Nova Launcher is officially dead, and Android users aren’t taking it well

Nova launcher, arguably the most popular third-party launcher on Android, is officially shutting down and leading to an outpour of support for the app on social media.

Nova’s founder and original developer, Kevin Barry, made the annoucement about Nova shutting down in a blogpost on 6 September. Barry noted that he had left Branch, the owner of Nova launcher that acquired the app in 2022.

Since been acquired by Branch, Nova Launcher first offered deep user analytics powered experimental features. Howeveer, the company eventually seemed to have lost faith in the app with over hundred employees being laid off from the team by 2024, leaving Barry as the sole developer, Android Authority reported.

Nova launcher hasn’t received an update in around 1.5 years with the last update to the app coming in May 2024. With Barry also announcing his exit from Branch, the app is unlikely to get any further updates.

In his blogpost, Barry announced that he had been preparing to open source Nova launcher which included “cleaning up the codebase, reviewing licenses, removing or replacing proprietary code, and coordinating with legal to ensure a proper release”.

He also highlighted that when Branch acquired Nova launcher it made several pubic commitments including stating that if Barry ever left the comapany, the code for Nova launcher would be open sourced.

Ultimately, though Barry announced that he will no longer be involved with Nova and he was asked by Branch to stop working on Nova launcher and rhe open sourcing effort.

“Nova Launcher has been an incredible project and has an incredible community. I’m grateful for the years of support, feedback, and enthusiasm.” Barry wrote in his blogpost.

Netizens react to Nova launcher shutting down:

The shutdown of Nova launcher was most vividly felt on Reddit where users were deeply dissapointed by their popular launcher dying an untimely death. The browser while still available on the Play Store would likely no longer get any updates which means it users will ultimately have to switch to other apps.

“What I don’t understand, why buy something successful and then let it die? Same thing happened to BeyondPod. You would think the buyers would want to recoup their investment, but apparently some just want to kill something others love.” wrote one user on Reddit

“Nova Launcher is arguably the best launcher over the past decade. Bought it a day after the prime version went live on the Android Market, and remains one of my favorite purchases of all time.” added another user

“There is no any other launcher as good as nova, and I think will be never. Very sad legendary is gone.” yet another user stated