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A beloved Android customization device is coming to an finish. Nova Launcher, lengthy recognized for being one of many greatest third-party launchers you will get in your Android telephones, is formally shutting down, and customers who’ve relied on it for over a decade are mourning the loss.

Nova’s founder and authentic developer, Kevin Barry, made the announcement over the weekend. On September 6, Barry posted a message confirming that he had left Department, the analytics agency that acquired Nova Launcher in 2022, and would not be concerned with the undertaking.

“I’ve been the one one engaged on Nova for the previous yr,” Barry wrote in his farewell message titled “So Lengthy. ”

“I wanted to let you understand that I’ve left Department and am not concerned with Nova Launcher,” he mentioned.

Barry went on to elucidate that he had been making ready to launch Nova as open supply, cleansing up the codebase and coordinating with authorized groups. Department’s management had publicly promised that if he ever left, the code could be handed to the group. Nevertheless, Barry mentioned he was finally requested to cease work on the open-source effort.

Nova Launcher has been the most effective third-party substitute dwelling display launchers for Android since its debut. It permits customers to deeply tweak their dwelling screens, gestures, and app drawer in ways in which go nicely past what inventory launchers have to supply.

Nevertheless, the app’s journey has been unsure since Department acquired it in 2022. The deal gave Nova entry to deep consumer analytics that powered new experimental options. However by 2024, Department had laid off over 100 builders, leaving Barry as the only real maintainer of the launcher. The app’s final secure replace arrived in Might 2024. With Barry now out, Nova Launcher doesn’t appear to have a lot of a future.

Understandably, Nova’s loyal followers are extraordinarily upset about its demise. Reddit threads are full of appreciation posts and tributes from customers calling Nova “legendary” for shaping their Android expertise.

“Very unhappy. Nova is famous. It has contributed to the success of Android as a platform and has been the go-to on my units for years. It’s nonetheless working nice for me on a number of units, so no fast want to alter, however I suppose it’s time to begin exploring alternate options,” mentioned one consumer.

“Nova has been with me on daily basis since my first smartphone, even on my model new S25 purchased final month. It was such a fruitful buy. Thanks for all these years of dedication,” mentioned one other consumer.

“From my Nexus 5 to my S23U, I’ve been a Nova consumer. Thanks for all of your work,” one more consumer chimed in.

Barry additionally responded to a few of the feedback, saying, “Reddit feedback have all the time been exhausting for me, and at this time is a tough day. I meant to simply flip off the web after my announcement however didn’t have the self management. I admire the feedback like yours.”

For now, Nova Launcher nonetheless works and is downloadable. Nevertheless, with out energetic improvement or an open-source launch, it should ultimately turn out to be redundant. Listed here are some Nova Launcher alternate options in the event you’re trying to swap.