As a long-term Nova user, my biggest problem with replacing it is finding anything that provides similar capabilities. There were reasons why it was so popular for so long. That probably also limited the market for launchers with a similar approach. I can only hope that its decline will cause someone to build something similar.
Of the available options, Lawnchair seems to be the best, but that doesn’t make it a good option. It probably does three-quarters of what I rely on in Nova. That isn’t actually a complaint about Lawnchair. It wasn’t intended to be a Nova replacement… It’s a good launcher in its own right and I really appreciate that it is also FOSS.
I guess my point is that people keep saying there are lots of alternatives to Nova. Yes, there are, but there are currently no substitutes.
Most of the alternatives mentioned here just data hungry non foss apps. It’s better to use default one than an extra data hungry option.
Nothing closed source or FOSS really comes close. Heres to hoping with it being axed well finally see a FOSS launcher like it eventually.
Check out Kiss on F-Droid.
I like KISS launcher, but not sure if it’s the right alternative for someone who liked Nova. Lawnchair might be more similar
I will keep using it till it fails
This is really disappointing, but not unexpected. I’ve been using Nova for more than a decade and can’t get used to any other launcher I’ve tried so far. Everyone thought Nova would turn into an ad infested shell of itself once it was bought a few years ago. I guess this is worse since it will cease to function soon (maybe).
I used Nova back in the day, but these days use Lawnchair on an AOSP-based ROM. It’s fine. I really just need to be able to remove apps from the drawer and modify icons. Preferably set both an icon pack, and override icons per-app. The AOSP launcher should have this functionality at this point, but it doesn’t really have any functionality at all.
With Google doing more stuff the FOSS community doesn’t like with AOSP, and the absolute stagnation of the built in apps, maybe it’s about time for the community to fork AOSP as a whole.
I’ve had updates and Internet access turned off since they were bought, and it still works fine. I’ll switch when I have no other choice.
Almost every other launcher advertised on these threads is minimalist and search based, and I don’t want either of those. I want full control over how my app menu, notifications, and home pages are laid out.
Lawnchair seems to do a good chunk of what Nova does. I haven’t taken the time to fully recreate my setup, but most things I’ve tried have worked so far.
With Nova I have a setup that more or less fits everything on my home page without looking too busy. Lawnchair is letting me change the number of rows and columns, shrink icon size, choose a monochrome theme as a default, make folders, etc.
Lawnchair doesn’t seem to allow gestures on icons/folders, so it’s a non-starter for me. I use swipe actions all the time to launch apps. Like, tap for SMS, swipe down for WhatsApp, swipe up for Signal; or tap to open a folder of utilities, swipe up for Root Explorer and down for KeePass. I want to be able to launch all of my frequently used apps with 1 action from my homescreen. If anything, I’d like a launcher that allows even more swipe actions (right & left).
I just want a full app drawer and a single homescreen with shortcuts/folders that can be overloaded with swipe actions. IDGAF about widgets or search. If I need to type anything, I’m doing too much work to launch an app.
I have been using Nova for nearly a decade now. I think it was the first app I paid for. I tried ahem, different launchers but each had something or the other missing. Nova seems so feature complete to me. I will go looking out for something new when it breaks.
Currently on Android 15 on my phone, it works for the time being…
I’m in the same boat as you
Also, most of these replacement suggestion in this article and many others, are not FOSS
What !?
It will still work, till it won’t any longer. I assume new Android version will release one day and Nova won’t be compatible with it.
Man this sucks. Fuck idk what imma use
