As the title states, I have used Nova launcher for years. As it is the most feature rich, most customizable launcher that supports basically everything I could need from it. However I am looking to switch away from it.
What launchers are you all using?
I have tried a handful of them and none quite fit the bill. And one feature nova has but no other launcher seems to is invaluable to me; that feature being able to swipe up or down on an app on the home screen to launch another app or task. It’s how I keep my main page from being cluttered.
I have tried Neo Launcher which I love, but it doesn’t seem to be updated anymore.
I have also tried:
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Trebuchet - I am on LineageOS 21
So the only option I am feeling is gonna work is Nova but I am trying to ditch as many closed source, data thieving apps and services as possible.
I could however just use AFWall+ to block internet connection.
Any suggestions?
You could try Niagara Launcher. I’m using it and it’s got that decluttered home screen but it’s fairly minimal. It’s worth mentioning you do get most relevant features in the free version.
I went from Nova to Niagara and I love it!
Neo Launcher, available in the IzzyOnDroid F-Droid Repo, has been my solid go-to for replacing Nova.
https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Launcher
I prefer a ton of icons/folders/widgets on my home screen, and it supports that dense layout.
I used it for a while, but it wasn’t get as many frequent updates as I would have hoped. I get it straight from the GitHub with Obtainium
Is Nova Launcher stealing data?
Ever since Nova Launcher was acquired by Branch, many users have had privacy concerns.
I just blocked it’s Internet access
Haven’t investigated what data they may or may not be taking but they were acquired by Branch (https://novalauncher.com/branch) and with that being said, use your judgement to decide if a company like branch is one you’d want to have data of yours.
Branch is an analytics company, so I would argue that yes, yes they are obtaining your data.
I’m still running Nova on Graphene. I revoked the network permission. That should mean I’m safe from spying, right?
Reasonably safe I would imagine since it can’t phone home. Similar approach I took, but I’m using LineageOS and AFWall+ to explicitly block internet connectivity.
OK cool. I’ve played around with blocking net permission for other apps on Graphene and confirmed it really kills Internet access. I’ve been on Nova since I started on Android many years ago. Old habits are hard to give up. I’m in the same boat and haven’t found a replacement launcher either.
Same here. I looked for alternatives but nothing worked as well.
Nova still currently shows zero network usage.
This was the closest for me, but the project has been slow for some time as the devs are busy with other things
Project has been slow is an understatement. Lawn chair was definitely a contender but with complete lack of updates over SEVERAL years - it’s abandonware and should be treated as such.
I don’t think devs or users really care about launchers in 2024. I still use Nova but only because there is nothing better.
One of the devs releases current builds of Lawnchair 14. Apart from a few bugs here and there, they work great
Thanks, I’ll check it out.
The problem for me was that I got tired of tracking the team’s organizational changes and busy periods.
The fact that this is not even official but a fork for builds is just frustrating.
I tried that one too. I couldn’t stick with it. I don’t remember why now.
I too wanted to ditch Nova, but couldn’t find something that was a suitable replacement for me. Now I use older version of Nova (version 7) before it was acquired by Branch and I don’t intend on updating it.
I always go back to Kiss Launcher after trying other launchers. With a huge amount of apps, there is no point trying to organise the icons. Nothing beats typing the first letter and launch.
I like Kiss a lot too.
Very different than Nova but simple and powerful.
Neo-Launcher is still being worked on, they are expecting to push version 1.0 later this year to GitHub, but progress has been steady from what I know. You can get the latest beta version of Neo-Launcher from their Telegram to try out. Don’t let the “beta” part turn you off, it’s basically production ready, I’ve been using it now as my launcher for well over a year, possibly even 2 at this point.
Could you please share a link to the beta? I can’t find it in the telegram chat. Thanks 😃
I’d be interested in the bet, I just already use other messaging apps, and don’t want to get telegram just for Neo Launcher
I use the paid version of Niagara. It’s going well for me but I get that paying 30$ lifetime for a launcher isn’t for everyone. The free version is ok but it lacks several very nice features like your music app automatically being hoisted when you connect earphones.
I used it in the past. I really did like the idea of it, but I can’t see myself going back. And 30$ is steep, I’d rather donate to an open source project anyways.
You can just download the cracked version. Its on some popular mod site that now I can not remember.
So fun fact about that I know a bit about Android apps so I tried cracking it myself, and when I couldn’t I looked at the difference between the vanilla app and the cracked one to see how they did it. All the cracked copies I could find were not simply cracked but also had additional code behind some kind of DRM, so I’m gonna go with “please do not install malware as your Android launcher”.
This isnt fear mongering, this is based on actual evidence of said malware being distributed.
I really like Lawnchair! It’s the only launcher that I’ve found to support gesture navigation
Niagara Launcher is so unique and difficult to switch from once you get used to it’s simplicity.
NeoLauncher is close to the feel of Nova but its a bit buggier
The dev versions of Lawnchair have been pretty decent to me. You can grab them straight from the CI build jobs in the repo. You might need a GitHub login.
Are they recent builds, as in the project isn’t dead?
Yes, look at the commit history.
Awesome, thank you
When Nova sold out I moved too. Hyperion https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=projekt.launcher Well as far as I know its not open source. But I did find it to be a decent Nova replacement.
I tried it once upon a time, and forget exactly why I didn’t stick with it
Smart Launcher. Worth the premium version. It has the alternate task feature you mentioned, it’s just on double tap instead of swipe.
Not open source, but they’re independent and respectful of privacy
I tried a number of them but never found one that felt right. I went back to the stock Pixel launcher. It’s far from perfect but I’m getting too old to tinker on features I’m not using anymore. I use the same 4 or 5 apps every day so it wasn’t worth the time investment.
I love the pixel launcher but hate that you can’t disable the internet connection of the Google widget. That means that Google tracks every single app you search and I can’t stand that. So I’m using the buggy and apparently just as outrageous Nova :/
