if it’s nova launcher I’m gonna be pissed.
edit: it’s nova launcher. fucking fuck.
Seriously, one of the few apps I’ve ever paid for - and this is what I get?!
Hey by any chance do you have the last APK file and the SHA256 of that file ?
Oh wait, it this it ?
Name: com.teslacoilsw.launcher_8.1.1-81001_minAPI26(arm64-v8a,armeabi-v7a)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk
Size: 11970405 bytes (11 MiB)
SHA256: 30bccfdd995969089ad364a7a6bb7bbea482a703fbfb30ebccad6418aa977fecIs there an x86_64 version ?
Just making sure we’ve got the last version saved
Oh wait, it’s not open source ? And they’ve been acquired in 2022 ?
date of acquisition 2022-07-19
Ok, last one before the acquisition, just in case
Name: com.teslacoilsw.launcher_8.0.2-80002_minAPI26(arm64-v8a,armeabi-v7a)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk
Size: 12580956 bytes (11 MiB)
SHA256: 61a760413387dde99f2a2ef4b065caf278b575c8028cc5b3092f05192cfee258I’m sorry, brother. My condolences. I actually get my launcher from Fdroid and so I’ll probably also be fucked.
I’ve been using kvaesitso. I like it!
Yeah, it’s open sauce, has shortcuts, widgets, & works fine.
I also really like the tagging feature.
Oh yeah, I don’t often use it, but it helps me sometimes for apps I rarely use (but have tagged).
Also the button to disable all work (profile) apps is neatly placed.
Oh, this is great news. I have Nova tweaked to work almost exactly like this. Excellent, thank you.
These companies lack any sort of common sense. Nova is used (and suggested) by Android users that are at least minimally tech-savvy. What on earth would make them believe that news like this one would remain secret, and therefore allow them to keep the userbase to suck on their data?
Mine for the last 3 years
KISS is so good. It’s 100% the fastest way to get to where you wanna be when you pull up your phone.
Am I the only person that uses KISS launcher on this site? Once I got used to how it functions switching to something different will be hard.
I love KISS launcher. I can’t go back to normal launchers. Been using it for years.
It’s that vertical one aye? Used it for oldie backup phone and it was a blessing. But if you use more apps, it’s not worth it imo
Searching is way faster than trying to keep stuff organized in folders and screens. You get at least two clicks anyway and you keyboard is already there.
Dunno, organised my shit once and done, I can now get to my shit faster than I type so yeah.
Niagara is my favorite by far, i have been paying for pro for years
Man, I’ve been using it for a long time. I was going to buy the forever sub a while ago and never did. When did it jump to $42. I could’ve sworn it was like 20.
Yup, switched to Niagara a few years ago and I don’t intend to ever switch again.
I just use the Fairphone 2 Launcher and it’s fine 🤷🏻
I used Nova on my last phone and it worked great, I paid for pro. So I know what I’m missing, not worth it to get back in the Google Play Store system though. I like being anon with no Google account, especially considering Nova sold to a company that data mines user data?
Reminds me of QuickPic and ES File Explorer
Damn.I need to find an alternative. I also like the Microsoft Launcher, but it’s Microsoft…
i use oxshell
Are you alright?
pretty waves backgrounde,
I don’t understand the point of most of Android launchers, since they don’tcreally look that different from each other.
That’s just not true, especially with Nova, the one this article is talking about. Nova lets you customise basically everything.
To feed you ads, or make you pay for nothing special. Nova - the launcher from the article - is great, very customizable, and lightweight.
I hate being hinted and asked to click on the link, so I save you a click:
It’s the end of an era: the founder and original developer of Nova Launcher — Kevin Barry — has stepped away from the development of the iconic custom launcher. This essentially marks the end of the road for the launcher, as it is unlikely to receive updates or new features. For years now, Nova Launcher has been the go-to launcher for power Android users, standing out for its plethora of customization options and features.
Now that Nova is in literal limbo, if not allegedly in the hands of some data miner, there should be talk about substitutes.
- This app may share these data types with third parties
- This app may collect these data types
I hate being hinted and asked to click on the link, so I save you a click:
Are you using a different client? Without teaser texts? The Lemmy website mentions Nova in the teaser.
