HN Reader

> "If Kevin were to ever leave, it's contracted that the code will be open sourced and put in the hands of the community."

Forget the public statements, those are worth their weight in gold; but what about the alleged contract here? Does it not actually exist, or is it not worth the legal battle?

One of my favourite features of Nova is swiping up or down on an icon for alternative actions. Anyone know of another launcher that can do that?

I don't fully understand the situation. This statement [1] seems to indicate that Nova doesn't have to open-source it:

> Cliff: Branch owns Nova completely and Kevin has no access to it in any way at all. So no, he can't re-brand, keep coding and go forward. That's a breach of contract on his behalf.

...but this post says they are obligated to:

> Cliff: Much more to it than word of mouth. There's a contract as well.

[1] https://infosec.exchange/@cliffwade/115168015274422682

A year ago there were some posts about Nova being on shaky ground because Barry was the only one left working on it. This seems to just be continuing the negative narrative. Unfortunate. Seems like he was really close to open sourcing it, which would probably be a boon. It's a longstanding and still pretty popular launcher in the Android world isn't it? I've used it for years on multiple phones.

Who has standing to sue them for breach of contract?

I keep thinking my requirements are simple, but then it turns out they are apparently not. Tried switching back when Nova got bought, tried it again just now. Requirements that aren’t universal:

1. Homescreen with (fully custom) widgets, app icons, folders.

2. App drawer with search and auto pop-up keyboard that shows new apps by default.

* Microsoft Launcher got close, but it’s essentially an ad for microsoft products. In addition, I can’t choose to have folder labels without app labels.

* Smart Launcher 6 as the only one ticked all boxes, but the UX of home screen adjustments is abysmal. I long press whatsapp, there I click the settings button, there I click the X, then I have to confirm I really want to remove the icon. Long press + 3 clicks for removing an icon from the homescreen. What? I guess it’s not a super frequent action, but when I’m expected to pay $22 for the premium version, I really would prefer not having such an annoyance.

I tried some others, both free and freemium, including Lawnchair, but for now I’m back at Nova.

I've been using it for couple years now, it gives me feeling of stability even when moving across devices.

Now what to do? Android apps is rarely a thing that you download once and use for multiple years.

I'm looking forward to the stream of 1 star reviews on Google's App Store explaining this app is no longer under curation from the original developer and that they violated their contractual arrangements for open-sourcing the app.

I've given up on custom launchers altogether because their proper support for gesture navigation breaks regularly. Nova support blamed this on missing apis, caused by manufacturer error (or intention?). Either way, custom launchers don't seem compatible with mainstream usage anymore.

Ive been rocking Trebuchet for several years, no complaints

Edit: Oh I just got the name, it's a "launcher"

Semi-relevant, not too long ago I started tinkering around with launcher ideas and almost immediately ran into headwinds when it turned out that the only way to draw the wallpaper the user has set in Settings is to use a magic method that doesn’t let the launcher actually do anything with the image and forces you to let the system handle compositing.

This is limiting and completely rules out implementing effects like blurs or a Liquid Glass lookalike unless you want to make the user set the wallpaper in the launcher separately. Totally killed my motivation to build further.

Any other launcher that lets you use a PNG / image file as your icon? Apart from action launcher. Getting png icons from icons8 god send in having reasonably consistent home screen.

Guess it's time to find a new launcher then. Suggestions?

The first app I ever paid for, even when I didn't have any money to pay for apps. Miss you, Nova Launcher.

I've been buying/using/loving Nova for years. Gonna be tough to ditch it.

Been using this since my Galaxy S3 days and is currently installed on my Nothing 2A. The switch will be painful.

So the author gave away the rights for the thing he invented, for some reason, and the new owner killed it?

Nova is really good and I used it for a long time. I think it was the first launcher I purchased.

It sucks and there is nothing anyone can do really, but maybe you'd consider making a brand new launcher?