Nova Launcher unashamedly inserts malware ads into your home screen now.

Comments

• THB@piefed.social ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  For anyone looking for more customization, Octopi Launcher has been the closest replacement for me. I’ve tried Lawnchair, Niagara, et al.

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  • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I really like Niagara tho, it’s real smooth to use and can look great. But it’s something you have to adapt to, it’s a completely different workflow.

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    • harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I went from the stock launcher to Niagara and I didn’t feel the learning curve was steep. I did watch a couple of their YouTube videos first before switching.

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  • Localhorst86@feddit.org ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Octopi launcher so far looks to be the closest to what can replace Nova for me, but an absolute deal breaker for me is the inability to separate business-apps within the app-drawer to a separate page.

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    • THB@piefed.social ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      It’s possible with tags, but requires an extra step to hide. I ended up having all the same tabs as I did with Nova.

      1 - You tag those apps “Business” 2 - Long press on the “Business” tag tab and uncheck “Show apps in all apps list”

      Octopi is great but I’ve definitely found settings hidden all over the place. The dev is fond of hiding them inside long presses of various things.. XD

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  • Pzulu@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Yep, 100%

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• lechekaflan@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Either use a different launcher or roll back and block the app from updating itself.

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  • martin@lemmy.caliban.io ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    How do you block an app from updating? I’ve been trying to prevent Magic Earth from updating to the new version but nothing seems to work.

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    • lechekaflan@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I have to go to Google Play then to the app’s store page and get to the triple dot menu on the upper-right corner, then choose to disable auto-updates.

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• D_C@sh.itjust.works ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I’ve had the paid version for about ten years, is that also enshittified?
  I’ve disabled auto update…

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  • lichtmetzger@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I don’t see any ads on the paid version here.

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    • zerosignal@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      From what I saw on reddit, the ads aren’t there but a whole bunch of tracking is

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  • radiouser@crazypeople.online ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    yup, the original owner sold out and it belongs to so super shady company now. I had used launcher from my days of using the HTC wildfire (I think) so I felt the loss too.

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• InFerNo@lemmy.ml ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  What’s so special about launchers? I fail to see its or understand what it does, and if I should change mine?

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  • Agent641@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I’m just a fussy bastard, and I like everything to be ‘just so’ on my computers and phones. If I want to move a zig, I’m gonna find a way to move that zig.

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  • cenariodantesco@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Launchers allow you to have a customised UI, maybe you don’t want to have a Google search bar in you home screen, the default UI doesn’t allow you to change it, a launcher does. What about changing order of icons, maybe you want your icons to shape the capital letter F, with a launcher you can, or you know that real gangstas use IBM Plex Mono instead of Roboto, you ain’t nobody’s bitch, a launcher helps you with that

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  • Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    On a shield Android TV, the official launcher show ads for stupid shows. I don’t want any of that crap and want to organize apps the way I like.

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  • Dozzi92@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I changed mine finally after Google kept adding shit to the search bar, specifically AI stuff. And it was conveniently placed right where my thumb had pressed prior to the implementation of this new shitty feature.

    I went from the stock Google launcher on Pixel (still using my 6a, til it dies) to Lawnchair. Lawnchair is essentially the stock Google launcher, but I could get rid of stupid features. It looks and performa nearly identically.

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  • MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Launchers are your homescreen and app overview. There’s basically the two kinds of launchers, app grid and app list. And hundreds of iterations over them: some have only the grid (no widget area), some have categories and auto-sort, some are just a text list, others have fancy animations (Niagara), some want to predict what you use next, some have a special integration of a app/feature/network. Stuff like that.

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• mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  If you’d like to try something different, i use Lynx launcher:

  Image

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• GreenCrunch@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  oh damn :(
  I used to use it but that was several years ago and it seems quite a bit has changed…

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  • starlinguk@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I still use it. No ads. It’s still exactly the same.

