacement!
Forgive my ignorance as an iPhone user, but what benefits do you get from changing the launcher on android? From your last sentence, I assume the launcher is the gesture/control system that allows...
Forgive my ignorance as an iPhone user, but what benefits do you get from changing the launcher on android?
From your last sentence, I assume the launcher is the gesture/control system that allows you to navigate the phone
It is more than the gestures. The Launcher controls the whole home screen layout and functionality. So for example on my Google Pixel, if I don't use a custom launcher I am stuck with the google...
It is more than the gestures. The Launcher controls the whole home screen layout and functionality. So for example on my Google Pixel, if I don't use a custom launcher I am stuck with the google search widget, and their "at a glance" widget, on my home screen at all times. I cannot turn them off. For me they're a waste of space. I use a custom launcher to have a properly customizable home screen.
A launcher allows you to navigate to various aspects of your phone indeed. Basically navigate towards apps, view information in widgets, etc. Which you are familiar with as an iPhone user, as you...
A launcher allows you to navigate to various aspects of your phone indeed. Basically navigate towards apps, view information in widgets, etc. Which you are familiar with as an iPhone user, as you basically have all of those as well. You have different pages with application icons and then also one(I think?) with widgets.
Where apple just gives you one way of doing that, with Android phones the default application can be swapped out for a third party one. This opens up the way of using your phone through wildly different UI and UX principles, or simply install a launcher with a few more options than the stock on.
So you have launchers that work much in the same way as you navigate to apps on your iPhones, launchers that offer sophisticated ways of sorting/finding your apps, launchers that emulate the old windows phone tile interface, etc.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpringBoard If you read through the "History" section of the iOS launcher's details, just imagine being able to change each aspect of the functionality the section...
If you read through the "History" section of the iOS launcher's details, just imagine being able to change each aspect of the functionality the section describes. That's what an alternative launcher can do.
When Microsoft gave up on Windows phone, they put out a launcher for Android to "skin" android more the way they thought a phone should look and behave.
Custom launchers can be as low-touch in terms of changes or as full-redesign as desired.
I've been using Nova for years and years now. Didn't realize they'd been acquired. With the founder still involved I will hold out hope they don't completely ruin it.
I've been using Nova for years and years now. Didn't realize they'd been acquired. With the founder still involved I will hold out hope they don't completely ruin it.
Which is what I did after they got acquired until today when they decided to gut the entire team except for one developer who also is required to work on other projects. What this effectively...
Which is what I did after they got acquired until today when they decided to gut the entire team except for one developer who also is required to work on other projects. What this effectively means is that the application is on life support. And then only the bare minimum, maybe not even that.
Companies generally only do that for applications that they want to either phase out or replace in the future with something else.
So in the best case scenario things will remain working for a while, any bugs (due to android updates for example) will take a long time to fix or might not even be fixed. The worst case scenario is that once their "replacement" is ready they will just pull the plug on Nova and force you to "upgrade" to the newer version.
In the latter case changes are very slim that it actually will be a better version.
I rally miss Nokia’s Z launcher. Long gone from the App Store and for me was the perfect combination of minimalism and usefulness without being overly stark....
I rally miss Nokia’s Z launcher. Long gone from the App Store and for me was the perfect combination of minimalism and usefulness without being overly stark.
After Nova Launcher was acquired by Branch about two years ago I did keep using it. For the past two years this has been mostly fine and I also have not seen any indication they did anything shady with the launcher. But this news does not bode very well for the future of the Launcher.
So I guess it is about time to find another launcher. It is a shame there are very few choices for the features I am looking for. A lot of the open source ones seem to go for minimalism, not something I am all that interested in. The rest of the open source ecosystem is sort of meh...
kvaesitso comes fairly close but not quite.
One of the main features I like and have not seen in other launchers is the ability to double press the home button to go application search.
Lawnchair might work for what you're seeking.
I use Unlauncher, which is minimal, but with a great search bar and ability to rename all your apps.
KISS looks like another interesting search-focused minimalist.
I suspect the reason for most open source ones focusing on minimalism is because that's the missing niche, and its easier to scratch.
Frankly, I don't trust Lawnchair's development either. It has some activity this year but practially had been abandoned for a few years before that. The new version is still in Beta so I might check back on it from time to time.
I appreciate the other suggestions, but am explicitly not looking for minimal launchers. I am actively using the different homescreen pages:
kvaesitso checked most boxes when I last looked at an alternative a few months ago but I didn't quite like it either. I probably need to bite the bullet and try it (and possibly still a few other launchers) without expecting it to do exactly the same as before :)
Edit:
Just installed kvaesitso again and put a bit of time into setting it up. Found a setting that allows me to double press home to open search which is great! Still doesn't feel quite right but most of what I want it to do no does work :)
Out of curiosity, what version of android are you on? I'm on 14 and the home button is long gone. It took me a while to get muscle memory for the new gestures, and sometimes the back gesture overlaps with application UI, but when I used my daughter's phone (which has the home/back buttons), it doesn't make me miss them.
With a lot of android phones you can just choose to either use gestures or still use the old fashioned buttons at the bottom.
At least with OnePlus this used to be case and with Samsung that certainly is still the case.
I have tried gestures, but they feel like doing more with the same result. As you also said, sometimes they conflict with applications as well.
KISS is great, simple and to the point. And manages to look good too.
