{"slug": "nova-launcher", "name": "Nova Launcher", "category": "productivity", "category_name": "Productivity", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 14, "warners": 6, "score": -0.662, "rising": -1.31, "first": "2026-01-19", "latest": "2026-02-22", "why": "Nova remembers app locations when I change phones.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 4, "compare": 0, "warn": 6}, "spark": [0, 0, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Nova remembers app locations when I change phones.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://novalauncher.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Nova Launcher"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 747287440, "item_id": 46705465, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46705465", "by": "mancerayder", "date": "2026-01-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Nova remembers app locations when I change phones.", "excerpt": "I use Nova for to remove the Google search bar on the Pixel desktop. And as a secondary benefit, Nova remembers app locations when I change phones. What should I do that's hassle-free? Is there an open source equivalent that's likely to stay alive in a year or three?", "context": "Pixel user", "use_case": "remove Google search bar, Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747151217, "item_id": 46696951, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46696951", "by": "fullstop", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Nova carried me for almost a decade, and I'll miss it.", "excerpt": "I switched to Smart Launcher Pro, and it seems to scratch the same itch. It was more expensive, though. Nova carried me for almost a decade, and I'll miss it.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747076800, "item_id": 46692300, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692300", "by": "phreack", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I would honestly have stayed in version 6 of Nova", "excerpt": "I would honestly have stayed in version 6 of Nova because of the as yet unrecreated magical feature of allowing unread count badges on the home screen for many popular apps, that are not tied to notifications, via TeslaUnread. I've been trying to reverse engineer it a bit to see if I can recreate the functionality somehow, but all I've managed to figure out is that the icons are really widgets that look like icons an", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher with unread badges", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747050512, "item_id": 46690657, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46690657", "by": "anshumankmr", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Nova really made the perfect product.", "excerpt": "Nova really made the perfect product. I remember paying for the premium version worth \u20b9400 or something back in 2014. I used it till 2023 after I switched to iPhone as my daily driver.", "context": "paid premium user until 2023", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 747204416, "item_id": 46700276, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46700276", "by": "julianz", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "moved back to the stock Samsung launcher when Nova started having issues with widgets not refreshing", "excerpt": "I used Nova paid for years, but moved back to the stock Samsung launcher when Nova started having issues with widgets not refreshing (Outlook calendar view was the worst, it would work for a day or two and then just get stuck). I guess I should try something else now.", "context": "paid Nova user for years", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747193345, "item_id": 46699584, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46699584", "by": "pjjpo", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Nova got unstable after a Pixel upgrade and I noticed it hadn't been updated in years", "excerpt": "Haven't used Nova for a while and at first was curious if this was good for bringing it back from unmaintenance. The heavy focus on sustainability and marketing in this blog makes it seem unlikely though. Switched to Pear when Nova got unstable after a Pixel upgrade and I noticed it hadn't been updated in years. Been working well though will keep any eye on any other recommendations that show up in this thread.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747158944, "item_id": 46697434, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46697434", "by": "mfkp", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Nova Launcher had a really annoying 0.5-1 second delay every time you went back home.", "excerpt": "I recently switched to a OnePlus 15 and Nova Launcher had a really annoying 0.5-1 second delay every time you went back home. I've been a paid Nova user and used it on every android device for the past 10 years or so. I ended up migrating to the stock OnePlus launcher and it's actually surprisingly good, other than you have to disable the stupid google recommended page every time you reboot the phone, so I'm still op", "context": "paid Nova user for about 10 years", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747077841, "item_id": 46692365, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692365", "by": "JohnFen", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "OK, Nova is gone from my devices.", "excerpt": "OK, Nova is gone from my devices. I replaced it with Smart Launcher. That seems OK. It's not as full-featured, but it does enough of what I need to be a good alternative.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}]}], "who": [{"by": "mancerayder", "context": "Pixel user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46705465", "date": "2026-01-21"}, {"by": "anshumankmr", "context": "paid premium user until 2023", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46690657", "date": "2026-01-20"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["android launcher", "home dashboard", "remove google search bar, android launcher", "android home screen launcher", "android launcher with unread badges"], "compared": [{"slug": "kvaesitso", "name": "Kvaesitso", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "lawnchair", "name": "Lawnchair", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "pielauncher", "name": "PieLauncher", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46696357", "title": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher", "mentions": 7}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46686655", "title": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking", "mentions": 6}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47113728", "title": "I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 3, "warn": 6, "recommend": 4}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 753868193, "item_id": 47116762, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47116762", "by": "ctl0v0", "date": "2026-02-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "LineageOS, along with Nova Launcher", "excerpt": "Not to hijack, but if folks are interested, I built a similar project based on a very similar premise, but since I had a old touchscreen monitor laying around and some woodworking experience I used a raspberry pi, LineageOS, along with Nova Launcher to build a similar implementation based on android. I posted about it here if interested. https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/1ik3myy/turning_an_old_touchscree", "context": "", "use_case": "home dashboard", "switched_from": "", "story": "I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard"}, {"id": 747287440, "item_id": 46705465, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46705465", "by": "mancerayder", "date": "2026-01-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Nova remembers app locations