Onec again the “Everything that’s not FOSS will turn to shit at one point or another” theorem proves true.
Nova Launcher gets a new owner and... ads
Submitted 2 weeks ago by ardi60@reddthat.com to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.androidauthority.com/nova-launcher-acquisition-ads-update-3633871/
Comments
carrylex@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
ransomwarelettuce@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
And if a FOSS project turns into shit a fork will come up.
One perfect example was simple apps acquisition. New owners turned it a ad ridden mess, fossify apps fork came to the rescue.
1984@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Yeah but foss has its own problems. Mainly financing. People are expected to work for free on most open source projects, and some do because they enjoy it. I do that myself too. Its fun.
But foss doesnt create products that require a lot of funding to get off the ground.
REDACTED@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
There is something to be said about continuous community effort. Projects tend to continue even with original developers absent, sometimes for a very long time.
One of my favourite games is STALKER, and boy does it hold a story and history behind the community. The eurojank game that was modded into an AAA looking survival game that was even published to GOG (STALKER GAMMA). Such project could’ve probably costed millions for a studio. Coincidentally, watched this video today, which briefly tells the history too: youtu.be/5C80TWlTC1o
NovaTheFluf@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I’m getting really tired of companies pissing all over my name!
thisbenzingring@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
time to go super…
WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Shouldn’t have tried to disassemble Johnny 5.
edible_funk@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
No disassemble!
edible_funk@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
No disassemble!
W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Newton Crosby. Jackass.
Perspectivist@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
It already had a new owner which is why I stopped using it years ago.
zecg@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Up until today I was happy with turning off updates (as a precaution) and restricting Nova’s internet access (all phone network access is proxied through Rethink+), but this made me switch to Lawnchair and leave a 1-star review for both the free version and the paid upgrade token.
pwalker@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
I didn’t know about Rethink, looks like a cool project
Cyberflunk@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Nova Launcher was acquired by analytics firm Branch Metrics in 2022 . Barry initially stayed on to continue development, but the situation deteriorated. After being the sole developer for the past year, Barry announced he had left Branch and was no longer involved with Nova Launcher . The Broken Promises: Branch’s then-CEO and founder Alex Austin made public commitments to the community about open-sourcing the code if Barry ever left . However, Barry was ultimately asked to stop working on Nova Launcher and the open sourcing effort he had been preparing . The Irony: Nova Launcher is now owned by Swedish company Instabridge and already contains code for Facebook Ads and Google AdMob trackers, with ads being integrated into the app . This is exactly the kind of enshitification that the community feared when an analytics company acquired it in the first place. In Barry’s actual statement, he was more restrained—just expressing that he was grateful for the community’s support while confirming he’d left. But the community response on Reddit and elsewhere absolutely used the word “enshitification” to describe what happened to their beloved launcher.
Pure fucking bullshit.
phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Thats why you want open source software, its the only software you can trust, its the only software that won’t fuck you over
victorz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Until these mfs relicense their sht and we have to fork
Grass@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
at least forking is an option you can choose, and someone else with decent reputation in the foss community will probably also do it before you, instead of just accepting being fucked up the ass with no lube for the third time this week
BeardedBlaze@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Except when it goes from open source to closed lol
unhrpetby@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
At which point it it just gets forked from the last good release/commit. Unless the project nukes all of the history and no one comes forward with a backup.
northernlights@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
This used to be my favorite piece of software I paid for. Then… 💩
Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Nova launcher works great for me, I haven’t let it update in years. Looks like that isn’t going to change.
plant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Understand where the thought comes from, but do you know what zero days are
Balldowern@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
No one is going to waste a zero day on a random guy using Nova launcher. Zero days are used against governments & other militaries.
Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah sure, the os gets regular updates, banking apps get updates.
When it comes to digital devices, convenience and security are in a constant tug of war, ultimately we have to make a choice. And when I make that choice I remember that this isn’t a company phone, there’s no customer data at risk, no important info to be breached. And still the number of times I’ve been hacked: 0
DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
They’re talking about app updates not firmware and system updates
BipolarSilence@lemmy.cafe 2 weeks ago
Rooster326@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
They were already acquired by a shit head like 3 years ago. This is just a new shit head.
kamen@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Bit late to the party…
QuandaleDingle@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I love that picture. XD
skribe@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I just switched to Octopi. For me, it’s an almost perfect replacement. Plus it’s a local developer.
jotaro__@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Can confirm, only one that had feature parity for most of my nova setup
skribe@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I showed my wife the before and after of my home pages. She said, “They’re the same.”
Happy.
LedgeDrop@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Is this open source?
(I couldn’t find it)
banana@lemy.nl 2 weeks ago
If you want FOSS, check KISS launcher. Its feature rich, light on resources, and available through F-droid.
nerdschleife@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Awesome app, replaced Lawnchair. Development simply moved too slowly on LC
winni@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
is it new? cant find it on the launcher comparison table https://grabster.notion.site/6671f3b62d8043c4aaaae22a241e3f05?v=91d9b664887643298f85fe18044d3560
kazerniel@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
thanks for this table!
Nova is rated as advanced customisability, and in this table Bridge Launcher is the only FLOSS launcher that has advanced customisability and is not discontinued, but based on the app page it’s basically a programming platform, not an actual launcher :c
asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev 2 weeks ago
Lawnchair is pretty good.
thermal_shock@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yup. I’ve carried it over several phones, have the paid version.
