188
Nova Launcher could soon add a proactive AI assistant that sucks up all your data
(www.androidauthority.com)
What possible use could AI be in a launcher?
this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2026
188 points (97.0% liked)
Technology
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What a great advertisement for almost any other launcher.
Lawnchair is my go to if anyone wants a pretty simple and customizable launcher that respects your privacy.
I downloaded the APK for the old version before they added the spyware and bloatware, but i turned off auto updates and Google Play keeps trying to get me to update Nova launcher to the newest version 🥱
Not going to happen and the best part is there was no forced update within the app so im going to keep using the old one till it breaks.
Switched about a year ago and it works perfectly!
I second this. Lawnchair is great.
I've tested several popular ones and landed at Lawnchair as well. Plus point for being FOSS.
there have been enough reasons to ditch nova in the past years, in case someone is still using it
- 2022 acquired by branch metrics, data harvesting company https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/branch-strikes-twice-with-nova-launcher-and-sesame-search-acquisition
- 2024 nearly everyone laid off https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/9/24217077/nova-launcher-layoffs-only-original-developer-remaining
- 2025 original dev left after being told to stop working on the open source efforts https://www.theverge.com/news/773937/nova-launcher-founder-left-kevin-barry-branch-open-source-android
- 2026 fb and google ads tracking https://lemdro.id/post/lemdro.id/35049920
- 2026 (this post) evidences for built-in AI that harvests your data https://www.androidauthority.com/nova-launcher-ai-plus-subscription-apk-teardown-3658932/
Well shit, that's me.
Yeah the only words they needed in the headline were "Nova Launcher sucks"
I was still using it because I was too lazy to migrate things over to another.
And then I saw this post, so I guess it was time. Only took half an hour to figure out how to get Lawnchair doing basically what I wanted it to.
Octopi Launcher is damn near a replacement. Learn nothing new, muscle memory for swiping up or down on dock icons to open other apps.
Those were my requirements and it nails it.
Whahahaha motherfucker you just made my day!
Its a shame its not FOSS. Just checked it for trackers, and according to this site, there are none.
https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.otp.octopilauncher/latest/
Never heard of it but this thing looks fully featured and very polished. I'm surprised I haven't heard of it before since I've gone looking for decent launchers!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.otp.octopilauncher
That was why I settled on Octopi
Switched to Octopi as well and had to configure it a little to get it setup but now I almost forget that I even switched
The one feature I use most of all on Nova is swipe down on the screen to search. I has that all the time and would be tough to give up. I also really like the ability to swipe up on a folder and have it launch the first app in the folder.
I'll give Octopi a try on an older phone and hopefully it has some of these same features.
lawnchair is what I swapped to a few years back. I do want to warn.. be careful updating it. Always make a backup of lawnchair prior to allowing it to update because ive had it fail to update twice now and have had to restore the backup on the new version.
Yeah I switched to lawn chair a few months ago because I kept seeing these stories about Nova's parent company. I like it just fine—i haven't had the issues you have (thankfully)—but there are a few features I miss from nova. Oh well, I'd rather have the peace of mind than the minor feature.
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I switched from Nova to Niagara a couple years ago and I'm very happy with it
Niagara is great, I don't miss pages with icons at all
Niagara, my beloved
Used Nova for close to ten years. Switched last year to Kvaesitso.
I recommend everyone still using Nova to look into options and switch. It's not as scary as it seems.
Excellent. Lawnchair it is then.
I don't hate Lawnchair. I just hate Nova making the switch necessary.
Niagara is good as well.
Also spyware.
Thanks!
Just turn off network sharing if you have something like Graphene OS
Well yeah that’s the only way but then you lose the meteorology API which is a shame.
It sucks because Niagara is easily my favourite launcher, but I can’t afford to have a proprietary app with insane privileges across my device.
Sauce?
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Fuck all this. Stock android degoogled/Lineageos should be standard for every phone.
Next phone I get will be 100% degoogled. Hopefully a full Linux distro is out by then. I wish there was a Linux distro for phones that was just the regular OS but with adaptive standards like how websites change with desktop and mobile and Windows size changes.
Check out Swappa.com, find an unlocked Google Pixel 7a or 8a, and load GrapheneOS onto it.
Yeah might end up doing that. I'm waiting for the graphene official phones for now while my current phone is still functioning.
Out of interest as a 7a user , what's the top 3 pros and cons ?
Wasn't nova launcher basically shut down not even 2 years ago.
Last I knew they fired everyone but 1 dev, then that dev said "yea fuck this im out" and left as well.
I switched from Nova to Total Launcher a while back and it's been great. It has all the customization features I liked from Nova, plus additional useful features like folder swipe actions that Nova never had
Not just folders, every icon has 4-way configurable swipe. I've gone a little swipe crazy now. Who needs folders when you can launch 5 different things by swiping a single icon...
You could also try Yagni launcher on fdroid. 2mb, still in alpha, but very much worth installing.
Meh, I'll just keep not updating my 2024 version that I already paid for years ago and works perfectly fine lol
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I use Minimalist Phone Launcher with network access disabled. I know there are libre alternatives out there, but I didn't like them as much, and I desperately needed a digital detox.
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