I am currently using Before launcher. It's very clear and easy to use.
That looks really nice. I have an iPhone now, but I used KISS for years on my Android phones. I really miss its simplicity compared to the cluttered pages iOS forces you to construct (with the most frustrating drag and drop system ever).
I've never used iPhone and things like this make me avoid it further heh. I like to keep my homescreens as simple as possible to avoid getting somewhat addicted to/distracted by all the shiny buttons.
For what it’s worth, iOS 18 allows you to place items anywhere (about damn time), so you can soon have simple home screens on iOS.
Better late than never, but damn they're late
There's the App Library, similar to the app drawer on Android, so you can just have your apps in the library and your home screen is just whatever apps you want rather than every single app you have installed.
Like the other user mentioned, iOS 18 will finally (just 16 years after Android) let you place apps and widgets anywhere on the home screen, not just have them forced to the upper left corner.
Overall, iOS has slowly been adding more options for customization over the last few years thankfully.
Is there something broken with the current version? For me nothing has changed and I have the same general layout since 2017 or so.
I was half-convinces that the launched would enshittify following the acquisition , but nothing so far happened (but then, I'm in the paid tier with my license key dating from 2013). I guess/hope that maintenance will continue and new feature will roll out slower?
Nonetheless, thanks for the recommendation of kvaesito!
No, but I do not trust there to be future development given the team got fired. So any new development is very likely the enshittification type of development.
I also do not want to just stick to an old version as that opens you up for security issues and eventually it will stop working anyway. So I rather start looking for an alternative now instead of down the line when things are already bad.
This is such sad news. I've been using Nova for years. Like you I want something with more features rather than less. Gonna start my search now, if I do find anything I will definitely share!
Since the news I have been tinkering with kvaesitso and for my use case it will probably be a good enough replacement.
Most of the features I want are in there, although some of they do work distinctly different so that will take some getting used to.
It also isn't available in the playstore, only on F-droid (with some external providers cut out) or from a different repository. With which I don't have an issue, but not everyone wants to sideload.
I had to give up Nova when I put GrapheneOS on my Pixel. (I mean, I could still use it on the secondary account on which I have some Play apps, but it kind of ruined the idea.)
I'll definitely check out kvaesitso, since I can install FD apps on both sides of the phone.
I did the same thing - tried other launchers when the acquisition was announced but eventually went back to Nova because I couldn't find anything that did what Nova does. All the launchers are minimal, but I don't want something that's minimal - I want most used icons and a widget on my main page, I want a search bar at the top, custom icons, and the app drawer button at the bottom, and to call it a day. But this development changes things, and now I'll have to go back to researching alternative launchers and I'm not happy about it!
I'll keep an eye on this thread for suggestions, here's hoping there's a good replacement!
Forgive my ignorance as an iPhone user, but what benefits do you get from changing the launcher on android?
From your last sentence, I assume the launcher is the gesture/control system that allows you to navigate the phone
It is more than the gestures. The Launcher controls the whole home screen layout and functionality. So for example on my Google Pixel, if I don't use a custom launcher I am stuck with the google search widget, and their "at a glance" widget, on my home screen at all times. I cannot turn them off. For me they're a waste of space. I use a custom launcher to have a properly customizable home screen.
A launcher allows you to navigate to various aspects of your phone indeed. Basically navigate towards apps, view information in widgets, etc. Which you are familiar with as an iPhone user, as you basically have all of those as well. You have different pages with application icons and then also one(I think?) with widgets.
Where apple just gives you one way of doing that, with Android phones the default application can be swapped out for a third party one. This opens up the way of using your phone through wildly different UI and UX principles, or simply install a launcher with a few more options than the stock on.
So you have launchers that work much in the same way as you navigate to apps on your iPhones, launchers that offer sophisticated ways of sorting/finding your apps, launchers that emulate the old windows phone tile interface, etc.
Thanks! That was very informative
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpringBoard
If you read through the "History" section of the iOS launcher's details, just imagine being able to change each aspect of the functionality the section describes. That's what an alternative launcher can do.
When Microsoft gave up on Windows phone, they put out a launcher for Android to "skin" android more the way they thought a phone should look and behave.
Custom launchers can be as low-touch in terms of changes or as full-redesign as desired.
Exclusive: Cliff Wade shares his thoughts on the future of Nova Launcher
Yeah thst doesn't look good. At all.
I've been using Nova for years and years now. Didn't realize they'd been acquired. With the founder still involved I will hold out hope they don't completely ruin it.
Which is what I did after they got acquired until today when they decided to gut the entire team except for one developer who also is required to work on other projects. What this effectively means is that the application is on life support. And then only the bare minimum, maybe not even that.
Companies generally only do that for applications that they want to either phase out or replace in the future with something else.
So in the best case scenario things will remain working for a while, any bugs (due to android updates for example) will take a long time to fix or might not even be fixed. The worst case scenario is that once their "replacement" is ready they will just pull the plug on Nova and force you to "upgrade" to the newer version.
In the latter case changes are very slim that it actually will be a better version.
I rally miss Nokia’s Z launcher. Long gone from the App Store and for me was the perfect combination of minimalism and usefulness without being overly stark.
https://www.androidauthority.com/nokia-z-launcher-now-open-beta-available-download-567797/
Bummed about Nova, outlook doesn’t look very good at all.