Everyone knew Nova was dead once it was sold. Surprised old mate held on this long.
Still haven't found a replacement launcher that matches all it's functionality.
this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2025
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KISS launcher is FOSS and a bit different, but many ex. Nova users flocked to it after it was bought.
I was already a long time KISS launcher user after the sale (long time nova user)
Recently discovered Kvaesitso and I have fully switched! It is just a bit more featureful than KISS while still being very clean and now when people use my phone for something, they can actually find apps too which is nice.
I never used nova, but I'm so used to KISS now, it's the first thing I install on a new phone. It's also funny to lend the phone to someone, because nobody understands it as it's very different (especially how I set it up).
Oh wow. I guess I really live under a rock. I honestly did not know it was bought. 😬
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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.
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I stopped using it years ago when it got bought and immediately injected with spyware. Neo Launcher or Lawnchair are very similar to Nova. Lawnchair gets more active development, but I use Neo because it's nearly the same as Nova.
Neo launcher hasn't had a release for 3 years, sadly.
Lawnchair is alright but it is missing a bunch of features compared to Nova.
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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.
Wow what a betrayal, poor guy. He works for an open source release for a year and they just rip it away from him. Fuck Alex Austin.
It's not even the 6th yet! ...which tells me he's in Europe and that makes Nova a little cooler.
iPhone guy but of course I have Nova Prime on my backup phone. I wanna say I had a couple other apps he made, too? Tesla Coil sounds familiar. But it's been almost 10 years since an Android phone was my main phone.
So Nova should be usable for a few more years at least... but... what's everyone gonna replace it with? For what I use my S10 for, it should be good enough. I mainly need the launcher to support custom grid sizes, larger icons, and custom icons since my Android phone is a cosplay prop. (It's meant to look and act like the NookPhone from Animal Crossing. It's fully functional — you open Nook Music and it's Apple Music which I'm subscribed to, as long as it has WiFi it will play, and it has a lot of stuff downloaded. And of course the browser is Firefox with uBlock Origin — it's just Redd the fake art purveyor on a globe rather than the red panda we all know and love.)
Try Kvaesitso its free and open source: https://github.com/MM2-0/Kvaesitso
Does not have widgets/has some limited plugins. Can't have apps pinned on screen. Looks nifty but it's unusable for me :(
Well, you can add some apps and widgets on home screen. 1.For Apps: Settings > Home screen > Dock. After that add the apps you want on home screen to Favorites. 2. For Widgets: Settings > Home screen > Enable Show Widgets on Home screen. After doing that Swipe up that will show widgets. Go to end to edit widgets and add whatever widget you like.
Other than that yeah it is different , it is supposed to be different. Like, how Niagara launcher is different. If you want something more like nova launcher then I'd suggest Lawnchair.
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Amazing recommendation. I've used Nova for years, and while its different, Kvaesitso is stunning. So smooth, and it surfaces apps and actions I use all the time better than Nova.
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I enjoy Niagara launcher. The paid version is a bit pricey but the free tier is pretty solid as well.
Yeah Niagara is great and very usable at the free tier
I use KISS Launcher. Always fast, predictable and easy to find anything I want.
The other Tesla Coil app I used was Widget Locker. Back in the days before Android had flashlight controls on the system tray, I had a lock screen shortcut for the flashlight.
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Neo Launcher.
It's great. The only downside is not having a release schedule. It had one or two annoying bugs in the past but nothing serious.
I didn't read anything about nova for the past years, I even forgot that it was a thing.
Edit: there has been no fdroid or github release since 2022. There are still commits in the repo but I don't know if the published version on telegram is the one from github. Does this make it closed source now?
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kvaesitso is a good free/libre launcher. I've been using it for a while now and like it.
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 :?
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 just hope there won't be any enshittification phases, just abandon it or remove it from play store if open sourcing it as-is is not possible.
What's going on, should I stop using Nova? I never paid for it and I like the way it functions...
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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.
I've only used launchers to avoid enshittification e.g. Google Search box or other proprietary features that I don't want.
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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.
That was/is the best part of Nova launcher. Highly customizable, but not laggy or slow
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