Goodbye, legend? The launcher that captured our hearts is likely ending for good

In 2011, the first version of Nova Launcher was released. The application, which replaces the default home screen environment of Android devices, very quickly found a huge user base, and many of them swear by it to this day. The secret to its success lay mainly in its simplicity, practically boundless customization options, and last but not least, its speed. However, in 2022, the creator was acquired by the analytics company Branch, and despite all assurances, this marked the beginning of the probable end for the popular launcher.

What happened to Nova Launcher?

After acquiring Nova Launcher, Branch company vowed to give the original developers freedom, not to interfere with development in any way, and that it could continue as before. The company even made a public commitment that if development ceased, it would make the open source code available so that Nova Launcher’s development could continue communally. However, as the saying goes: promises are made to be broken. Individual team members gradually left until only the original founder of the entire project, Kevin Barry, remained. For the past year, he had been developing the application entirely by himself, but it seems even he has run out of steam.

In recent months, he had been dedicated to preparing for the release of an open-source Nova Launcher, but his activities were stopped by Branch itself – yes, the company that had committed to releasing the open-source code years ago. This was likely the final nail in the coffin, and Barry is no longer working on the project. According to him, the entire project is on hold, and Nova Launcher will likely not receive any further updates. The application is, of course, still available on Google Play, and you can use it normally at this moment. However, it is very probable that with an increasing number of new devices and especially new Android versions, it will gradually start to have compatibility issues until one day it simply stops working altogether.

Do you use or have you used Nova Launcher in the past?

Source: AH.com