Three years ago, the incredibly popular Android launcher Nova Launcher was acquired by Branch, a mobile links and analytics company. Understandably, people were worried this would spell the end of the launcher, as it would certainly become a vessel for tracking and mobile advertising. Weirdly enough, this never actually happened – instead, Nova just kind of fizzled out. First, virtually the entire Nova team was laid off two years after the acquisition, save for Nova’s original founder, Kevin Barry, who was not let go. Development had come to a halt already at that point, and ever since, it’s been quiet.
Until this weekend. Barry posted on his blog that he left Branch, and thus is no longer working on Nova Launcher. You’d think this would be the final nail in the coffin for this once rather ubiquitous launcher, but that’s actually not the case, as Berry explains.
For the past several months I have been preparing the Open Source release of Nova Launcher. This work included cleaning up the codebase, reviewing licenses, removing or replacing proprietary code, and coordinating with legal to ensure a proper release. When Branch acquired Nova in 2022, Branch then-CEO and founder Alex Austin made several public commitments to the community about Nova’s future, including statements about open sourcing:
[…]However I was ultimately asked to stop working on Nova Launcher and the open sourcing effort.
↫ Kevin Barry
Basically, one of the reasons Barry felt comfortable selling Nova to Branch was a contractual agreement – backed up by public statements from then-CEO of Branch, Alex Austin – that if Barry were to leave Branch, he would be allowed to release Nova as open source. It seems that this promise is not being honoured by the new CEO, for unclear reasons, leaving what was arguably one of the best launchers for Android in limbo. Nobody’s working on it anymore, and a contractual agreement is not being honoured, for whatever reason.
One of the people who used to work on Nova but was part of that first round of layoffs, Cliff Wade, is now trying to raise awareness of this stalemate. He’s trying to talk to former colleagues at Branch, and trying to put some pressure on Branch to honours their contractual obligations and public promises. I’m fully behind this effort, because up until the institutional neglect set in, Nova was one of the very best Android applications, clearly made by people who truly understood what Android enthusiasts wanted out of a highly configurable launcher.
Branch needs to honour its word, and allow Barry to continue preparing the release of Nova as open source. Head on over to Branch’s contact page, and let them know they need to Nova release Nova as open source – in a polite, constructive manner, of course. The people working at Branch are just ordinary folk like you and I, and I will not stand for anyone being aggressive, insulting, or otherwise committing harassment towards Branch and its employees.