Nova Launcher Shuts Down After 14 Years

Among the many shocking things I've heard recently, Nova Launcher shutting down is at the top of the list. The app has aided Android customization for more than a decade. Its sudden exit feels surreal. Whether you want to believe it or not, it's been confirmed.

Nova Launcher’s founder and longtime developer, Kevin Barry, announced on September 6 that he is leaving Branch. Branch is the analytics company that bought Nova in 2022. He had been the sole maintainer of the app for the past year, after the company went through layoffs and cut much of its development team.

According to Barry, he'd been preparing to release Nova as open source and working with lawyers. Branch had previously promised that if he ever stepped away, the community would inherit the code. But instead, he was told to stop work on the open-source transition. That effectively means Nova will not continue under community development.

Nova Launcher will no longer receive updates

Nova Launcher is still working and can be downloaded. But without its creator, and with Branch blocking the open-source plan he had for it, there’s no future development.

As the Android software continues to evolve, Nova will slowly become outdated and eventually unusable. If you haven't had a chance to test it before, now's your opportunity before any significant changes occur.

Nova basically replaces your phone’s default launcher across your home screens, app drawer, widgets, and shortcuts. It’s been around since 2011 and became legendary because it offered fine-grained control that stock launchers didn’t provide. 

Your first interaction with the app shows you a welcome screen with the option to restore a backup. If you had a previous setup, you can transfer it across devices. Nova then lets you choose how the app drawer appears, such as vertical scrolling or horizontal pages.

You can set the search system to Immersive mode, so that it takes over the screen for a distraction-free search. It also indexes shortcuts and contacts locally with permission. 

Placement options let you move the search bar either in the dock or inside the app drawer. The most interesting feature is the app icon controls where you can scale icons and pick shapes from round, squircle, rounded square, flower, or even import full icon packs from the Play Store.

Not many launchers offer this level of detailed control over small things. The impending shutdown is an emotional punch.

Nova’s exit points to third-party launcher extinctions

There have been signs in the past that Nova was on the verge of death. Many people didn’t notice because not much had changed over the years. The last major update was version 8, released in May 2024.

It brought in long-awaited features like Material You theming, expanded gesture support, and a more intelligent search system called Micro Results. A few beta builds followed in June 2024, but after that, development went mute. Perhaps that was the first sign. 

The age of launchers is no longer what it once was and is slowly coming to an end. OEMs have cleaned up their interfaces and smoothed out the rough edges of their design.

Stock Android has matured, and brands like Samsung, Google, and OnePlus offer polished experiences out of the box. The demand for radical customization is no longer as urgent.

I’ll admit I haven’t felt the need to use a third-party launcher in a while. The combination of integrated themes, gestures, and adaptive icons on my phone has been good enough for me.

But then again, it really does depend on your OEM. I remember I initially used Nova over my old Tecno phone because it had so much bloatware and clutter that I couldn’t stand it.