I see Nova has been very popular. Why did the original developer sell it? There must be some business model for these sorts of popular apps that don't involve selling it? Crowdfunding?
Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
141–150 of 173 posts
Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
#142I was thinking what else deteriorated from best to worst.. Poweramp.
i still use it.. how has it gone bad?
Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
> my battery is no longer draining for no apparent reason Oh man. I just replaced the battery on my 5 year phone - for the sole reason of not having to reconfigure Nova on a new phone :\
You know you can export your Nova configuration and import it on a new phone, right?
The irony, Mrs Morissette, is that Nova caused the battery to appear to fail, and would drain the battery still on a new phone
Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
#144Haven't heard of Nova in a very long time, this was one of the original customizable launchers for Android wasn't it? If it's gone this long without being open-sourced, it might be time to let go. Been using https://kisslauncher.com/ for many years and have no complaints.
The Nexus 5 bezel and the Google+ link in the footer don't make this launcher look modern and maintained... but I'll give it a try anyway.
Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
#145What an undeserving fate. A beloved app now being passed from vulture to vulture who rip off every possible morsel they can. When Branch bought Nova, I moved on to use Lawnchair [1], which is open source. Although it has been in beta like forever, with occasional glitches, it works well enough and has enough features to satisfy my customization cravings. [1]: https://github.com/LawnchairLauncher/lawnchair
Was a Nova user, moved to Lawnchair yesterday. It's not the same experience I got from Nova (for example, the Clock widget don't work), but the adaptation is not unbearable.
I purchased Nova Launcher Prime years ago thinking it was the best investment I put on Google Play, well, maybe I should've spent the money on something else.
Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
#146It was sold back in 2022 to Branch Metrics https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/branch-strikes-... August 2024 everyone working on it was laid off except the original dev https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/9/24217077/nova-launcher-lay... September 2025 the original dev left after being told to stop work on open sourcing it https://www.theverge.com/news/773937/nova-launcher-founder-l...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_(company)
Their former name "Branch Metrics", tells you all you need to know about them.
> Branch also uses tools for cohort analysis and touchpoint tracking
Just the kind of company I want in my phone.
Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
#147What an undeserving fate. A beloved app now being passed from vulture to vulture who rip off every possible morsel they can. When Branch bought Nova, I moved on to use Lawnchair [1], which is open source. Although it has been in beta like forever, with occasional glitches, it works well enough and has enough features to satisfy my customization cravings. [1]: https://github.com/LawnchairLauncher/lawnchair
The write-up on the link seems promising, at least. I'm sure ads will come to the free version, but they appear to be respecting Nova's legacy and longtime Prime purchasers. Anything is better than the slow decay it has been enduring the last year or two. Can't do much but be cautiously optimistic.
I'll have whatever you're smoking please.
You don't acquire something like this, as a metrics company, who does cohort analysis and touchpoint tracking[0] simply to make a bit of ad revenue.
Nova is dead. No room left for optimism.
Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
So, you're not wrong. People that work for money will want money, and ultimately can be bought. People that work for love produce the best they can with limited resources, and are often broke. I don't think we've found a way to bridge the gap. I've come to generally rely on work people do for love, and I contribute to them, but it's clearly not sustainable unless they have another source of income. Anyone who solves…
What's to solve? Here's the way the gap is supposed to work and often does: People work for love or money on a product. Other people love the product and are happy to purchase it. This creates income for the original producer and a beneficial product for the consumer. If a product is successful and popular enough, the capitalist cycle gains momentum for both parties to continue the relationship.
Yet we have seen, time and time again, that those who do things for the love of money will cash out. Heck, even those who do so for the love of creating will cash out when they want to move on. While open source doesn't eliminate this possibility, at least it disincentivises it.
While I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions, exceptions that we rarely hear about because they are smaller companies that don't monopolise our attention, it is important to realize that capitalism is just a high level theory. It says things that sound good. over a long enough time period and a large enough samples it may be roughly correct. Yet it has no value over short time periods, small samples, or when it's underlying assumptions are violated.
That last bit is particularly important, even though it probably isn't applicable to Nova Launcher. Everything from the asymmetry of information, to anti-competitive actions of the business itself, to regulation will disrupt those assumptions.
Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
#149Haven't heard of Nova in a very long time, this was one of the original customizable launchers for Android wasn't it? If it's gone this long without being open-sourced, it might be time to let go. Been using https://kisslauncher.com/ for many years and have no complaints.
KISS is a complete paradigm shift from other phone launchers. It takes some getting used to. It has made me rethink how I use my phone from time to time because I have it set to sort by recently used: I only have a few apps I use regularly it seems. Not for everyone, but it's my preferred way to use a phone now.
I suppose it doesn't matter because there is probably a search or something, but I only use my banking app and children's games every month or 2. I like knowing where they are at. 2 swipes away.
Also, doesn't this mean more attention to the screen? I can blindly pick apps without looking at my screen. Makes it useful when running + audiobook + taking notes.
Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Yeah, I used to have an issue where it would repeatedly request accessibility permissions even though they were already granted. But I haven't seen that one in months and haven't noticed any other glitches or bugs whatsoever.
I like how completely adjustable the home screen grid is (icon size, number of rows, number of columns, whether or not to allow sub-grid arrangement, whether to have vertical or horizontal page layout).
I like the number of shortcut gestures available (tap home on home screen, swipe up/down, two finger swipe up/down, double tap, double tap + swipe up/down, pinch in/out), and that they're all completely remappable to launch any installed app, or installed app quick action, or trigger any of like a dozen launcher actions (like opening the app drawer, opening the notification shade, locking the screen, etc).
I like how the dock can be swiped up to show a second (or, if you want, third or fourth etc) row of apps in like a "mini app drawer" just for things I use often and want there instead of picking a page where they live.
I like the widgets that it ships with (I use the combo clock + weather one).
I like that I can have the app drawer organize alphabetically (or not, if I wanted).
I like that I can turn off pretty much anything that I don't want (the news feed page, especially, but also you can have almost any of the launcher UI elements hidden by default).
And it's stable, has no ads, and nearly no pop-ups. It just lets me set what I want and then gets out of the way and works 99.9% of the time.
It's just... It's Microsoft Launcher, is the only thing.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