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Android’s most beloved launcher may be done for good
(www.androidpolice.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2025
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Does anyone have recommendations to replace Nova?
There's no direct replacement. The features I use are in Pear launcher so I use that. You have to look through launcher comparisons to find the features you need.
Also, I'm surprised purple are still using Nova. I thought most people abandoned it after it got sold.
I installed it on my HTC one and have used the exact same wallpaper and layout ever since. Change is scary and let's be real.
Who the ACTUAL fuck pays attention to the launcher they are using. They find one they like and then unless something breaks they forget they are even using one.
It has been owned by a data mining company for a number of years.
Sure, but the duration of the ownership doesn't matter a whole lot in this sort of situation. If you've missed the news about the selling when it happened, it's relatively unlikely you'll learn about it afterwards. I don't periodically do a background check of all the devs and owners of my apps.
because it is much more stable, plenty of customisation and ofc one time payment.
I'm using it without updates
It's very much not a classic launcher and takes some getting used to, but Kvaesitso is nice.
I'm using Kvaesitso as well. But just looked at the permissions and I am shocked. Don't know when the permissions changed, but I'm switching right now.
There is no way to use the built in features without those permissions I think. Like weather (location), search contacts and calendars, ..
I think they have been there a long time. It also needs pretty deep access if you want it to open notifications bar and more..
Someone correct me if I'm wrong
Pretty sure that just has to do with how widgets are integrated
It's a launcher, it can do a heck of a lot of things, and needs permissions to be able to do so.
But you don't actually have to allow any of them in modern Androids if you don't need those features. Nova Launcher also has quite a list, but I haven't actually enabled any of them, it has never asked to, and everything works fine.
that's because you can integrate your contacts, calendar and more... calm down
Also it's GPL so feel free to edit as desired. Users not stuck with dev choices like some of the other options being mentioned here.
Those are for widgets that you choose to enable. Hard to access search features without permission to search, if you don't want them, all you have to do is ... not enable them / disable them if you flipped the on ...
Kvaesitso is awesome, updates regularly, and was the best launcher I found that worked for my use case transition from Nova.
Granted I avoided trying a lot of the Freemium ones, or others.that were corporate controlled. Not interested in a forced migration 2.0, open source is nice cause it can always be forked if something happens.
Is it not open source and on F-Droid? I used it before switching to Niagara.
It took me two tries to get used to Kvaesitso but now I love it. I was using Nova until the Branch acquisition, then briefly tried lawnchair but had to move on as it wasn't very stable. Once I realised I could start apps by pressing enter after searching I found it much quicker than scrolling through an app drawer. Unless you can't remember the name of the app that is.
okay, but why do they collect the data in the first place?
I've been using Lightning Launcher for over a decade now.
It's no longer on play store, but a version is available at https://github.com/TrianguloY/LightningLauncher
Lots of customization options.
I've been using Hyperion for a few years. I mostly wanted something with app drawer folders like nova offered and this was the best I could find
I switched from Nova to Smart Launcher and haven't looked back.
I've been using smart launcher for years it's automatic categorization is amazing. Though, wanting change, I recently started using Niagara, and like the minimalist approach too.
I put more. But the ones I use less are on the bottom. So it's there for quick use, but I don't have it there all the time.
I have used and enjoyed lawnchair for the past year. It's quite minimal and I've found it very stable.
Have been using Neo Launcher since it had the features I needed from Nova (mostly hiding most apps from the app list while having them on the home screen in some folder so that it isn't a mess when you want to find something specific). It hasn't been updated in a while, but it works perfectly fine for me.
if you are asking about combinations of customisations, flexibility and stability. none atm.
Have you tried total launcher? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.launcher2 I used it in the past and the amount of customization was huge.
But then I got old and wanted something simpler. Been using Kvaesitso for the last years https://kvaesitso.mm20.de/
I use Total. I keep trying other launchers, but none come close to the level of customisation.
I have created such specific layout and navigation that anything else is annoying and slow to use.
Action launcher is a good replacement that I don't see recommended. Still updated, stuffed with features. The main one I miss on other launchers is "covers" which let you promote one app as the default for a folder, you can swipe it instead of tapping to open the folder or tap to open the default. I only really use about 10 or so apps super regularly, so it's great as I just have a single home screen that I rarely need to leave
I actually switched from Action Laucnher to Nova because the former kept crashing.
I used it exclusively from Nexus and Pixel and now on the Fairphone 6. Probably works better on more stock android? Idk it is pretty solid for me and I recommend it
Octopi Launcher seems quite promising.
Trebuchet seems good...?