Nova Launcher Killed by Parent Company
If you’ve ever used a third-party launcher to replace the home screen on your Android device, you’ve probably at least tried Nova Launcher. Despite tens of millions of downloads, Nova Launcher development is shutting down.
Nova Launcher has been around since 2011, dating back to Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich days. The app was founded by Kevin Barry and has been developed by him ever since. As of 2022, though, Nova Launcher had been acquired by Branch, a metrics company. In 2024, things were looking rough as nearly the entire staff was laid off, leaving only Nova’s original founder to run the show alone.
At this point, though, it looks like things are done.
In a new blog post, Kevin Barry explains that he has been “asked to stop working on Nova Launcher.” This leaves the launcher, which is still available on the Play Store, in limbo and without a clear future. Barry says that along with this end to active development, plans to open source Nova have also ended.
https://9to5google.com/2025/09/08/nova-launcher-shutting-down/
I myself have now switched to Pear Launcher because it let me change the folder icons to a custom one. It also replicates a lot of the look and feel stuff of Nova.
