Under new ownership, Swedish company Instabridge. In the post they say they are considering adding ads to the free version. Apparently the newest update already includes the ad libraries. They say...
Under new ownership, Swedish company Instabridge.
In the post they say they are considering adding ads to the free version. Apparently the newest update already includes the ad libraries.
They say they are "evaluating" open sourcing it (something that was supposed to be contractually obligated to happen after the original app author left Branch, the previous company that had acquired it).
Curious a source on that latter claim, that would be a genuine fascination for me to learn more about. Open sourcing closed sourced stuff is a well known nightmare, I'd love to hear the original...
Curious a source on that latter claim, that would be a genuine fascination for me to learn more about. Open sourcing closed sourced stuff is a well known nightmare, I'd love to hear the original author's take on the matter and what their expectations could have been.
No longer in that camp, but when I was, Nova was the gold standard for customisation. I suppose all things must be enshittified. Sucks to see, but if I recall correctly, there are better...
No longer in that camp, but when I was, Nova was the gold standard for customisation. I suppose all things must end be enshittified. Sucks to see, but if I recall correctly, there are better alternatives available now. Don't ask me for details, though. I left the android side long ago.
Also, Instabridge being described as a "company that builds products to help people get online used by millions of users" must be the most nonsense vertically integrated paperclip maximised shareholder garbage I've ever had to lay my two good European eyes upon.
Hop to apple ecosystem or something Extra Fun? I got a buddy picked up one of those non android dumb phones, fun curiosity, but man, early adopter tax is real as hell and it wasn't really usable
Hop to apple ecosystem or something Extra Fun?
I got a buddy picked up one of those non android dumb phones, fun curiosity, but man, early adopter tax is real as hell and it wasn't really usable
I love the camera iPod combo! I have a nice A6400 (or6300? I always forget) and one of the healthiest things I do is photo walks around the city. It really forces a mindfulness about what's in...
I love the camera iPod combo! I have a nice A6400 (or6300? I always forget) and one of the healthiest things I do is photo walks around the city. It really forces a mindfulness about what's in front of my face that a camera app on a phone just can't compete with
Sadly Spotify got me by the balls, I loved having a curated list of mp3s but I either got kicked for inactivity or had the website die for all my private trackers 😭
I've had Nova running with network access blocked since the original buyout because I haven't been able to find an alternative I like better. I suppose I'll have to look harder when the new (new)...
I've had Nova running with network access blocked since the original buyout because I haven't been able to find an alternative I like better. I suppose I'll have to look harder when the new (new) owners start breaking it.
If anyone has found, or heard about, an alternative that looks promising please share!
Edit: Thanks for the suggestions. Lawnchair is an ideal solution (open source, no data collection), unfortunately it can't import a Nova backup. That shouldn't be a dealbreaker but I'm busy at the moment.
I found that Smart Launcher can import a Nova backup, claims not to share data (not that I intend to trust that) and does pretty much everything I need out of the box. Took me 5 minutes to switch.
I've been following Lawnchair for a while now, it's been under active development and I've been waiting for it to get all the features I want out of a launcher to switch from Nova.
I've been following Lawnchair for a while now, it's been under active development and I've been waiting for it to get all the features I want out of a launcher to switch from Nova.
I used Nova from the mid 2010’s until a year or so ago, and I tried Lawnchair, which was the most Nova-like but not really what I wanted, so I switched to Niagara, which is more minimalist that I...
I used Nova from the mid 2010’s until a year or so ago, and I tried Lawnchair, which was the most Nova-like but not really what I wanted, so I switched to Niagara, which is more minimalist that I wanted but I ended up really liking.
I loved Android customization on my rooted G1 but have found I much prefer a phone that stays out of my way, and default has been best for that. With that perspective, what draws you away from the...
I loved Android customization on my rooted G1 but have found I much prefer a phone that stays out of my way, and default has been best for that. With that perspective, what draws you away from the defaults?
I still very much like search/gesture/list based launchers like ulauncher or Unlauncher. Unlauncher in particular really cut phone usage by adding that bit of extra friction to opening other...
I still very much like search/gesture/list based launchers like ulauncher or Unlauncher.
Unlauncher in particular really cut phone usage by adding that bit of extra friction to opening other applications.
Thanks for the suggestion of Smart Launcher! I also really just wanted to keep things the same as my Nova setup, so like you I will just migrate for now and if they stay good.
Thanks for the suggestion of Smart Launcher! I also really just wanted to keep things the same as my Nova setup, so like you I will just migrate for now and if they stay good.
I tried Lawnchair back then but I didn't like it. I ended up settling with Octopi launcher, took some adjusting but I'm fine with it now. The dev is really active and it receives constant updates....
I tried Lawnchair back then but I didn't like it. I ended up settling with Octopi launcher, took some adjusting but I'm fine with it now. The dev is really active and it receives constant updates.
To my knowledge, it also doesn't support importing the Nova configuration.
It depends on a few things...some MFRs ship android with the ability to shut off wifi/mobile data for apps in settings, if you're lucky that's all you need. I think that's getting pretty rare...
It depends on a few things...some MFRs ship android with the ability to shut off wifi/mobile data for apps in settings, if you're lucky that's all you need. I think that's getting pretty rare these days though. If you're rooted it's also pretty straightforward.
Without root you can use an app that functions as a local VPN, once it's running all traffic goes through the VPN and you can disable network access for whichever apps you want. Examples: ReThink, NetGuard.
Note: In some cases system apps can access the internet without using the VPN so it doesn't necessarily give you total control of network access.
