Nova Launcher can disappear at any moment

Nova LauncherOne of the most iconic Android apps, may be gone. The parent company has laid off its entire staff, including tech support. The situation comes at a difficult time for the company, as it was developing Nova 8.1.

According to a report from Android Authority, Branch Metrics Fires All Nova Launcher Employeesexcept for its founder Kevin Barry. The news was confirmed on the official X (Twitter) account by Rob Wainwright, one of the team’s oldest members.

“Hey everyone, Rob. I’m sure you’ve seen the news. It sucks. We went from a team of about a dozen people to one full-time developer: the original founder Kevin,” Wainwright said. On the other hand, Cliff Wade, another Nova Launcher veteran, provided more details on the official Discord, which was republished on the Android subreddit.

According to Wade, The layoffs at Nova Launcher were part of a larger staff reduction at Branch Metrics.. The company laid off more than 100 employees, including developers and tech support. Wade, who had served as community manager since November 2015, said the decision affected everyone, including veterans.

Data and analytics company Branch acquired Nova Launcher and search engine Sesame in mid-2022. The acquisition would not only mean more resources for Kevin Barry and his team, but also the integration of Sesame with the launcher to improve search. Ultimately, the plan didn’t work out, and the company is in serious trouble.

Nova Launcher’s Future Is Uncertain

While the cuts leave Nova Launcher on ventilators, the company won’t disappear entirely. Kevin Barryoriginal developer of the android launcher, We will continue working on the next version of the application. The company’s founder mentioned on his Mastodon account that the layoffs will result in changes to Nova 8.1.

“I’m the original creator of Nova and I continue to work on Branch to develop Nova, more or less as I always have. However, I have fewer resources,” Barry said. “I’m planning on finishing some work on Nova 8.1 and releasing more builds. I’ll have to scale back on what was planned.”

The creator of Nova Launcher stated that He has no idea what will happen because everything is a bit chaotic. in industry metrics. The layoffs will slow development of the next version of Nova, and support and communication will be infrequent. Although Barry built the launcher from scratch, the app already has a significant user base, making things even more challenging.

The future of Nova Launcher is not very difficult to predict. Nova 8.1 will probably be the last version. famous Android app. Although third-party launchers gained momentum a decade ago, In recent years, its popularity has declined.. Constant improvements to stock Android and custom layers like One UI or HyperOS have led to people stopping installing Nova and other launchers.

New generations They are less and less interested in modifying Android beyond what the base options provide. Others prefer a custom ROM as it offers a more detailed level of customization that is not possible with a launcher like Nova Launcher.