Is Nova Launcher’s Future in Danger After ‘No Development’?

Nova Launcher has been the de facto standard by which most home screen launchers are judged, but its future is suddenly in question.

And yet it’s still a quick, versatile launcher with a high degree of customization none of the stock options can match. If you’ve begun to wonder whether it’s worth the buzz — what Nova is, why power users are crazy about it, and whether it belongs on your device — here’s a clear-eyed guide.

What Is Nova Launcher and Why It’s So Popular

Nova Launcher is a third-party home-screen replacement that replaces your phone’s default launcher with something much faster and more configurable. It allows you to tweak things like grid sizes, icon shapes and labels, widget positions, scrolling behavior, and the arrangement of your dock — often with far more granular control than OEM skins. It’s resource-light, so even older devices will feel snappier. It has over 50M installs and around a 4.5-star rating in Google Play, which is evidence of its popularity over the years.

Why People Still Use Nova Launcher on Android

Speed and control. Nova allows you to adjust animation speeds — or turn them off altogether — and so going back to the home screen or launching the app drawer feels instantaneous. Icons can be packed edge to edge or, conversely, made so large that they’re accessible. The quick search bar is great, finding apps and doing sums, and leaping into Google or Play Store results; you can also switch over to engines like DuckDuckGo.

Nova also gobbled up some functionality from popular features of Sesame Shortcuts, with an on-device search that surfaces contacts, conversations, and deep links within apps such as Spotify, Slack, Reddit, and Netflix. Another highlight: gesture-based “app actions.” Swipe up on a folder that serves as your navigation to get route information in Maps, or swipe left on your dialer to call a favorite contact. Dynamic badges help add polish, as they show context-aware icons instead of simple dots.

Where Nova Launcher’s Development and Support Stand Today

When analytics company Branch acquired the launcher, major layoffs and the inevitable departure of the founder left a pretty uncertain roadmap. A surprise update arrived in the meantime, but most active development is on hold. For now, the app still works fine for most users — no major show-stopping bugs — but long-term support is very much up in the air. If you depend on regular feature updates or guaranteed maintenance, that’s a risk.

On privacy, Branch, with its tools, introduced analytics to power experimentation. Nova offers significant toggles and you can block permissions such as usage access or notification access if you don’t use features that depend on them. Heavy users frequently back up their profiles periodically so they can move fast if the time ever comes to change launchers.

Nova Launcher: Free Version Versus Prime Features

The free plan includes most of the essentials: grid control, icon packs, gestures on the home screen basics, and a solid app drawer. Nova Launcher Prime grants more of those deeper perks: gestures (including, but not limited to, pinch, double-tap, and swipes on icons and folders), notification counts and dynamic badges for apps themselves, as well as hiding apps from your app drawer and creating custom tabs in the app drawer. Prime is usually about $5, and frequently discounted. Because of the instability, many users are trying out the free version until they find Prime acceptable given the current state of development.

How to Set Up Nova Launcher Well for Daily Use

Nova’s onboarding not only brings you to a pristine desktop fast. Long-press the home screen to dump widgets, open Nova Settings, and start poking around: Desktop for grid and padding; App drawer for scroll direction, background transparency, and search placement; Dock for icon size and page count; Look and feel for icon packs, accent colors, status bar preferences. Dark Mode for app drawer and folders according to system theme.

Don’t skip gestures. Assign double-taps to screen lock and swipes up for Assistant or search, then use folder swipes to dive straight into apps. Back up & restore to save layouts to local storage or the cloud; it’s a lifesaver when changing phones. Nova Labs (hidden under volume down in settings) reveals experimental features for tinkerers.

Who Should Use Nova Launcher and Who Should Avoid It

If you appreciate speed, deep customizability, and a workflow that’s familiar from years of usage, then Nova has it all. StatCounter estimates that Android runs about 70% of the world’s smartphones, and on a platform that size, a lithe launcher can alter day-to-day use. For anybody concerned about updates in the long term, though, a dead roadmap is a dealbreaker.

The Best Alternatives to Nova Launcher Available Today

• Lawnchair mirrors the clean Pixel look and is more personalization-friendly, with support for icon packs and entirely free.
• If you’re in the Microsoft ecosystem, Microsoft Launcher ties your calendars, emails, and tasks together.
• Niagara cleans up your home screen with a minimalist, one-handed interface and smart widgets.
• Action Launcher sticks closely to the stock look, with a few software features over things like the Google Now Launcher.
• Kvaesitso features a search-first, vertically scrolling template with tags and built-in widgets.

Bottom Line on Nova Launcher’s Uncertain Future

Q: What launcher are you rockin’ at the moment?

Nova Launcher.

A: Nova Launcher is still incredible and makes any Android phone feel personal (and fast).

But its uncertain future means you should be careful about any Prime purchase and have a backup. Go with the free version, and if its speed and gesture controls are to your liking, consider one of the excellent alternatives if you need promised updates.