when I change phones.", "excerpt": "I use Nova for to remove the Google search bar on the Pixel desktop. And as a secondary benefit, Nova remembers app locations when I change phones. What should I do that's hassle-free? Is there an open source equivalent that's likely to stay alive in a year or three?", "context": "Pixel user", "use_case": "remove Google search bar, Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747252240, "item_id": 46703265, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46703265", "by": "sjw987", "date": "2026-01-21", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've been using Nova for years now, across multiple devices.", "excerpt": "Sad news. I've been using Nova for years now, across multiple devices. Thankfully my build is super minimalistic and another launcher was able to replicate it pretty quickly. Black wallpaper, white icon pack, list app drawer with a few folders, 4 scrollable home screens with large white icons for the most frequent apps (browser, Gemini, personal lifestyle logging app, Signal conversation with wife). The idea that the", "context": "", "use_case": "Android home screen launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747218209, "item_id": 46701138, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46701138", "by": "voidey", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Nova Launcher Prime was good", "excerpt": "Nova Launcher Prime was good, but nkw I use Pie launcher which is OSS and minimal. Although it has very less features when compared.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747204416, "item_id": 46700276, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46700276", "by": "julianz", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "moved back to the stock Samsung launcher when Nova started having issues with widgets not refreshing", "excerpt": "I used Nova paid for years, but moved back to the stock Samsung launcher when Nova started having issues with widgets not refreshing (Outlook calendar view was the worst, it would work for a day or two and then just get stuck). I guess I should try something else now.", "context": "paid Nova user for years", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747193345, "item_id": 46699584, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46699584", "by": "pjjpo", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Nova got unstable after a Pixel upgrade and I noticed it hadn't been updated in years", "excerpt": "Haven't used Nova for a while and at first was curious if this was good for bringing it back from unmaintenance. The heavy focus on sustainability and marketing in this blog makes it seem unlikely though. Switched to Pear when Nova got unstable after a Pixel upgrade and I noticed it hadn't been updated in years. Been working well though will keep any eye on any other recommendations that show up in this thread.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747158944, "item_id": 46697434, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46697434", "by": "mfkp", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Nova Launcher had a really annoying 0.5-1 second delay every time you went back home.", "excerpt": "I recently switched to a OnePlus 15 and Nova Launcher had a really annoying 0.5-1 second delay every time you went back home. I've been a paid Nova user and used it on every android device for the past 10 years or so. I ended up migrating to the stock OnePlus launcher and it's actually surprisingly good, other than you have to disable the stupid google recommended page every time you reboot the phone, so I'm still op", "context": "paid Nova user for about 10 years", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747151217, "item_id": 46696951, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46696951", "by": "fullstop", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Nova carried me for almost a decade, and I'll miss it.", "excerpt": "I switched to Smart Launcher Pro, and it seems to scratch the same itch. It was more expensive, though. Nova carried me for almost a decade, and I'll miss it.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Instabridge has acquired Nova Launcher"}, {"id": 747077841, "item_id": 46692365, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692365", "by": "JohnFen", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "OK, Nova is gone from my devices.", "excerpt": "OK, Nova is gone from my devices. I replaced it with Smart Launcher. That seems OK. It's not as full-featured, but it does enough of what I need to be a good alternative.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747076800, "item_id": 46692300, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692300", "by": "phreack", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I would honestly have stayed in version 6 of Nova", "excerpt": "I would honestly have stayed in version 6 of Nova because of the as yet unrecreated magical feature of allowing unread count badges on the home screen for many popular apps, that are not tied to notifications, via TeslaUnread. I've been trying to reverse engineer it a bit to see if I can recreate the functionality somehow, but all I've managed to figure out is that the icons are really widgets that look like icons an", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher with unread badges", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747050512, "item_id": 46690657, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46690657", "by": "anshumankmr", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Nova really made the perfect product.", "excerpt": "Nova really made the perfect product. I remember paying for the premium version worth \u20b9400 or something back in 2014. I used it till 2023 after I switched to iPhone as my daily driver.", "context": "paid premium user until 2023", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747013377, "item_id": 46688336, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688336", "by": "breput", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "knew this day was coming after the sale and layoffs", "excerpt": "I was a 10+ year long Nova Launcher user, but knew this day was coming after the sale and layoffs[0][1]... This evening I at looked several replacement launchers, such as Lawnchair and even the stock Pixel launcher again, but Octopi Launcher[2] is more modern, more refined Nova replacement that you are looking for. It was a very easy, natural transition process from Nova - all of the Nova features that I used were th", "context": "10+ year Nova Launcher user", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747012864, "item_id": 46688304, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688304", "by": "bastard_op", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Sounded like shenanigans and time to pull the ripcord on nova.", "excerpt": "I've used nova on every android I've had since it came out to current, and when the former owner/dev warned people, I switched to lawnchair and didn't look back. Sounded like shenanigans and time to pull the ripcord on nova. RIP (not in ad/malware)", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747008401, "item_id": 46688025, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688025", "by": "mochsalman", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I initially thought that switching to a lighter launcher like Nova would make my phone-apps launching faster.", "excerpt": "I initially thought that switching to a lighter launcher like Nova would make my phone-apps launching faster. However, I soon realized that what I actually needed was something to boost my productivity, so I switched to a launcher with fewer distractions, like Yantra Launcher (terminal-based), which I've been using ever since.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}]}