There are a lot of comments here about which launchers are "close enough" to the Nova feature set, but very few people are talking about specific features and the alternatives that support them. I really just use two, and everything else is a cherry on top that I can do without if push comes to shove.

1. Icons that open a folder if you swipe them, but launch the first app in the folder if you tap them. That way my apps all pull double-duty as both the one-tap app AND the list of alternatives I use less often.
2. Google Now integration that swipes in from the left.

Action Launcher used to be my go-to, and it's still the best implementation of #1 because of the little indicators it adds to let you know if something is a "cover" (folder when you swipe) or "shutter" (widget when you swipe). Sadly it's gotten rather bloated over the years and spends more time force-closing from one glitch or another than it does actually running properly. Nova was my backup because it added "covers" a few years ago and I remembered enjoying the app about a decade ago. Now what?

Adguard seems to do a good job blocking the Nova calls to home. Thing is, it's like an AV or VPN, you can only guess that it's working over time, you really don't know for sure.

I switched to Kvaesitso (https://github.com/MM2-0/Kvaesitso) and Lawnchair (https://lawnchair.app/downloads/).

Not quite the same customization, but worth it. Kvaesitso is my primary and I love it.

Well this sucks because I love Nova :(

I give up

I ditched it for Lawnchair, and I have no regrets. Works just as well as Nova did.

I switched to Lawnchair a few years ago (IIRC 6 years ago) and it's been a solid experience, I'm very happy with it.

Well. Fuck.

Grapheneos and blocked internet for the launcher.

I had Nova prime and reluctantly moved to KISS when this was announced in 2022. The lack of features was quite the change, but I've been using it since and wouldn't go back. Searching and quick launching apps feels the fastest it can possibly be with KISS.

KISS is all I need.

OK, if they say so, it must be true. I mean, they bought it because they had nothing better to do with the money, and that they are a data mining company means nothing. They just wanted a Launcher because "why not?".

Just keep your Nova launcher and don't opt-in to the tracking, nothing will change. 🤔

I've been seeing too much of this lately. They can't get us to get their nasty tracking malware ridden software, so they bet on us being too stupid to move away from one they purchase because we used to trust it. Same thing that happened with the Simple apps suite.

We'll be seeing more and more of this moving forward.

Thank you for this heads up

Uninstalled

i paid for https://aiolauncher.app/ ... just sleek.

Great. Still using it until I have a good reason not to.