3 reasons to stop using Nova Launcher on your Android phone

This followed the announcement from the then-sole developer and original creator that it was withdrawing from Branch, the company that purchased Nova Launcher in 2022. The launcher was then purchased by another company, Instabridge, which released an update promising to maintain the beloved launcher and find a path forward for it.

A few months have passed since this acquisition, and although Nova Launcher remains available for free on Google Play, the launcher’s average rating has fallen to 3.1 stars based on over 1.37 million reviews, a far cry from the app’s highly rated days. Every day, more and more Nova users seem to be moving away.

Despite its popularity over the years, Nova Launcher has remained ad-free, with a premium option available for those who want to take full control of the app and unlock deeper customization features. However, following Instabridge’s January purchase of the app, the company has now released ads for it. These ads received backlash from many fans, with reviewers on the Google Play Store complaining about the inclusion of large ads in the app drawer and other areas of the launcher.

Mobile apps are no strangers to ads, and in-app purchases and ads are an effective way for developers to make money from their creations. However, the addition of ads to Nova Launcher has led some Reddit users to compare the app to spyware due to its intrusiveness.

Users can always upgrade to the premium version for an ad-free experience. However, reviews suggest that, as it currently stands, the app does not seem worth supporting financially to many. And these critics are not alone. Many users who claim to have been using Nova for years are abandoning ship in favor of other third-party Android launchers or stock launchers to avoid the added headache of ads on their home screens and any ad-tracking features that might be added later. Other popular launchers, like Niagara and Smart Launcher, remain ad-free with premium purchases available to unlock other features.

Another common complaint that has started to appear in reviews and reports is launcher bugs. A Play Store reviewer wrote that he encountered issues such as the screen freezing every time he launched an app or even when he woke the phone from sleep mode. There have also been reports on Reddit of some versions of the app crashing when accessing specific settings menus.

Others have also reported issues with icons overlapping when searching the app drawer. While it’s possible these bugs have been fixed in recent updates, several reviewers still mention issues that appeared in the app after Instabridge’s takeover in January.

It’s also worth noting that some of these may have been encountered on beta versions of the app. However, community members who have reviewed the app appear to have already diminished their fragile trust in Instabridge to keep the product they love so much alive and running. If stability is important to you, you may want to stick with your phone’s stock launcher. These have improved significantly in recent years, leading some users to turn away from third-party offerings altogether, as they feel custom launchers have become unnecessary.

Another major concern that has begun to impact Nova’s reputation is Instabridge’s plan to incorporate a new AI assistant that would collect data about the user’s device and apps and then use it to assist in a way similar to what Gemini and Bixby already do.

The reason AI needs access to your private data is to accurately provide suggestions for reminders, calendar events, etc. However, users may not be ready to give up this data, as reports indicate it would also include private messages and call logs. The company remains adamant that AI is something you need to enable, but the fact that it exists has irked some users because of its implications.

There has also been the discovery of code in recent releases related to a service called “Nova Mobile,” which some believe could be a way for Instabridge to try to sell users on its other services, like eSIM and internet features. Unfortunately, for many users, Nova Launcher seems far from the Android launcher powerhouse it once was. And while it’s no longer technically discontinued, older versions of Nova Launcher might remain among the most missed Android apps.