Nova Launcher, one of the longest-running Android launchers, has reportedly been discontinued. The news follows an official statement made by its founder, Kevin Barry.
Barry said he has been the only developer who performed maintenance on the app for the past year. In addition, he announced that he was leaving Branch, who acquired Nova Launcher in 2022.
In an effort to allow the project to continue, he prepared for its open-source release. However, Branch asked him to cease development, meaning that the app will no longer see further development for the foreseeable future.
At the time of writing, Nova Launcher still remains available via Google’s Play Store. The concern here is without future updates, its compatibility with newer Android versions will evidently decline.
With Nova Launcher’s future up in the air, users are slated to look for other alternatives for launcher apps. Interestingly, Barry did reveal that it’s under contract for the app’s code to be open sourced upon his exit.
This will leave the project in the hands of the community. While the project is discontinued for now, it has yet to be seen whether someone else will take over for Barry.
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