Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Like many fans, news that Nova Launcher has hit the end of the road is a bad way to start my week. I’ve been a paid-up Nova Prime user since my Galaxy S2 and currently have the launcher padding out all the missing creature comforts on my OPPO Find X8 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL. It might not be everyone’s preferred third-party launcher these days, but it’s been my pick for as long as I can remember.
As someone who swaps phones regularly, Nova has been my consistent home base in a sea of OEM homescreens, some good but many far less so. Whether it’s setting my preferred app drawer layout or augmenting icons with custom gestures, Nova has usually exceeded the capabilities of stock launchers, which is reason enough to be upset at its demise.
Of course, I can keep using it for a while longer. But the end of development means it’s only a matter of time until some Android change breaks things for good, and another of the ecosystem’s classic apps is confined to history. The fact that the curtain has been called on another of Android’s old guards, particularly one rooted in letting you make your phone your own, has me counting my grey hairs.
Nova Launcher embodied Android’s early promise of limitless customization.
On reflection, the heady days of heavy customization when I first installed Nova, where anything was possible if you knew what you were doing (or where to find someone who did), have been in the rear-view mirror for some time. Rooting (RIP Chainfire’s SuperSU) to install specialist apps and tools has gone from a niche to the abyss of obscurity. Custom ROMs have been hammered by the growing security needs of digital payments and secure wallets, making it much harder to escape Google’s ecosystem in the process. CyanogenMod kept my old Galaxy S2 running long after official updates stopped coming, and I have fond memories of excitingly testing out the novelties inside MIUI and Paranoid Android. My more expensive modern phones aren’t nearly so well-traveled.
Granted, the old tools aren’t as necessary today; we don’t need so many workarounds for a great Android experience like we did back in the days of Gingerbread and KitKat. However, the fact that app sideloading is now facing restrictions means that small developers and niche or private software tools will soon have an even harder time landing in the hands of users who want them. The walls are going up around the already well-pruned garden, and I don’t want to be sealed in.
Of course, customization remains a core part of Android’s appeal. Third-party launchers are still popular, Samsung fans swear by countless Good Lock add-ons, and Nothing’s Glyph Matrix turns heads. But let’s face it: The sort of customization we’re allowed and those that are technically possible have been growing further and further apart. In the end, we’re paying far more yet able to do far less.
The walls are going up around the Android garden — don't seal me in.
Whether any of this resonates with you probably boils down to which category of tech consumer you fall into: those who like to tinker with the hardware they own or those who want it just-so out of the box. Android started out catering to the former: enthusiasts ranging from those with a flimsy grip on what GHz means to those spending too long messing with a home Linux distro (or maybe that’s just my personal journey).
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