I’m looking for something as close to Nova Launcher as possible.
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Out of the loop: Is there a problem with nova launcher?
It was acquired by an analytics company, so there are privacy concerns.
Looks like this happened a year ago and analytics can be opted out.
If you are still using Nova, make sure you go to Settings> Advanced > Disable “Error & usage reporting”
Not sure if that fixes anything…
I’ll keep watching this post…I’m curious about recommendations. The default pixel launcher is…just garbage
Thanks for the warning, checked settings on all devices and corrected on some.
Time to look for a replacement I guess. The only thing I use is the icon size/grid settings.
Just don’t allow to Nova app to connect to internet. It doesn’t need network connection for its functionality. All apps on my phone which doesn’t need network connection are blocked through AFWall+.
Or choose not to support companies that do this in any way
Yeah, although so far nothing has happened. It’s one of those cases where we all thought it would immediately go to shit like QuickPic did, but oddly… that’s not happening. Feels weird. This isn’t how good software being bought up usually plays out!
It was acquired by an analytics company, so there are privacy concerns.
This one from last year? https://novalauncher.com/branch
Yep, that’s the one.
It’s proprietary I guess? That’s never good.
Proprietary isn’t always a bad thing, but the developer(s) of the proprietary product have to have decent intentions which is not usually the case.
Note how I said that it’s never good. Being proprietary might not be bad in some cases but it’s never good either.
ah, got you
I just found Lawnchair. I’m going to try it out today. Thanks for letting me know of Nova’s potential privacy concerns.
Edit: looks like Lawnchair has not been updated in 4 years. I will be trying Olauncher instead.
Oh. My. God.
Lawnchair. Launcher.
I finally got the pun.
How the fuck did I miss this pun. I used this launcher for like 2 years and always just thought it was some random weird name.
So lawnchair is still maintained here’s their github
And if you want to try Olaucher try the clutter free version on fdroid
I did not check github, just the info on f-droid. I may try Lawnchair again.
I like the minimalist way of Olauncher, but I would like to see app icons on my home screen instead of just the names of the apps. In the few minutes of trying Olauncher I was not able to find a setting to switch to icons.
Now, I’m trying Kvaesitso. So far I like it. Again there are no icons on the home screen. There are no app names either. For some reason I like this better. I’m going to have to try and get used to swipping up to see my widgets and swipping down to get to the app drawer. This is reversed from what I’m used to.
I think there’s a new f-droid entry for the current lawnchair rework. Not sure when it last got an update, but I think there are two lawnchair apps on f-droid, one being the old one, one being the new work in progress
Olauncher doesnt support icons
They released a more recent Lawnchair 2 last year.
https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/app.lawnchair
The repository is updated I think, but the release apk is already a year ago.
Ive been using lawnchair since they sold out, its not perfect but it gets the job done
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There are no privacy concerns, if you dont trust it, firewall it.
I switched from nova to niagara and I love it. It is very different, but if you give it a shot for a few days you might just fall in love too.
I did the same and fell in love too. Niagara is the best!
Agreed. I’ve been using it for years now, and it just feels like what a launcher should be. I’m surprised it’s not been adopted as the default, or even an available mode, since it’s so intuitive.
Niagara Launcher is great. I used to use Nova, but found myself only using one home screen page and only like one widget. Niagara does take some getting used to, but I also suggest giving it a try.
I can echo this. I used Nova for close to a decade, and everybody talked about Niagara so I tried it a couple of times but it didn’t stick. I guess it took three tries for me, because I realized that the one-handed navigation for any app, the ability to easily find things alphabetically, and the fact that I could have my home screen apps pinned to the top of the list all make it way cleaner
I can echo echo this.
Once you figure out how Niagara works and all the little shortcuts you have available, the workflow is so quick and easy to use.
I’ve tried going back to default launchers and they just feel bloated and disorganized by comparison
+1 but not updated since 1 year now 🫤
I tried a handful, but keep going back to Action Launcher
Action Launcher had lots of the good stuff Nova
hashad first, anyway. Heartily recommend. Tbf as long as the launcher has covers/smart folders/whatever they’re called then I’m happyI switched to AL from Nova years ago - the cover folders are absolutely one of its best features, followed by custom actions for various tap and swipe gestures.
Do any other launchers have that feature?
No idea sorry, but I first learned of it using action launcher and dumped Nova for Action when Nova was sold off. No regrets
I’ve really enjoyed Smart Launcher. Customization flexibility is on-par or better than Nova, and I really enjoy their app tray
Does it have gesture shortcuts? Like two finger swipe down opens Y app and 2 finger swipe up opens Z?
Yeah, proper customization for one and two finger swipes in each of the four directions
I miss the tap-then-swipe gesture but overall in digging smart!
I’ve been using smart launcher for I don’t even know now. A decade. It’s great.
Like really, I tried every launcher, but Nova is the best, and I actually used the Prime Hack 7.x not updated since forever.
Make sure to block internet access. If your OS cant do that, maybe switch devices.
Nova has a monopoly on quality, nothing even comes half close.
However, a decent FOSS launcher is Lawnchair, use the latest builds from github actions, it works fairly well and can allow for basic home screen customization, folder customization and custom icons
What’s Prime hack?
I bought Nova Launcher Pro and used to happily donate to them because there really was nothing else that could compare.
It sucks that Branch bought them, and why I stick with the Stock Google launcher now.
Does the Prime hack give you Nova Launcher again without anything going back to Branch?
It just unlocks pro haha. On GrapheneOS I just block internet permission for the app.
Highly recommend Kvaesitso!!
Kvaesitso is a search focused, free and open source launcher for Android. -> https://github.com/MM2-0/Kvaesitso
Agree, it’s not particularly customizable, but I’ve been using it for a week now, and it’s been the launcher I’ve been looking for.
Only issue I’ve had with it is that sometimes, the web search tries to search as if the query was a domain and not a question. Though that’s not a deal breaker.
+1
Neo Launcher is the closest to Nova I used, but its feel like a work in progress
+1 for Neo Launcher!
I’m using Hyperion now. I don’t know if it’s any better in terms of privacy. I would love to hear people’s thoughts.
I liked it but the lack of fuzzy search is a deal breaker for me.
Unusual advice:
I use Jina app drawer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobeedom.android.jinaFS&hl=en_US&gl=US
It allows you to swipe up from the home button and access a selected grid of apps, and quickly search for any installed apps.
Lets me keep my homescreen pristine, and only display art/widgets.
So it really doesn’t matter what my launcher is.
Just added to pixel 6, but I can’t get the gesture to work.
are you using gestures?
I suspect that might cause a conflict.
I use the 3 button nav on my phone.
you could add a hotspot on the lower left and right sides.
ADW Launcher
I want to switch to this, myself, but haven’t found the energy to do the effort.
I’ve given Neo a shot. Hasn’t got as many features sadly. The main one I miss is infinite scroll through home screens.
I’m building one right now, which key features/ new feature would you all like to see in a launcher?
For me, I’d like:
- Multiple pages
- A dock at the bottom w/ wraparound scrolling
- Ability to set grid size
- Smart theming for icons
- Flexibility with resizing and location of widgets
Can you elaborate on smart theming for icons?
Like if I choose a particular theme, all of my icons match that theme. I’m not sure if that’s possible or not.
Thanks! By theme you mean color theming right?
Yep!
Hyperion is what I use and think it’s really close to Nova.
