- cross-posted to:
- android@lemdro.id
- cross-posted to:
- android@lemdro.id
So, anybody know a good launcher to use once Nova goes offline?
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It was the “end of an era” when they were sold off to a data-mining company years ago.
Lawnchair
I thought that’s in perceptual pre release.
Idk, it is what it is, I’ve used it ever since Nova got kinda dumb like 5-6 years ago. Put it on every phone. It hides apps, keeps my phone looking clean. It’s excellent.
Yea that’s what i switched to after nova sold out, its alright gets the job done. Fuck Nova
I use Lawnchair as well because I require my launcher to be open source. The only thing is it is not on F-Droid or Playstore so it must be installed and updated manually. I have found it to be stable enough for my purposes.
EDIT: And after making the comment below I just noticed the date on the version is 2022? I’m going need to try out the latest version from their Git.
I use droidify because I like the look of it better. It comes with another repo enabled by default called IzzyOnDroid which has the Alpha versions of lawnchair.
I’ve been using it for years. It’s great.
Oh nice, I’ll check out droidify and IzzyOnDroid. To help me remember to update Lawnchair, I added the github release notes atom feed to my RSS reader and turned on notifications so I know every time a new release is ready to install and updating is just a few taps away. https://github.com/LawnchairLauncher/lawnchair/releases.atom
PSA: Nova Launcher’s owning company sells their user data. It was a good launcher when it first came out, but it’s been nothing but a downward spiral from there.
Edit for clarity: I don’t mean the app itself. It is owned by an entity that exists to sell consumer data.
But, but, they assured us that that wasn’t going to happen? You mean they lied??
JFC, what a fall from grace for Nova. Sad to see.
Its insane that custom launchers are even needed. I gave the base Samsung version a try and it wont even let me move the app drawer button, its glued to the bottom right. I’d expect an android to let me customize more than windows. Never understood the big tech companies need for this much control. Some brand manager will have a heartattack if I change an app icon, a basic feature in any version of Windows.
They keep things locked down for the 50% of the population with below average intelligence. It makes things easier to trouble shoot when you can’t move the important stuff. Also that group is usually the loudest complainers when they can’t find something, or something goes wrong.
I switched to Lawnchair a while back (android 14 broke folders in nova for me). It’s not got the same depth of customisation, but ive found it pretty good alternative. And so far seems quick and reliable.
Lawnchair.
I’ve been working on a launcher for a while now, do help me test it out!
Features include:
- Widget stacks (with auto scroll)
- Swipe up and swipe down to launch different apps
- Display app drawer icons as tiles or a list
- Individually resize home screen icons, for mixed-size icon layouts
- Freely position and resize a widget or icon
- Frosted glass background for widgets (experimental)
- App drawer folders
- Fade a widget
- Separate layouts for different screens for foldables
- Tap a folder to launch its first app (swipe to open folder)
- Assign a nickname to an app for instant app search and launch (e.g. searching “ff” launches Firefox instantly)
- Lots of custom animations and haptics
Planned features include:
- Profile switching with Tasker support
- Square tiles for app drawer
- Swipe to open a widget pop up
Not open source, a little disappointed. I’ll give it a try when it is
Why do you need a new launcher? You’re good to go for several years until (if) Android implements some completely new feature. Right now Nova has pretty much everything.
When I found out how scummy they were with user data I moved to KISS launcher. It took a few days to get used to but I’m very happy with it now.
KISS launcher is exactly what I was looking for in a launcher. 5 always used apps at the bottom calendar and weather widgets on the home screen, search for everything else. It seems like it used to have a lot of problems with custom icons but lately it’s been pretty much perfect.
I’ve been using KISS for a couple years now very successfully and I love it.
Should you decide to stick with it, here’s two tiny tips:
- Should the custom icons ever actually give you trouble, most issues can be fixed by going to the KISS Launcher options → Advanced → Restart KISS. It will reload all items from scratch.
- You can actually have a couple more ‘quick access’ apps set by going to KISS Launcher options → User experience → Gestures and defining ‘Launch…’ actions. For example, I launch my messaging app with a right swipe, my e-mails with a left swipe and note-taking with a long hold anywhere on the launcher.
I’ve actually been using it for years but I’ve never messed with the launch gestures before. That’s a super useful feature.
I have tried Kvaesito, Niagara, Nova, Kiss and Lawnchair(and forks), personally I prefer Lawnchair because it it the most standard regarding workflow and has all if not most features one would want in a launcher. Plus the fact it is fully FOSS and supports Arcticons. If you have a small number of apps you typically launch then Kiss or Niagara(Paid Pro version recommended) would work nicely.
Sounds great but is it true it won’t allow custom icons?
What will not allow custom icons? All of them support custom icons. What do you mean?
Another review of it claimed it couldn’t but I’ll give it a try. Thanks.
Man I am really struggling to find a replacement launcher that works for foldables. Neo and Total have scaling issues that make icons giant
Do give my work on progress launcher a try
Seems to have a lot of features I like so far
I can’t seem to add more than two apps to a folder, is that a known bug?
It’s not a known bug, could you provide more details? I just tried creating a home screen folder with 4 apps, and am able to.
Yeah sorry lol, I was not clear.
When I go to add a third app it just goes behind the folder. Tried a dozen times with different apps and only ever takes 2 per folder.Just tried again and it let me do 4! Then the 5th just goes into its own folder and cant be added.
Thank you so much! A video speaks a million words and yours helped me to instantly identify what’s causing this.
What happens is that when you remove apps from a folder until one is left, that app remains as a folder, and currently this launcher doesn’t allow you to drag one folder over another.
A workaround is to tap that “folder” and drag that last app out from its “folder”, into the other folder you want it to be in.
A fix for this is planned, thanks for highlighting this confusing behaviour ;)
Happy to help!
I use Olauncher, pretty similar to Niagara and is FOSS. https://github.com/tanujnotes/Olauncher
I recently found this and it works great for my needs
I used Nova for years. When they got bought out I switched to a bunch of different launchers. My favorite turned out to be Kvaesitso.
It was weird for me at first because having apps on the main screen was something I’ve grown acustomed to. You can have a row if you want though. There is an option. After using it for a few weeks, I realized their layout works best for me.
Let me know if there are other launchers you recommend. I appreciate it.
I tried to like Kvaezitso, and I loved some of the features, but it’s too strict in others that I didn’t like. I want Lawnchair and Kvaezitso to make love and have a perfect baby.
My recommendation is Niagara Launcher. It’s more minimal than other launchers. I like the reduction in clutter.