Ive been a Nova Prime user for more than a decade now. It has been with me since i got my first ever smartphone in 2012. I still don't know of any other launcher that has fully customizable 'tabs'...
Ive been a Nova Prime user for more than a decade now. It has been with me since i got my first ever smartphone in 2012. I still don't know of any other launcher that has fully customizable 'tabs' in the app drawer to group your apps by whatever categories you see fit. I truly hope they do not enshittify my favourite launcher.
Not to be cynical, but you know what they say: hope in one hand and crap in the other, and see which hand will be full. Their actions are already such that you should move past denial and into...
Not to be cynical, but you know what they say: hope in one hand and crap in the other, and see which hand will be full. Their actions are already such that you should move past denial and into preparing for what comes next.
Under new ownership, Swedish company Instabridge.
In the post they say they are considering adding ads to the free version. Apparently the newest update already includes the ad libraries.
They say they are "evaluating" open sourcing it (something that was supposed to be contractually obligated to happen after the original app author left Branch, the previous company that had acquired it).
If they stick to their promise and don’t include ads in the paid version, I would be fine with that.
Yeah, just give me the option. I'll pay for it, or if you insist, I'll leave.
Not everyone gets to behave like Microsoft and get away with it **
Curious a source on that latter claim, that would be a genuine fascination for me to learn more about. Open sourcing closed sourced stuff is a well known nightmare, I'd love to hear the original author's take on the matter and what their expectations could have been.
https://teslacoilapps.com/nova/solong.html
(tildes discussion here: https://tildes.net/~tech/1q33/nova_launcher_discontinued)
I just got a notification on my phone saying that the free version will be getting ads and asking me to switch to their paid version.
No longer in that camp, but when I was, Nova was the gold standard for customisation. I suppose all things must
endbe enshittified. Sucks to see, but if I recall correctly, there are better alternatives available now. Don't ask me for details, though. I left the android side long ago.Also, Instabridge being described as a "company that builds products to help people get online used by millions of users" must be the most nonsense vertically integrated paperclip maximised shareholder garbage I've ever had to lay my two good European eyes upon.
Hop to apple ecosystem or something Extra Fun?
I got a buddy picked up one of those non android dumb phones, fun curiosity, but man, early adopter tax is real as hell and it wasn't really usable
iPhone for now, but I'd love to live the dumb phone life. I already carry a camera and an iPod, wouldn't take much more.
I love the camera iPod combo! I have a nice A6400 (or6300? I always forget) and one of the healthiest things I do is photo walks around the city. It really forces a mindfulness about what's in front of my face that a camera app on a phone just can't compete with
Sadly Spotify got me by the balls, I loved having a curated list of mp3s but I either got kicked for inactivity or had the website die for all my private trackers 😭
I've had Nova running with network access blocked since the original buyout because I haven't been able to find an alternative I like better. I suppose I'll have to look harder when the new (new) owners start breaking it.
If anyone has found, or heard about, an alternative that looks promising please share!
Edit: Thanks for the suggestions. Lawnchair is an ideal solution (open source, no data collection), unfortunately it can't import a Nova backup. That shouldn't be a dealbreaker but I'm busy at the moment.
I found that Smart Launcher can import a Nova backup, claims not to share data (not that I intend to trust that) and does pretty much everything I need out of the box. Took me 5 minutes to switch.
I've been following Lawnchair for a while now, it's been under active development and I've been waiting for it to get all the features I want out of a launcher to switch from Nova.
I'd recommend Lawnchair; it has everything I needed from Nova. Stable, open source, supported.
I moved from Nova to Lawnchair with my last device upgrade and I've been very happy with it.
I used Nova from the mid 2010’s until a year or so ago, and I tried Lawnchair, which was the most Nova-like but not really what I wanted, so I switched to Niagara, which is more minimalist that I wanted but I ended up really liking.
I loved Android customization on my rooted G1 but have found I much prefer a phone that stays out of my way, and default has been best for that. With that perspective, what draws you away from the defaults?
I still very much like search/gesture/list based launchers like ulauncher or Unlauncher.
Unlauncher in particular really cut phone usage by adding that bit of extra friction to opening other applications.
Thanks for the suggestion of Smart Launcher! I also really just wanted to keep things the same as my Nova setup, so like you I will just migrate for now and if they stay good.
I tried Lawnchair back then but I didn't like it. I ended up settling with Octopi launcher, took some adjusting but I'm fine with it now. The dev is really active and it receives constant updates.
To my knowledge, it also doesn't support importing the Nova configuration.
Could you share how you block network access for individual apps? That sounds very useful.
I'm going to guess rooted, or using Graphene OS's permissions.
It depends on a few things...some MFRs ship android with the ability to shut off wifi/mobile data for apps in settings, if you're lucky that's all you need. I think that's getting pretty rare these days though. If you're rooted it's also pretty straightforward.
Without root you can use an app that functions as a local VPN, once it's running all traffic goes through the VPN and you can disable network access for whichever apps you want. Examples: ReThink, NetGuard.
Note: In some cases system apps can access the internet without using the VPN so it doesn't necessarily give you total control of network access.
Ive been a Nova Prime user for more than a decade now. It has been with me since i got my first ever smartphone in 2012. I still don't know of any other launcher that has fully customizable 'tabs' in the app drawer to group your apps by whatever categories you see fit. I truly hope they do not enshittify my favourite launcher.
Not to be cynical, but you know what they say: hope in one hand and crap in the other, and see which hand will be full. Their actions are already such that you should move past denial and into preparing for what comes next.