this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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nova launcher and its few hundred legitimate business partners needs your permission to display ads (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by 14th_cylon@lemmy.zip to c/privacy@lemmy.world
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it was bothering me for at least two weeks now with "nova launcher can't open network connection". today it finally presented this shitty ad dialog with missing reject all option where you can either accept all, or dive into few dozens of separate section, each of them containing few dozens sliders, all of them enabled by default.

let this be warning to others and you can deal with it before it surprises you when you are somewhere outside.

what privacy concious launchers do you people use? i have tried kiss launcher, but that doesn't seem to be for me.

i want classic launcher where i have icons on desktop where i put them and i can manipulate them blindfolded, not something that is trying to reinvent the wheel.

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[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 1 points 1 hour ago

Something that annoys me immensely is how 99% of the launchers on f-droid are "type on the search bar to find the fucking app"

Personally, I use Fossify Launcher, which is "default android launcher, no bullshit"

[–] shiftymccool@piefed.ca 1 points 1 hour ago

Kvaesitso on f-droid

[–] voxel@feddit.uk 8 points 22 hours ago

Fyi, those consent banners are illegal in the EU.

See: https://www.edpb.europa.eu/our-work-tools/our-documents/other/report-work-undertaken-cookie-banner-taskforce_en

You can file a complaint with a data protection authority: https://noyb.eu/en/your-right-lodge-complaint-article-77

[–] parson0@startrek.website 1 points 19 hours ago

Olauncher anyone? I like clean list

[–] kronarbob@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I use lawnchair. From f-droid.

Fossify launcher is good and simple too. (Also on f-droid).

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lawnchair for me as well.

Back in the good old days Nova was actually one of the three apps I paid for. Can't say as I'm pleased about things with Nova going down the way they did, but I can't say as I'm too surprised, either. (The other two in case anyone cares are Torque and Alpine Quest.)

[–] kronarbob@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I guess I paid for nova too, a very long time ago (maybe when I was on android 4 or 5), I stopped using it because of some disturbing bugs. I didn't follow that much of its evolution after that. I kinda lost interest for custom launchers, as the ones from the phones I bought or the ROMS I installed were good enough for me.

I started looking for launchers again because I started using /e/os a few years ago, and I do not like their launcher at all.

[–] zitrone@europe.pub 6 points 1 day ago

Kvaesito

[–] phar@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Nova used to be great. Dropped them a couple years ago when they got bought by an ad company. Maybe it was longer ago. Now I have Lawnchair running on GrapheneOS and couldn't be happier until a more useable Linux phone OS comes about. I tried postmarket and it's cool as an alpha but it really wasn't daily usable.

[–] Darkard@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Those are rookie numbers

[–] ArfArfWoof@europe.pub 11 points 1 day ago

literally 984 😔

[–] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

Dropped this garbage a month ago and went over to lawnchair. This betrayal cuts me deep.

[–] DarkSirrush@piefed.ca 5 points 1 day ago

That reminds me, I really need to find an alternative to nova launcher, but for now grapheneos lets me deny network access to it completely, which helps a lot.

[–] vermeil@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago

I'm a fan of Ion Launcher from Fdroid.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 5 points 1 day ago

Nova Launcher has been cooked for years, uninstall it if you care about your privacy. Maybe even install Graphene!

[–] harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Niagara Launcher. I paid for pro. No regrets. Well, so far.

[–] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What I said about Nova pro a few years ago...

[–] harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 day ago

Exactly. I'll dump Niagara in a heartbeat if they start enshittifying.

[–] dotCody@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

I downgraded my nova. I paid for premium and they still sneak in ads and background tracking bullshit.

[–] schwim@piefed.zip 5 points 1 day ago

Octopi became my Nova replacement.

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 3 points 1 day ago

My standard is "Fast Draw". F-Droid

The only limitation is you can only have one widget. So if your home screen is typically widget-heavy, this probably isn't for you.

It also only sorts apps alphabetically, but that's how I like it, so isn't an issue for me.

[–] femtek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago

Hyperion

[–] RandomLegend@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago

NeoLauncher feels quite like Nova for me.

that's what j switched to