Nova Launcher is shutting down. What will you do now?

Nova Launcher, a longtime frontrunner in the competition for the best third-party launchers, may soon cease to exist. Nova’s founder, Kevin Barry, recently announced that the company would discontinue its efforts to develop the launcher.

Barry announced their departure from Branch, a company that acquired Nova Launcher. They also stated that, despite its initial promises, Branch had abandoned plans to release an open-source version of the beloved launcher. In their announcement, Barry also linked specific comments that Branch’s co-founder, Alex Austin, had previously made, suggesting that their contract involved a clause “put in the hands of the community.” However, based on Barry’s account, that does not appear to be happening.

With this progress, any development related to Nova Launcher is expected to stop almost immediately. That means we shouldn’t expect any more updates. And while we don’t expect the launcher to be taken off the Play Store instantly, the eventual occurrence cannot be overlooked.

Of course, as fans and devout users of Android, we are all disheartened by this announcement. I have used Nova for over a decade, and while I have now ventured into launchers that prioritize ease of use over customizability — such as Niagara Launcher — Nova still holds a special place in my heart. And so, its shutting down feels like a significant loss for the Android community, and even hobbyists who like to customize their devices’ home screens for fun.

We would like to hear from you about how you would approach this scenario. Would you continue to use Nova until the point of complete ruin, or would you start looking for new alternatives almost immediately? Would you switch back to the stock launcher offered by your phone’s manufacturer, or would you simply continue to use the launcher — or sideload the app on newer devices — until Android limits that ability? What are some other challenges — besides the obvious difficulty of adapting to other launchers — that you anticipate?

This is an open thread, and we’d appreciate your thoughts. Let us know how you feel in the comments below!