Zangoose@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Lawnchair doesn’t have a paid version, it’s open source
MrSulu@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
On 3, 2, 1,… Everybody Juuuuuuump to any other good launchers
Chaser@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I like this one kvaesitso.mm20.de
MrSulu@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
This is what I’m using too. Was a little different, but simple enough, out of the way enough and easy too. Goldilocks zone launcher
Captain_J@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This one is the best!
JSens1998@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Yep. Kvaesitso is the goat!
i_love_FFT@jlai.lu 2 weeks ago
Hyperion seems like a good drop-in replacement.
sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
I am NOT a power user of my phone. That said, I’ve liked YAM Launcher for a while. It is minimalist and does everything I want in a launcher.
JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
But I don’t wanna redesign my nice app tray and home screen. Can I just never update it?
Evil_Incarnate@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
That’s my plan…
whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Wow, I got scared, I thought that was the one I’m using but I switched to Niagara Launcher long ago
zipsglacier@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I first found out about Niagara on a thread like this a couple of years ago. It’s great!!!
harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I switched to Niagara a few months ago and bought it. It’s been working great for me. No regrats.
rucksack@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Niagara with minimalist black and white icons is just awesome
cronenthal@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
Yup, Niagara is a dream. I hope it stays this way forever, but even if it doesn’t I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.
DaTingGoBrrr@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Niagara Launcher is great. I have been using it for a few years now
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Yeah same here. Text based launcher really has helped me put phone down more which is great.
yyprum@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I’ve been using lawnchair (which is a great substitute) ever since the news of the buyout from an ad company was announced, but that was a long time ago… Not sure why this is coming up now.
Anyway, a few days back I found out a new launcher and I want to spread the love for it. It requires more effort to configure it at first but I’m really liking its UX and the simplicity of the screen. It is called dragon launcher and I am having a nice time making small incremental changes to personalize it more and more and has been working great for me: f-droid.org/packages/org.elnix.dragonlauncher
ogeist@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I recommend Kvaesitso, very snappy with lots of functionality.
oopsgodisdeadmybad@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Fuck. I bought this forever ago, either for my Droid 2 or my Galaxy S3. Skipped it on my first Pixel and came back on the Pixel 7.
Haven’t really heard any talk about it, didn’t know about the owner/dev drama until seeing some comments here.
Haven’t noticed any ads myself yet, but maybe that’s a “coming soon” thing.
Time to go launcher shopping again. This thread mentioned Lawnchair and Niagara, so I’ll check those out first.
communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 2 weeks ago
I recommend dragon launcher or lawnchair
dragon is now my favorite, the ring design is awesome and the dev is active, but lawnchair is the most like nova but open source.
Incipient8647@leminal.space 2 weeks ago
Don’t forget to leave a bad review before uninstalling it.
paridoxical@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Octopi Launcher is the best replacement. The developer is very active and listens to suggestions. play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.otp.oct…
passepartout@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
kopasz7@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Fossify Launcher works well, that’s what I switched to.
mintiefresh@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Seems like all of our concerns have come true. I’m glad I switched earlier when the main dev bounced.
Been using Smart Launcher and haven’t looked back.
I also liked Niagara too.
kamen@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Dang… I saw this a while ago, but thanks to this post I looked again and it turned out that mine had automatically updated to the new version on Play Store. Went ahead and uninstalled it and then installed the latest Beta from before, and I was lucky that my email license still worked - don’t know for how long though (not sure if the check is hardcoded in some way or if it makes an API call).
It’s had a great run, but it’s just sad that it has to end like this. Would’ve been spectacular if it was open-sourced as promised.
I started looking into alternatives and it seems like no other launcher is quite there yet, but Lawnchair looks promising for my use. The whole situation started looking like the appropriate time to learn some Android development; a while ago I was thinking of forking the AOSP launcher and trying to implement some stuff by myself, but now it seems like contributing to Lawnchair would be a better idea.
blinfabian@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
i like lawnchair launcher :3
_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I ditched them years ago after they got bought out the first time.
Teknikal@eviltoast.org 2 weeks ago
Finally removed it from my phone, octopi launcher does most of what I need even on the free version I do intend to pay for the extra functions when I can.
But yeah just remember you can sort the app drawer by tags and it’s almost there.
ripcord@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Glad I read the writing on the wall and switched a few months ago
JohnnyMac@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I switched to SmartLauncher about 4 months ago and have not looked back. It’s fine for what I need.
HisArmsOpen@crust.piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I’m glad that the original developers have made some money. I’m more glad that the new owners will lose all that good will, trust and activity. At the risk of sounding too much like Picard,……. “make it so”
frongt@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
They got a new owner years ago. No one should still be using it. Lawnchair has been great for me.
Damage@feddit.it 2 weeks ago
Holy shit the screenshots on Play store are depressing
Image
CubitOom@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
You want to use one of the much more recent nightly or beta builds.
github.com/LawnchairLauncher/lawnchair
Godric@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I ducked off the Nova train with their fishy new owners a few months ago. My one complaint about Lawnchair is that the search function is slower and less effective, otherwise it’s great!
ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If anyone is looking to try something new - I really enjoyed Waterfall after dropping Nova.
Dran_Arcana@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
+1 for Niagra. It takes a few days to get used to but it’s the launcher every power user didn’t know they wanted. Lifetime purchase options and a very responsive/passionate dev
IronKrill@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Seconded. Looks good and I’ve found browsing by letter is way faster than the traditional folders (although you can still use folders with premium). I bought the upgrade after a few months.
Nelots@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
I picked up Lawnchair when I de-googled my phone a bit more than a year ago. There were a couple launchers I considered, but honestly the name is what sold me. And I haven’t missed Nova since.
extrahazmat@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Made the switch last year. Have had no issues,especially now that you can do folders.