this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2024
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PSA: Nova Launcher is owned by an analytics company (www.androidpolice.com)
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/android
325 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Since a few folks seem unaware of this, I'm posting anew for visibility.

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[–] ammonium 37 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Be aware that using open source doesn't protect you completely from this, look at what happened to Simple Mobile tools, best install your open source applications from f-droid.

Do you have any good open source alternatives for Nova Launcher?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Of course, but when something like that happens to a popular app there will be an outcry. If you are not a tech person you might miss that, but I'd argue if you care about what launcher your phone has and you care about this issue to go foss you are probably the type of person who'd hear about it.

I use KISS launcher but there are many other options mentioned here that are also good. Yes, nothing is exactly like Nova. But lots of other stuff is good too.

[–] deweydecibel 9 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yes, nothing is exactly like Nova. But lots of other stuff is good too.

Then they aren't good alternatives, they're passable.

Seems crazy to me that the software that's owned by an analytics company is also the one focused on giving the user the most customization options. None of the FOSS alternatives have the same mentality as Nova. They're all focused more on minimalism, or evoking Pixel, or pushing a specific niche type of interface of their own design. None of them provide anywhere near as many tools to the user.

If I have to use a closed source app provided by an analytics company just to get a launcher that actually empowers the user, so be it. Maybe more of the FOSS alternatives could start taking note of why Nova is the most popular.

[–] Lumisal 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

What happened to simple tools? And I downloaded them from F-Droid