1y ago

Nova Launcher Alternative?

I've been just not updating Nova as I haven't had a ton of time to research this, I really like the GUI, what are my privacy friendly/FOSS options for an android s21 5G?

Update: Went with Neo launcher. It's got enough of the features that I'm willing to use it.

There are a few spots where padding can't be removed that is obnoxious, FF search bar and dock are what I have noticed so far.

I also don't like that I can't continuosly scroll through my home screens.

60 comments

Neo launcher is close
Kvaesitso is a great launcher
- Seconding Kvaesito. Like many launchers, there's some getting used to but I'm loving it.
  
  I'm not a fan of all the permissions it needs, I know they're reasonably used for features but it basically requests all the permissions.
  I'd love to see it being based on modules, install more functions as apps. Much easier to tweak permissions.
- Kvaesitso is fantastic. Can get it on fdroid.
  
  It doesn't use reproducible builds. using the github release directly is more secure. Just add https://github.com/mm2-0/kvaesitso to obtainium
- Neo needs an update. Still working but giving me more issues on Android 14.
  
  No major bugs on my pixel 6
  
  What kind of issues, and what ROM?
- Its completely different. Cool for sure but completely uncomparable. Nova is a default launcher experience but customizable. Kvaesito has no app widgets and webapp support afaik, which was a nogo for me.
  I keep using Nova as my nasty app, even on GrapheneOS. Would never use it with network permissions, and I also dont have other nasty apps installed
  (apps can communicate how much they want, if both are coded to do it. If one has network permission, it can be used as a channel)
  
  It is a foss launcher
  You can create webapps with firefox
  it also has widgets
  Launcher is very important, I'd use nova as well if I wouldn't likr kvaesitso that much
What is going on with Nova?
- They were bought out
  
  Oof, purchased by an analytics company probably means they only want it for your/my information.
  
  it now it’s under new management. Branch, a company that provides analytical data and metrics among other things, has acquired Nova Launcher.
  Haha they don't even have to try because normies doesn't even care.
I swapped from Nova Launcher to KISS. It is a different idea for a launcher but I have started to like it a lot.
- Same. I felt I couldn't live without Nova, now I feel like I can't live without KISS. I really like the "swipe and type" flow to open an app and touching an empty area to open the recent entries. All that depends on your settings ofc. It's not the prettiest, but it's by far the fastest launcher I've had.
deleted
- Fossify forked all the Simple Mobile Tools apps and are working on open source, free and ad-free apps with that as the foundation. They have published a few already, Launcher is in the pipeline: https://github.com/FossifyOrg/Launcher
I have been liking Niagara!
There is lawnchair launcher
But it's been abandoned for a long time now
It was a damn fine launcher
It's still usable, might be worth giving a try
- Lawnchair, according to the devs, is not abandoned. In late November (of 2023), they said:
  Sorry for the long break in Lawnchair announcements.
  We have made significant progress in regards to Lawnchair development, and we are now actually developing Lawnchair 13 (with A13 QuickSwitch support) and custom-made no-root global search. Stay tuned for more updates and sneak peeks.
  Coming soon to a lawnmower near you™
  (And no, we are not dead. Also No ETAs.)
  Then in December:
  Hello again!
  This time around, we are now developing Lawnchair 14 (with A14 QuickSwitch support). Alongside that, we are also re-adding an option to Hide Dock and options for custom Feed Providers, alongside other new features (we wont give too many spoilers 👀)
  We also plan to support QuickSwitch for Android 11 to Android 14, so you can use Lawnchair with QuickSwitch on all your recent devices. (We will prioritize A12.1 to A14 first though).
  (As always, No ETAs)
- lawnchair is still being developed but no builds are being pushed. I'm using someone's fork they made specifically to build their own releases: (use at your own discretion) https://github.com/Goooler/LawnchairRelease/
  
  I'm still using lawnchair but internet cut off as it's just a launcher so why would it even need internet?
- I have used Lawnchair for years and I'll never switch as long as it's usable. It's the best one around IMO, very functional and pretty.
- the neo guys have a (afaik) maintained fork called neo launcher !! im using it and its working well, and not too much different from lawnchair :3
  
  neo launcher is cool but it's missing a couple home settings I liked with lawnchair Dx
- GrapheneOS uses an updated version of AOSP Launcher. I suppose that is usable by everyone?
I haven't found one that I like as much. My biggest hangup, and this is probably dumb, is the ability to edit the icons for PWAs so they don't show the stupid browser icon that screams "I'm a web shortcut!!!". I tried Hermit as a PWA/lite app replacement and Android just slaps the hermit badge on it instead. For whatever reason that annoys me enough to stick with Nova.
- Could shove it in a folder and then make the tap action open the first item in the folder, then set the folder icon to whatever your want. Disadvantage is that if it's already in a folder you can't do that because it would require nested folders
  
  Not a bad idea. I get picky about aesthetics though. Dumb, I know. But I'll give it a try. Just seems silly to me that default launchers can't manage editing the dang app shortcuts
  edit: Samsungs OneUI launcher does not put the badge on a PWA. But I'm not sure I trust them any more than Nova at this point....
Lawnchair.
- Lawnchair hasn't had a release since 2018. I find it to be a bit buggy and sometimes won't redraw the home screens. This makes me need to force close the launcher from the settings. I usually clear the cache too, just to be safe.
  Just tempering expectations for anyone else looking at it. If anyone knows of a fork that is more recent let me know. Maybe someone else is maintaining somewhere.
  
  They actually kept developing it, with the last release in August 2022, and, even though those releases were tagged as Alpha, I've only had some (not more than a couple times a year) freezes with crash of the launcher since. Tested on two different phones with two different ROMs
  I don't know if there's still someone developing it, but until something else just as good (for me) pops up, I'm sticking to Lawnchair
  https://github.com/LawnchairLauncher/lawnchair/releases
I never found one I liked as much tbh
Ruthless Launcher is pretty nice. Unfortunately it's not open source, but Exodus doesn't show any trackers and if you use GrapheneOS you can simply revoke Network permissions
Once Nova got bought i tried Neo Launcher and it has been more than close enough for me, a year and a half later and i'm still using it
I used trebuchet for my launcher, it's a lineageos app but iirc there's a downloader for it. It's not super customizable but I like it
I really enjoy one called Discrete Launcher from fdroid. It's meant to be pretty minimalistic and does not support widgets from what I can tell, but you swipe up from the bottom with one finger for AppDrower and swipe down with one finger for a favorite spar at the top. But neither are shown normally, just your wallpaper. You can also program swipe left to open an app swipe right to open an app and several other gesture actions to open things or do things
I spent a few hours trying any alternatives I could find on FDroid, even Aurora and just blocking network access.
Lawnchair has a giant empty space on the dock when you hide the search bar, wasting screen space.
Ended up back on Nova.
We need more options. We don't need any more "minimalist" text launchers though.
It's not popular at all, but I love LukeLauncher on fdroid.
Yeah I've been looking for an alternative to Nova myself. I've tried many but I just keep coming back for one reason or another. .I have graphene os but the default launcher is a little too plain for me. The search continues I guess. I'll check some listed here that I haven't tried. Maybe lawnchair will be worth it when they put out a new release.

60 comments