Hello folks. Four minutes ago, I got a notification that Nova now has ads, despite Me disabling updates. Three minutes ago, I uninstalled Nova. Any recommendations for a new launcher?
My ideal launcher would be completely free, have plenty of customisation options, and the only updates would be bugfixes and op-in features that I am not notified about. I first installed Nova years ago, to make My new phone’s home screen look like the last one’s. And I’m not about to change My ways now, so hopefully the new launcher lets Me recreate the look and feel of the very first smartphone I ever owned over a decade ago.

All the best,
A cranky old wizard


My top customizable FOSS launchers:
Kvaesisto
Search-based with native-themed widgets and app drawer. Lots of integrations, reliable, and my personal daily driver.
Lawnchair
Drop-in replacement for Pixel launcher with some friendly features. Very active development.
Ion Launcher
Automatic app folders by category and decent customization options.
Einstein Launcher
Highly customizable and built from scratch. It’s under 3MB and already pretty capable, although it’s a young project and still in alpha
Also there is an old post with good comments https://lemmy.zip/post/48283807
I also switched to Kvaesisto from Nova. Its quite different, and I had to get used to it, but I really love it now. I don’t think I’ll ever want to switch.
+1 for Kvaesisto. With Cuscon icon pack.
Bit of a learning curve but i won’t use anything else now