- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
So, anybody know a good launcher to use once Nova goes offline?
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Its insane that custom launchers are even needed. I gave the base Samsung version a try and it wont even let me move the app drawer button, its glued to the bottom right. I’d expect an android to let me customize more than windows. Never understood the big tech companies need for this much control. Some brand manager will have a heartattack if I change an app icon, a basic feature in any version of Windows.
They keep things locked down for the 50% of the population with below average intelligence. It makes things easier to trouble shoot when you can’t move the important stuff. Also that group is usually the loudest complainers when they can’t find something, or something goes wrong.
I lament Nova’s demise, too…
I think the reason that the tech companies won’t allow us to have our devices our own way ( Microsoft was doing this decades ago ), is “religious”/ideological, not practical:
I think they “need” to keep everybody permanently in a headlock, with our heads all twisted, because only if we are all in permanent learned-helplessness, only then can they automatically get away with everything they intend to be getting away with, in our world.
IOW, our autonomy violates their totalitarian religion, see?
It’s the same as how ANY spirituality grates on Dawkins’ blood: he wants it all gutted/butchered/destroyed, & suicides of ones he destroyed are no problem for him, & no alternative ever can have any validity to him.
Totalitarianism, whether traditionally “religious”, or in any other ideology/prejudice/religion, is the same: it HATES violation of its homogenous dominion.
( comically: homophobic-religions want a homogenous het humankind, with no violation of that homogeneity. The existence of homosexuals is too heterogenous for them )
Autonomy is something that totalitarian supremacism ideology “needs” to obliterate from the whole world.
Consistently.
It seems to be a damn-good diagnostic for it, even!
_ /\ _
OnePlus does it pretty well. I just love the ability to have separate actions for swiping an app icon so I use nova
Been using smart launcher for a while. I like that the pro version offers blur.
I always come back to Smart Launcher. I grew up with category-based application menus on on PC, I can’t stand having a giant unorganized app drawer. It’s so cluttered and messy. I’m always surprised at how little mention it gets and instead everybody talks about these “minimalist” launchers that are literally just unorganized app drawers.
It was the “end of an era” when they were sold off to a data-mining company years ago.
NOOOOO
I really like Fast Draw. I wanted the app pages like Nova has, and personally didn’t really need any more than that. This one works like a charm!
https://github.com/peterfajdiga/FastDraw
I tried a bunch. The only one I really love is Niagara. It’s simple and awesome.
My recommendation is Niagara Launcher. It’s more minimal than other launchers. I like the reduction in clutter.
Looks nice, whats your icon pack?
I’m using icons from the Anycon pack. It’s the Niagara Launcher’s “collection of icon packs specifically developed for Niagara Launcher”.
That apps list reminds me of Windows Phone for some reason. Oh, and the mobile version of KDE Plasma too.
Wp had such a dope launcher… i miss it
Check out Square launcher. Took the WP design and extended it. Gloriously customizable.
I wish someone would make a decent clone of it. Yeah, I tried a couple, they sucked. Hate to see Nova enshitified. I’ve been using it for 10 years now. Oh well, all things end.
Same.
I never had a WP, but I do have a few Zunes. The Live Tile main screen for WP is a bit too busy for me, but I would love to have the slightly cut-off styles in settings and menus that it and the Zune models had. Just really vibed with the look for some reason.
Windows phones were really solid, OS was very user friendly and stable. I personally didn’t feel the “app gap” that a lot of others complained about but, I use my phone for browsing, calls & text. If I recall correctly it was also ahead of the curve with PWAs, integrated them really well. And price/performance was good on some models like the Lumia 650.
I’ve been using Niagra for a few months now and love it 👍
I use Olauncher, pretty similar to Niagara and is FOSS. https://github.com/tanujnotes/Olauncher
I recently found this and it works great for my needs
Lawnchair
I thought that’s in perceptual pre release.
Idk, it is what it is, I’ve used it ever since Nova got kinda dumb like 5-6 years ago. Put it on every phone. It hides apps, keeps my phone looking clean. It’s excellent.
Yea that’s what i switched to after nova sold out, its alright gets the job done. Fuck Nova
I use Lawnchair as well because I require my launcher to be open source. The only thing is it is not on F-Droid or Playstore so it must be installed and updated manually. I have found it to be stable enough for my purposes.
Yea it could be more stable but its not that bad and I love that its open source
EDIT: And after making the comment below I just noticed the date on the version is 2022? I’m going need to try out the latest version from their Git.
I use droidify because I like the look of it better. It comes with another repo enabled by default called IzzyOnDroid which has the Alpha versions of lawnchair.
I’ve been using it for years. It’s great.
