Future of Nova Launcher Uncertain: Will It Be Phased Out?

There are lots of third-party Android launchers out there, but perhaps none of them have the long-standing popularity of Nova Launcher has. The project’s development has been on and off over the past few years, but now, its future is more uncertain than ever, as a round of layoffs is threatening the app’s future.

Branch, the parent company of Nova Launcher since 2022, has announced a round of layoffs across the whole company. In total, over 100 employees were cut off as part of this move. It looks like the layoffs were particularly fatal for Nova, though, as the company has gutted most (if not all) of the core Nova Launcher team. One of the former lead developers, Rob, clarified on Discord that only Kevin Barry, the founder of the project, remains employed as the one full-time developer.

Rob also went on to say that the app’s development will continue, but at a slower pace. Barry himself confirmed that the layoffs left him with “less resources” and confirmed that the current goal is to wrap up version 8.1, which will now be watered down compared to what was originally planned.

While former and current developers are doing their best to assure users that the ship is not sinking, it very much looks like it’s sinking. Will we see more after version 8.1 rolls out? Will the project be abandoned? The project has been a bit stagnant compared to the development of other launchers in the last few years, so with the threat of it becoming even more stagnant, we really don’t see this launcher living much longer.

Nova Launcher was first released in 2011, so even if the project is on the verge of death, a 13-year run is not bad at all. Personally, I would love to see it open-sourced if it does die.

Source: Mishaal Rahman (Mastodon), Android Police

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