Sold in 2022, fired everyone in 2024: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_%28company%29
It was scummy for the past 3 years.
this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2026
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Anything after 7.0.57 never happened, that is the latest version
I just changed launchers on my Pixel 6 because I'm slowly degoggling and the google search bar on the default launcher was the last place that had Google as a default for search. I was thinking of going back to using Nova launcher since I had purchased it way back, but decided to give Lawnchair a try. Very happy with the change so far.
I finally switched from Nova to Lawnchair just a couple of months ago and I am also very happy with the result! I spent ~20 minutes customizing it to my liking and it has been working beautifully ever since. Can't believe I held out for so long!
Kvaesitso is my favorite so far after using KISS for years. Simple, but very polished! I like the clean home screen with favorite bar and searching with a few taps, or scrolling the full app page.
I've tried Lawnchair. It's better than it used to be last time I tested it. With this said, I don't seem to be able to order folders by name, changed fonts (something more compressed) and half of the icons had the old font, and others had the new one (even after restarting the app)...
I think I could make it work, but like all open source launchers I try, there's always something half-backed or not polished enough.
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Between Lawnchair Nightly and Octopi, I hardly miss Nova these days. Lawnchair is god-tier imo.Β
I didn't know about Lawnchair, I've now switched over to it as well. Thanks for sharing your recommendation!
I had purchased it several years ago, but this is at least the 3rd concerning headline in the past 3 years. If you're still on that boat, jump ship.
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Knew this sort of thing would happen eventually, glad I made the switch away a while back.
When Nova was bought out by Branch, we all knew it couldn't lead to anything good. But it sucks to switch away, and I know people kept using Nova because they could say "it's not doing anything sketchy yet."
With this news, seems safe to say that "yet" is finally "now." Tim to switch if you haven't already. I'm happily using Niagara now.
An ad company added trackers to an app they bought? Wow. Shocker.
Glad I ditched Nova when they were initially acquired.
Newest version of Lawnchair already way better than Nova
What's the version to use? The latest pre-release?
I installed it to test. Went to change the fonts, some apps had the old font, some had the new one (even after restarting the app). Couldn't organize apps inside folders by name. It doesn't seem to handle icon adaptation for old apps as well as Nova did.
I feel bad for saying this as it's free and open, but it doesn't seem to be as polished as Nova.
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I've been using Nova since Android 4.x and I am really did not want to switch, but it sounds like I have no other option now.
It's going to be a pain; multiple family members use Nova on their smartphones/tablets and they are used to the interface.
Can Lawnchair be customized to replicate Nova?
I've been using Nova launcher for just as long, and finally got off of it in November. First it was no updates, then whispers of ad injections, and now the ads are actually here.
With that said, I tried Lawnchair, and found it to be clunky, unintuitive, and either lacking the features that I wanted or I couldn't find them.
I ended up going with Smart Launcher, which has been a fantastic replacement. It's got everything that Nova Launcher has and more, and it's very easy to use.
Smart Launcher is great so far. Thanks for the recommendation.
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I too switched to Lawnchair from Nova and am pretty happy with it. Has a similar experience.
Switched over to Smart Launcher when Nova became abandonware.
Well, at least with Smart Launcher, they're actually trying to add useful features rather than just shoveling in ad-tracking.
They require a monthly subscription to "unlock" premium features. No thanks.
At this point, I don't mind paying something every year to keep development going (there's always something that needs to be fixed on new Android versions) and so the author doesn't feel the need to sell it, but monthly subscriptions... I don't know.
I think I paid the equivalent to $4 a few years ago for Nova. I've been using it for 10 or so years. I wouldn't mind paying $4 per year just to avoid this sad outcome.
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Yeah, big new feature drop from them just this month, right? They added some features that I loved from Action Launcher (swipe to open folders).
Glad I bailed, sad to see this from a launcher I used for years, but big Ole YIKES to everything since they were bought out.
Using AIO launcher now. Don't care for the chat gpt feature it's pushing. But when you ignore that it's just a nice slimmed down minimal utilitarian UI.
No Facebook Ads or Google Ads on that launcher, but there's the same Branch analytics stuff that made people leave when Nova was sold for the first time:
https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.qqlabs.minimalistlauncher/latest/
.... Fuck.
Ty
btw, the launcher you linked to is called "minimalist phone", that's what the scan is about.
if you meant to link this "AIO Launcher", then it still collects telemetry and crash reports, but I guess most launchers on the play store do this: https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/ru.execbit.aiolauncher/latest/
it seems that the only way to use a "clean" launcher is to use an open source alternative.
I was using Nova until about a year ago I switched to Niagara launcher. The interface is clean, intuitive and fast
Thats a big RIP. Though I never really liked Nova.
FOSS bros stay winning
And then find the app in your installed app list in Google Play and untick "install updates automatically" in the three dot menu.
Here's me using it on gOS with network deny permission (suck it assholes, also haven't updated since years? ago). I'd use something else but I use KLWP for my UI and it gives the least friction...
Keep an eye on your battery life. I blocked Nova on my firewall app and it was retrying a connection to Google's Firebase every minute or so. I assume because it was failing.
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Cheers OP for the heads up, sooooo glad I started blocking those domains a long while ago with OpenWRT > Tailscale exit node at home.
Frustrating sometimes since peeps link many charities and shit via FB, but easily circumvented via archive sites tor i2p etc.
If you're using Nova, be aware that it keeps retrying some failed connections, so while this might improve privacy, it may also increase your battery drain.
I was going to keep using it for now with an Android firewall, but decided to uninstall it to force me to find a replacement.
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TIL Nova still exists...
I've been using Nova for, gods, something like five years now or more.
What are some good ones these days? When I started using Nova, it was very highly recommended.
I really want to switch but I need a launcher that lets me swipe on the dock left and right like how I can with home screen pages
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Thanks for the heads up! End of an era. I've been dabbling in Lawnchair (the new update is an improvement but some bugs remain) and Niagara (great but lacks support for a widget page).
Is it easy/possible to install older versions? I presume the APKs are backed up somewhere.
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I need a launcher that lets me make the icons bigger and in a 3x3 grid. Galaxy S10. What should I use instead?
Lawnchair does that and is FOSS
Thanks, I've even heard of that one.
one should just grab a version of nova prime and patch out the bs with lucky patcher or similar tools. maybe just use russian hacked versions of it with network permission revoked lol (IME 4pda hacked releases of apps are actually cleaner than official ones...)
I switched to and paid for Action Launcher, which is not FOSS but has tons more features than Lawnchair.
I probably won't switch to something FOSS until I can use flexible folders. With Action I have everything I actually use on one screen, with the most obvious app in each category as the tap action on the folder. Eg I tap on the audio folder to open podcast addict but I swipe on it to open a music app instead
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