Oh nice, I’ll check out droidify and IzzyOnDroid. To help me remember to update Lawnchair, I added the github release notes atom feed to my RSS reader and turned on notifications so I know every time a new release is ready to install and updating is just a few taps away. https://github.com/LawnchairLauncher/lawnchair/releases.atom
I use default oneui launcher i think it looks good
OneUI is much much better than Touchwiz was. It has been nice to see Samsung actually putting effort into their main launcher and having the options to add things (and that they can augment stuff while using other launchers). I was using Nova on both my phone and my old Tab S2, but found OneUI to “feel” more correct on my Tab S8+ than Nova. Though Nova has seemed better for my phones over the years.
True
After getting a replacement phone, I had to redo everything. I decided to check out some new options. I have nova prime and have loved it.
I am now using Niagara Launcher. It’s different. Very different. The team recommends using the app for at least a week to give it a true test run. I did have my doubts because it’s so different but dang do I love it. I haven’t switched back and I don’t mean this to throw shade on nova. Nova is great, but I like this better.
Instead of thinking of ways to change the launcher, they created a whole new launcher as if they didn’t take into consideration the current way we do things.
Give it a shot.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bitpit.launcher
I second that! Been using it for ~4 years now and I so much prefer it to the old launchers. After installing it I completely stopped testing new launchers.
Does anyone still remember the old (2010) launcher called slide it. Unfortunatly it was discontinued and I have always been searching for an adequate replacement. In Niagara I have found it.
Anyway, back to why i like Niagara so much. With every other launcher the workflow is like this:
- swipe up for menu
- swipe 2-5 pages left or right till you reach your app
- click your app icon
which takes ages and is tedious.
On Niagara I just swipe along the left or right edge until the letter my apps name is starting with appears and click the icon. That’s it.
Having notifications beneath your favorite apps and an included media control app when audio is playing is superb. (I’m using the pro version). Calendar is aCalendar btw.
Best few bucks I have ever spend for some android app.
Oh man I wasn’t prepared with the price. I think it’s either like a few bucks per month OR $30 for life. I did the trial for the full version and canceled it so it wouldn’t reoccur. I got to keep my calendar on the home screen but every other premium feature is locked out… I’ve been OK with it.
Wow, thats expensive, wasn’t aware it got that expensive. I bought it for 5 bucks or so a few years ago.
To be honest, I would still pay, if I hadn’t already, it’s that good.
It really needs to be fucking stellar to pay that. Is there a free trial?
There is a free trial. I cancelled right away and let the trial expire. I am still able to utilize a part of the premium features that I wanted in the first place… So I am just leaving it as is.
Your wallpaper is gorgeous! Mind sharing the source?
That wallpaper is one of the wallpapers that comes with the Niagara launcher!
Is that the one with a sub? It better give daily dopamine for yet another sub.
It can either be sub or one-time. The one time is like $30 though which seemed crazy to me but… Idk the creators did work and there’s no ads. I’m using the free version.
It’s a one-time purchase.
edit: It’s a one-time purchase for the “pro” version. I’ve been using the free version for a while and really enjoying it. I’ve been thinking of upgrading more to support the developers than for the added features.
It’s a choice of subscription or one time purchase
My bad then! I just saw options for a trial and a one-time purchase, didn’t realize there was a subscription.
Honestly glad to see the option. I’ll take a one-time purchase any day.
I switched to Niagara when Nova was bought out. I’ve tried other launchers in the meantime, but once I got used to Niagara I never wanted to go back to a “normal” launcher.
I keep hearing about Niagara and everyone says the same thing, it’s different.
Could you describe how it’s different? Just the setup, or is it different when you’re using it?
The whole concept is different. I’ve just started trying it and the gist of it is that it’s basically only the app drawer, but on steroids. There is no home screen to arrange, you simply set favorite apps that show up first. Anything else you select by scrolling through the alphabet, which seems quick enough if you know the app name you’re looking for.
I can already tell that I would love it more if favorites were redesigned a bit to use the initial space better. But this would betray the simplicity they are trying to achieve.
So you can set up some options. I have mine set where I can swipe up or down on left or right side and it pulls up this like… Rocket dock alphabet which you can find your apps. The whole thing, as another user posted, makes it so you don’t need an app drawer or a home screen. The home screen is your favorite apps. You can view messages if you set messages as your favorite app. Same with emails or discord etc.
Sure looks like he’s claiming that the team has been reduced from 4 to 1, not the 11 to 1 claimed above, and one was for customer support? Not to say it’s insignificant, but doesn’t sound like the train-smash originally portrayed.
Lawnchair.
Dammit lol that’s the one I picked to use
Maybe it will keep working unchanged for a while
Just wondering, but why isn’t it possible to just use something like the RethinkDNS app and block all internet access Nova has? That’s what I’ve done at least. Haven’t found a launcher I like as much, and don’t see why a launcher would need internet access constantly. I already use RethinkDNS to block other apps too, like Gboard
GrapheneOS
I like for my bank apps to work.
You can take a look at that list: https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/
A lot of banking apps work.
NetGuard.
