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Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

novalauncher.com

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Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#71

Post by nix0n »

ajkjk wrote: post #57
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…

giving anything to the user in return for a good review should be grounds for disqualification from app stores. (and it should be legally required for app stores to enforce it)

Since they claim to be a Swedish company, it might be worth filing a report with the Swedish consumer agency[0].

I am not a lawyer, and especially not a Swedish lawyer, so I can't say how illegal this is in Sweden or what if anything will happen.

[0]https://www.konsumentverket.se/en/articles/report-to-the-swe...

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#72

Post by esafak »

rdmuser wrote: post #9

It 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)

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#73

Post by vgivanovic »

I've used Nova Launcher for years (don't know if I'm paid), but I'll be happy to pay for an ad free version.

I know there is a long history of companies buying another company for a product and then killing it after a period of time. I'm willing to give Instabridge the benefit of doubt... for a while. If they do decide that Nova Launcher is not a fit, I hope they open source it so that current users are not left on the lurch.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#74

Post by rpdillon »

fullstop wrote: post #42
whalesalad wrote: post #29

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

It's fine, and it works. I have a Pixel, though, and there's no way to disable the google search box on the homescreen. I will never use the search box, yet it dominates a good portion of my screen.

Is there a way to disable "swipe right for news feed"? I hated that inclusion in the Pixel launcher.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#76

Post by blazerunner »

rpdillon wrote: post #74
fullstop wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fine, and it works. I have a Pixel, though, and there's no way to disable the google search box on the homescreen. I will never use the search box, yet it dominates a good portion of my screen.

Is there a way to disable "swipe right for news feed"? I hated that inclusion in the Pixel launcher.

Yeah it can be turned off in stock launcher (at least I did on my Pixel 9 Pro XL).

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#77

Post by dzaima »

eikaramba wrote: post #63
dzaima wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an OxygenOS 16.0 bug; worked fine on 15.0, and broken on all (~five?) launchers I tested on 16.0. (currently on Octopi Launcher, and just live with that annoying delay until it Hopefully™ gets fixed)

see my reply above for a fix

Damn, what a funky "fix". Thanks! (luckily I can take the simplified version since I already use button navigation)

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#78

Post by nixosbestos »

It blows my mind how many stories hit the front page, every day, that bottom out on whining about proprietary software. I've literally been talking about the Win10/11 whining for 3+ years, and yet EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK THERE ARE MORE.

Lawnchair is *EXCELLENT*. I say that as a former Nova Launcher user. And Lawnchair is fully OSS and actively developed.

I just cannot fathom people who enjoy this non-stop BS rollercoaster and are happy to be passed from OG dev, to scummy publisher, to ??? publisher. And all just be happy about that instead of ... why am I even typing this shit. The people that care, care and use OSS or migrate when the writing is on the wall. The people that allow themselves to get jerked around and just take it are going to keep just taking it. And whining about it, while changing none of their behavior.

(Totally not related; see HN and the constant cycle of people shitting on decentralization and then being pikachu-shocked when proprietary centralized services do what they always do).

(Though, it's nice to finally, finally see a predominance of anecdotes of Linux experiences that aren't based on 3 year old distro ISOs. EDIT: 3 is generous, I saw people talking about a 20.04 LTS spin less than a year ago and acting like that was indicative of Linux on Desktop).

To be fair, I'm probably just way off base here. A company whose focus is absolutely not an Android Launcher surely won't enshittify or sell it in due course. Surely. Surely, surely, surely. Right? Like last time?

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#79

Post by rurp »

fullstop wrote: post #42
whalesalad wrote: post #29

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

It's fine, and it works. I have a Pixel, though, and there's no way to disable the google search box on the homescreen. I will never use the search box, yet it dominates a good portion of my screen.

I hate that search box, it's ridiculous that they force it on users. On the plus side looking up how to get rid of it led me to Lawnchair which I have been happily using for many years at this point.

Re: Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher

#80

Post by manfre »

throwa356262 wrote: post #75

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

Why? To avoid using Google search. It's been an inferior search product for years. Last time I used the default launcher on a pixel, I couldn't change it to a better search product, so I changed launcher.
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