The writing has been on the wall for some time now, but customizing your Android experience using a third-party launcher isn’t really a thing like it used to be. Now, there are a lot of reasons why, but for the most part, first-party offerings from the likes of Google and Samsung have just gotten that much better, and most consumers are looking for something that’s straightforward and available right out of the box.
We get it though, there are some people that swear by Nova Launcher or some other option, but we know now that the former’s life is a bit more limited, considering that there’s no one working on the product at the moment. If you haven’t heard, Nova Launcher’s creator, Kevin Barry, stepped away from the app, leaving its future in question. But in a bit of good news, we’re now getting a new update, which could end up being be one of the app’s final ones.
One last hurrah
The news comes from Android Authority, shedding light on a new beta that just popped up, which will bring some improvements to the experience. What’s interesting is that this update isn’t something fresh, with a former developer of Nova Launcher chiming in, providing details that this is an update that was worked on “over a year ago.”
So, while this is a valid update, it makes the release even more interesting, since no one from the original team is working on Nova Launcher anymore. For the most part, this could just be some remnants that the company is trying to get out of the door, but even that takes some effort in order to ensure that things aren’t going to break.
If you’re a dedicated Nova Launcher user, this update is going to be a bit bittersweet, since it could potentially be one of the very last updates the app will ever receive. Hopefully, the company that’s in charge of Nova Launcher will find a way to keep the updates coming, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Naturally, as a Nova Launcher user, you might already be looking for an alternative. If that’s the case, we would suggest giving Lawnchair a try. It’s clean and also provides important customization tools as well. Of course, everyone is going to have their own preferences, so be sure to poke around the Play Store to find what works good for you.
