kvaesitso is a good free/libre launcher. I've been using it for a while now and like it.
this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2025
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Everyone knew Nova was dead once it was sold. Surprised old mate held on this long.
Still haven't found a replacement launcher that matches all it's functionality.
KISS launcher is FOSS and a bit different, but many ex. Nova users flocked to it after it was bought.
I was already a long time KISS launcher user after the sale (long time nova user)
Recently discovered Kvaesitso and I have fully switched! It is just a bit more featureful than KISS while still being very clean and now when people use my phone for something, they can actually find apps too which is nice.
I never used nova, but I'm so used to KISS now, it's the first thing I install on a new phone. It's also funny to lend the phone to someone, because nobody understands it as it's very different (especially how I set it up).
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For people like me who are worried about the data collection of Nova, we can try asking to remove it.
I had no idea it was sold to an analytics company. That's real sad.
Edit: direct link to request removal of novalauncher personal data
Having used pixel phones as long as they've been around, and used some AOSP based OS, I cannot imagine what it would be to not be able to block network access on a per-application basis.
Calculator app? No, you don't need to read my contacts or network access to ship it to God knows who. Keyboard app that is an ipso keylogger, also no. Launcher, no... Image gallery? Fuck off.
I trust companies to do the wrong thing, always. They all sell your data. If they ever get caught, the punishment will be less than what they made by it, so why wouldn't they.
I turned off internet connectivity for Nova and the Nova launcher prime with tracker control, I figure that may help.
I just hope there won't be any enshittification phases, just abandon it or remove it from play store if open sourcing it as-is is not possible.
I had noticed that Nova had been falling behind for the last couple of years, but I didn't know why. I've been using it for over 10 years.
It sounds like a case of "buy it, kill it" which is pretty sad. If it had been open sourced we might have been able to improve it and keep it alive.
Yeah, they laid off the whole team behind Kevin. I would quit too, if I saw my creation fall that way.
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I stopped using it years ago when it got bought and immediately injected with spyware. Neo Launcher or Lawnchair are very similar to Nova. Lawnchair gets more active development, but I use Neo because it's nearly the same as Nova.
Neo launcher hasn't had a release for 3 years, sadly.
Lawnchair is alright but it is missing a bunch of features compared to Nova.
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Wow what a betrayal, poor guy. He works for an open source release for a year and they just rip it away from him. Fuck Alex Austin.
I paid for Nova years ago, and have been happily using it ever since. For me, it’s set up in a really minimalist way that fits how I like to use my phone. I've never had any need to switch away from it because it works for my needs. Is there any reason I should consider switching away from it :?
When the next version of Android breaks support for it...
My phone still work's perfectly fine, so I plan to keep using it for as long as I can & it won't be getting any android os updates any time soon, so I think I'll be fine. When my phone eventually does give up the ghost, I’ll deal with it then, but until that point, nova should keep working just fine for me....
I'm surprised to see how many people use launchers ...I've always found them heavy for my shitty phones..AOSP launcher seems good enough for me to wanna try something else.
I've only used launchers to avoid enshittification e.g. Google Search box or other proprietary features that I don't want.
I see..maybe I can't see the need for a launcher because I've been using lineage OS for a couple years..
Pretty much! I see the same now on GrapheneOS. No need for another launcher.
Except I use KISS launcher, which is a whole other experience.
I used it many years ago, perhaps 10, and started using it again because it allows me to rename PWAs. I have four instances of Frigate running for various locations and now i can edit their name based on location.
I started using them back in the day, when most phones had a very limited launcher. I have used nova for many years, it has a ton of customization options. I'm not sure how it is these days, but previous phones also came with thing that I did not like and could not disable or remove. Like a permanent Google search bar, or the Google assistant being a dedicated page on your home screen.
What even is it? Is it like fdroid for example?
That was/is the best part of Nova launcher. Highly customizable, but not laggy or slow
Fossify launcher is buggy but at least it's always been open source to my knowledge. Actively developed. All the fossify application. I use them
What's going on, should I stop using Nova? I never paid for it and I like the way it functions...
Technically you can disable automatic updates for it. However at anytime the rights to Nova could be sold to anyone else, and not just a data miner some are talking about, and suddenly the app gets updated but possibly to the wrong direction given its massive install base.
It's not even the 6th yet! ...which tells me he's in Europe and that makes Nova a little cooler.
iPhone guy but of course I have Nova Prime on my backup phone. I wanna say I had a couple other apps he made, too? Tesla Coil sounds familiar. But it's been almost 10 years since an Android phone was my main phone.
So Nova should be usable for a few more years at least... but... what's everyone gonna replace it with? For what I use my S10 for, it should be good enough. I mainly need the launcher to support custom grid sizes, larger icons, and custom icons since my Android phone is a cosplay prop. (It's meant to look and act like the NookPhone from Animal Crossing. It's fully functional — you open Nook Music and it's Apple Music which I'm subscribed to, as long as it has WiFi it will play, and it has a lot of stuff downloaded. And of course the browser is Firefox with uBlock Origin — it's just Redd the fake art purveyor on a globe rather than the red panda we all know and love.)
Try Kvaesitso its free and open source: https://github.com/MM2-0/Kvaesitso
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I enjoy Niagara launcher. The paid version is a bit pricey but the free tier is pretty solid as well.
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