Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher • Hacker News Board

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#101

Post by celsoazevedo » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 2:30 AM UTC

whalesalad wrote: post #29

I take it the stock android launcher these days is not good?

It does the job, but it's important to remember that there isn't a "stock Android launcher". Google, Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, Xiaomi, etc, develop their own launcher and have different features.

I used Nova mainly because I use 2 phones and it is easier to keep things similar. For example, the app list on my Samsung scrolls horizontally. On my other phone running LineageOS, it's vertically. With Nova, it's the same on both devices.

It was also useful when moving phones, as I could just restore a backup to restore my layout.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#102

Post by poly2it » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 2:36 AM UTC

tecleandor wrote: post #56

"We are a Swedish company building products that help people get online, used by millions of people worldwide." So I look for them. They have a "Free wifi connection" / "Wifi passwords map" app. It surprises me because it has a good score on Google Play but then I begin to check the reviews, and a bunch of them go like: "Five stars because if you do a good review you can use it for free". I install it and on starting…

Apparently they made €7.2 million in profit in 2024.

https://www.allabolag.se/foretag/instabridge-sweden-ab/stock...

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#103

Post by RandyOrion » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 2:54 AM UTC

Using Lawnchair for more than a year now. No major issues on my device with Android 13 and Lineage OS 22.2. Will not look at other alternatives for a long time.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#104

Post by jerrygoyal » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 3:04 AM UTC

I've been a nova user for the last 7 years or so.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#105

Post by NorwegianDude » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 3:11 AM UTC

poly2it wrote: post #102

tecleandor wrote: post #56

"We are a Swedish company building products that help people get online, used by millions of people worldwide." So I look for them. They have a "Free wifi connection" / "Wifi passwords map" app. It surprises me because it has a good score on Google Play but then I begin to check the reviews, and a bunch of them go like: "Five stars because if you do a good review you can use it for free". I install it and on starting…

Apparently they made €7.2 million in profit in 2024. https://www.allabolag.se/foretag/instabridge-sweden-ab/stock...

SEK, not EUR.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#106

Post by bcraven » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 3:33 AM UTC

XiS wrote: post #84

throwa356262 wrote: post #75

It's 2026, why are people still using custom launchers? Serious question from a former Nova Prime user.

Honestly... I just wants a launcher with tabs to sort apps in categories (no not app groups). Nova Prime almost gone, before that Apex Launcher... And every other launcher seems to just love to just present a search bar to find your apps and use some magic sorting algorithm to sort your apps... I want predictable, user ordered apps in tabs so I can open one by heart with my eyes closed.

I'm with you... and have yet to find the solution. Somehow only Nova does tabbed app drawer pages (and allows folders within them).

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#107

Post by trog » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 4:15 AM UTC

cfiggers wrote: post #86

herrherrmann wrote: post #4

Ugh, quite annoying. My next phone might be an Android (instead of the current iPhone), and I was looking forward to returning to Nova Launcher, after having used it many years ago as my favorite launcher. This feels like a big no-go now. What are other good customizable launchers on Android nowadays?

I know this is weird, but....... I'm really happy with Microsoft Launcher.

Same! And I feel weird about it. The only issue I have is sometimes the task switcher hangs or fails and I can't easily switch tasks, but aside from that it ticks a lot of boxes.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#108

Post by greatgib » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 4:24 AM UTC

> "building products that help people get online"

To me looks sounds like the motto of a company made to defraud people of their money.

Otherwise, very sad the demise and enshittification of this Launcher that was really one of the very good one around the good old time of the nexus 5.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#109

Post by voidey » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 4:29 AM UTC

Nova Launcher Prime was good, but nkw I use Pie launcher which is OSS and minimal. Although it has very less features when compared.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#110

Post by NamlchakKhandro » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 4:37 AM UTC

baggachipz wrote: post #65

mastermedo wrote: post #47

What a throwback. Nova launcher sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure where to place it in my head. When I saw the logo I was immediately transported to memories of using lineage OS and bricking my new Samsung Note 4. I was trying to customize every button combination to do something smart back then. The good old days when I had the time to fix the phone after every update. I've since moved to the apple ecosystem... Se…

> I've since moved to the apple ecosystem... Set and forget. Careful, you'll get blasted for that in these parts. Until about 7 years ago, I had been an Android absolutist. Custom ROMs, launchers, you name it. I sneered at those Apple-loving simpletons. Then, after missing several important phone calls in a day due to the phone 'app' not working properly, I got fed up and got a Nexus 6, the official Google phone and…

your pants are so on fire