I’m on the PC and using Firefox, viewing Lemmy directly rather than on mobile.
Android’s most beloved launcher may be done for good
I see only this.
Seems like lemmy.world has the opengraph/teaser stuff disabled? When I open the post on lemmyworld, without an account, it doesn’t have a teaser at all.
If you open this comment source link it may very well show.
The interoperability of ActivityPub is nice, but all these differences make it confusing and cumbersome too.
I hate clickbait too. Just downvote posts like this
if not allegedly in the hands of some data miner,
it’s android. what do you expect? It’s one giant data miner.
That talk about substitutes happened when it was initially handed over to said data miner, and anybody concerned should have switched back then. I did, moving to Lawnchair, and never looked back. Oodles of other options are doubtlessly available.
Lawnchair was too bare bones for me. However, I was able to recreate 90%+ of my Nova setup with Neo.
Hasn’t had a release since 2023 🫤
Their other projects are in active development, so I wouldn’t consider it to be abandoned.
I haven’t had any issues besides the desktop being occasionally unresponsive. Same thing used to happen to me in Nova.
It’s FOSS and suits my needs. But I can see why others may want to stay away from it.
I’m quite satisfied with lawn chair too
I would be so happy if Kevin got accidentally ‘hacked’ and the source leaked, by now im so ingrained in nova that it just feels wrong switching.
In a Reddit AMA, the then-Branch CEO Alex Austin also revealed that if Kevin ever left Branch, they would open-source Nova Launcher’s code and release it to the community.
We still have hope if they keep their promise!
Big unlucky.
Read a bit further:
Two years later, Kevin Barry left Branch and is no longer involved in Nova’s development. In his announcement, Barry revealed that he had been the sole developer for the past year, spending recent months preparing to open source Nova Launcher and clean up its codebase. However, Branch ultimately asked him to stop both development and his open-sourcing efforts.
Yeah, I read it. But they still promised open source, nothing about Barry working on it or not.
That’s why I said “keeping their promise”
The fact that the company forced him to stop getting ready to open source it strongly suggests they aren’t interested in it being open sourced.
Also, don’t ever trust companies to do anything they promised with the clear intent to garner good will, especially if the promise is years away
Perhaps I’m cynical, but I’m a little amazed you found Lemmy yet remain this optimistic about corporations.
Are you being sarcastic?
No, that wasnt intended.
Austin is the CEO of a spyware company, while these days it’s not seen this way, it’s not too far from being a leader of a criminal organization (in my humble opinion).
I might be misremembering but wasn’t it bought out by one of those data harvesting companies a while ago?
Yes
For those coming looking for alternatives, this mega comparison chart is what I used to select an alternative launcher when I switched.
I would strongly recommend checking this site for the trackers in an app if you’re at all concerned about privacy. Links to each app’s exodus privacy report is also at the end of the table linked above.
Nice list. I recently started using Fossify Launcher and have been pretty happy with it. It’s simple but does what I need. Thought I’d mention it as it’s absent from that list.
Fossify is a tad too basic for me. I use the dialler and calculator. Both have slight issues. The calculator always starts with zero so tapping 1416 will give you 14016.
Dialler doesnt seem to wake or respond as quick as others.
I take it as it is given I know it is private and open but still there are gaps in UI and UX with foss that I wish were a bigger priority.
Speaking of calculators on android, I recently found an old silver link cable on ebay, which connects TI calculators to a computer, allowing me to dump the ROM of my old TI89. Loading up that rom in the ‘graph89’ emulator app is an amazing addition to a phone. Blows the socks off any calculator app.
But yes, fossify apps are simple. They do seem to be under active development, so hopefully they shape up nicely in the future.
Use Qalculate!, the only calculator app everyone needs.
Help a brother out, which one is closest to Nova? I don’t mind paying for good work, I just want home screens and being able to place my icons where I want, also widgets!
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.
I’ve made a post about this and some people are giving recommendations. Check out comments here: https://europe.pub/post/4256799
So if Neo started updating again I think it is the closest open source match?
100%
I stuck with Neo for ages waiting for updates to fix the last few issues…and they never came. Neo would be perfect if someone forked it and continued development.
