Nova sold to shitheels, I switched to Lawn Chair a customizable FOSS Launcher

Plug for open source launchers like Lawnchair

https://lawnchair.app/

I have to imagine that anybody savvy enough to make the decision to install a third-party launcher is also savvy enough to immediately uninstall that shit.

It pops up just like a gravestone. Bye bye Nova launcher. I guess apps don't die, they rot from enshitification.

nova was good many years ago. iirc they got bought by an advertising company, and that was the day i deleted it.

Ive been using the FOSS launcher Kvaesitso for about a year now due to annoyances with Nova. It's a different setup entirely, but I always preferred the app drawer over having scattered icons on the homescreen so its worked great for me. Anyone interested in trying something new should check it out. :)

The irony of an ad for an adblocker...

I switched over to Lawnchair leaving Nova Launcher just last week. All the Lemmy articles about the new owners forced my hand. Perfect timing!

!

I used Nova for as long as it's been a thing. Paid for pro. Abandoned it immediately after they released the news a few weeks ago about the tracking and ads.

I switched to Octopi Launcher. It's really good, and in active development. Author listens to his users and is always adding fun new features.

I switched to Niagara a few years ago and can never go back. The alphabetized list of apps and slick scroll are super addictive.

Here's what it looks like: (ignore the use of Papyrus, I just use it because it drives my friends nuts)

I was watching a youtube video of an engineer student showing off his project. He had a stopwatch app up to show how quickly something was done, and there was a banner ad at the bottom of it. Like, it's a damn stopwatch, who thought "I worked hard on this, and deserve to make some money!". Also, how normalized to ads was that person that they didn't think twice about letting that ad roll in their video.

For anyone looking for more customization, Octopi Launcher has been the closest replacement for me. I've tried Lawnchair, Niagara, et al.

I switched to lawnchair. It's ok but feels a bit "We have Nova Launcher at home".

Used Nova for almost a decade. Switched a few weeks ago when the news broke of them adding ad tracking.

I like Kvaesitso so far.

I'm enjoying a lot using Dragon Launcher, it's a bit more complex with a bit of a learning curve but really nice once you get used to it. It's less known so I'm trying to increase its visibility because it deserve all the love it can get.

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.elnix.dragonlauncher

If you'd like to try something different, i use Lynx launcher:

oh damn :( I used to use it but that was several years ago and it seems quite a bit has changed...

This is exactly why the first thing I did was disable updates for Nova, just in case.

I have been using Lawnchair Nightly as my default home screen though; there are a couple of things that aren't carried over from Nova (mainly folder and tabs in app drawer) but for the most part it's pretty comparable.

They asked for ad permissions so I uninstalled and now giving Niagara a go. Have a try, it's different.

Worst part is I paid for it years ago. Now I have to pay again? Nope. Great while it lasted, but it's buggy garbage now.

Enshittification

The free version is completely enshittified. Fucking javlar'd.

Either use a different launcher just like it, or roll back to the pre-takeover version and block the app from updating itself (after all the biggest change is them adding popup ads).

Thanks for the warning. Disabled auto update in time.

And that license is now in the pile of licenses that used to be worth something, but are now junk.

Little sad trumpet player eulogizing this mess.

I'm using Niagara right now and I like it, pretty different though.