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• SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  And to think I actually paid for it once eons past

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• officermike@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Thanks for the warning. Disabled auto update in time.

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  • bonenode@piefed.social ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Please, just learn from this and stop using the app.

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    • officermike@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Any other launcher support swipe-up actions on icons?

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• Phoenix3875@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  For a command line like experience (or macOS spotlight), try KISS launcher. Never looked back. f-droid.org/packages/fr.neamar.kiss/

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• unknown1234_5@kbin.earth ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I'm using Niagara right now and I like it, pretty different though.

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  • bonenode@piefed.social ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I like it, but their subscription or high price paid app model is not something I agree with.

    At least they have written a long page explaining their motivation with it, but this is still way more than I would ever pay for a launcher on my phone.

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  • Novi@sh.itjust.works ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I want to make a homescreen for plasma-mobile that mimics Niagara I love it so much.

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  • GreatBlueHeron@lemmy.ca ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I’ve been using Niagara forever (since at least early 2019) and it is different, but it really works for me. I’ve tried to use other launchers from time to time out of curiosity but keep coming back.

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  • mattym00cow@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Niagara is amazing. Strong recommendation

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• sverit@lemmy.ml ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I like Octopi. Relatively new but good so far. play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.otp.oct…

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• CocaineShrimp@sh.itjust.works ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  So tthhaattss why they’ve added Google / Facebook tracking… lemdro.id/post/35102061

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• TheSeveralJourneysOfReemus@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Reminds me of go launcher ex. Used to be this funny looking launcher, yet invasive and with ads. Back then nova was the apex predator of launcher: keeping a stock android look but with advanced customsied settings.

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• 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Using a minimalistic launcher called Ion Launcher. I don’t use a launcher all that often so this fits in well.

  f-droid.org/packages/one.zagura.IonLauncher/

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• randamumaki@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  For those looking for alternatives: Fossify is making a decent enough launcher as well. github.com/FossifyOrg/Launcher

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• systemglitch@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  What is Nova launcher?

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  • Agent641@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    A launcher is the thing that displays your home screen and app list. Where you can dock and undock apps, widgets, ect. Also known as a “home app”. The default android one is Quickstep, but it’s dogshit and not customisable.

    A 3rd party launcher lets you tweak size, appearance, shape and colour of app symbols, home screens, and widgets.

    Nova launcher was the GOAT of launchers until some corpo bought it and shoveled spyware and ads into it.

    No hate against the original developer, he did a good job and honestly I would have sold my project too if it bought me financial security and freedom from the tyranny of the daily grind. Besides, by that time there were already other good 3rd party launchers out there

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    • jpeps@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      What was the free experience like prior to this? I paid for it ages back and haven’t really thought about it. I can’t remember what I even gained from doing that.

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• mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  So excited for this to totally bankrupt and put an end to them

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• jbloggs777@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I have used Nova Launcher for years. Was surprised I hadn’t already bought it. Discovered a 3 buxk playstore credit from google, so I paid 1 buck in the end. An easy decision.

  Apparently it was in maintenance mode for years with a single developer who left in late 2025, and it was sold to a swedish company that plans to develop/support it further. Hopefully they do it well.

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  • bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    it was sold to a swedish company that plans to develop/support it further. Hopefully they do it well.

    Narrator: They aren’t

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    • jbloggs777@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Perhaps. Software comes and goes, and paying a small one-off amount for something genuinely useful, after many years of service, is acceptable to me. There are alternatives too, which is good.

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  • boonhet@sopuli.xyz ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    and it was sold to a swedish company that plans to develop/support it further. Hopefully they do it well.

    Well they’ve already added ads and tracking so “well” is not on the table at this point.

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    • jbloggs777@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      True… many people don’t get the opt-out option, I suppose. There are alternatives, anyway.

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    • starlinguk@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I have it. No ads. It has two tracker libraries (Branch, Bugsnag) that get blocked by tracker control.

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