It’s the end of an era: the founder and original developer of Nova Launcher — Kevin Barry — has stepped away from the development of the iconic custom launcher. This essentially marks the end of the road for the launcher, as it is unlikely to receive updates or new features. For years now, Nova Launcher has been the go-to launcher for power Android users, standing out for its plethora of customization options and features.
In hindsight, the downfall of Nova Launcher isn’t surprising. In 2022, Nova Launcher was acquired by analytics firm Branch. As part of the acquisition, Branch also got the original team, comprising Kevin Barry and Nova Community manager Cliff Wade, on board. Back then, the company noted they wouldn’t interfere in Nova’s development, leaving Kevin and his team in complete control.
In a Reddit AMA, the then-Branch CEO Alex Austin also revealed that if Kevin ever left Branch, they would open-source Nova Launcher’s code and release it to the community.
All this looked promising at the time, but cracks began to show in 2024 when Branch announced company-wide layoffs, leaving the Nova team with just one member — its founder, Kevin Barry. That’s significantly down from the original team, which consisted of 12 people.
Two years later, Kevin Barry left Branch and is no longer involved in Nova’s development. In his announcement, Barry revealed that he had been the sole developer for the past year, spending recent months preparing to open source Nova Launcher and clean up its codebase. However, Branch ultimately asked him to stop both development and his open-sourcing efforts.
The end of the road for an iconic Android launcher
Sadly, this is the end of the road for Nova Launcher as we know it. Branch is unlikely to update the app, and even if it does, without the original creator at the helm, don’t expect the same vision, polish, or innovation that made Nova the go-to launcher for millions of Android users.
If you’re using Nova Launcher on your phone, nothing will change immediately. But over time, issues are bound to crop up — especially as Google rolls out new Android versions. So, it may be a good idea to start exploring alternative launchers now.
