• catsarebadpeople@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    Switched a few months ago. I’m really happy with Niagara. Took a few days to get used to it but now it’s so much nicer than the standard launcher.

    • K0Z@lemdro.idOPEnglish
      1·
      15 hours ago

      The code is on the launcher itself. Prime is a separated app that is supposed to unlock paid features and disable the ads. I’ve seen some comments on Reddit of people claiming to have prime and seeing ads, so I don’t know what’s going on.

      • kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        11 hours ago

        It’s pretty common to have a free version with ads and a paid version/unlocked version. Are people just mad that the free version has more tracking/ad sources now?

  • Lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    11·
    2 days ago

    An ad company added trackers to an app they bought? Wow. Shocker.

    Glad I ditched Nova when they were initially acquired.

  • Albbi@piefed.caEnglish
    35·
    3 days ago

    I just changed launchers on my Pixel 6 because I’m slowly degoggling and the google search bar on the default launcher was the last place that had Google as a default for search. I was thinking of going back to using Nova launcher since I had purchased it way back, but decided to give Lawnchair a try. Very happy with the change so far.

    • dditty@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      13·
      3 days ago

      I finally switched from Nova to Lawnchair just a couple of months ago and I am also very happy with the result! I spent ~20 minutes customizing it to my liking and it has been working beautifully ever since. Can’t believe I held out for so long!

    • JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nlEnglish
      8·
      3 days ago

      Kvaesitso is my favorite so far after using KISS for years. Simple, but very polished! I like the clean home screen with favorite bar and searching with a few taps, or scrolling the full app page.

    • K0Z@lemdro.idOPEnglish
      8·
      3 days ago

      I’ve tried Lawnchair. It’s better than it used to be last time I tested it. With this said, I don’t seem to be able to order folders by name, changed fonts (something more compressed) and half of the icons had the old font, and others had the new one (even after restarting the app)…

      I think I could make it work, but like all open source launchers I try, there’s always something half-backed or not polished enough.

      • Turret3857@infosec.pubEnglish
        1·
        1 day ago

        were you trying a stable, beta or nightly build? I use the nightly and havent necessarily noticed anything looking old.

    • Vengefu1 Tuna@lemmy.zipEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      I didn’t know about Lawnchair, I’ve now switched over to it as well. Thanks for sharing your recommendation!

  • zikzak025@lemmy.worldEnglish
    23·
    3 days ago

    Knew this sort of thing would happen eventually, glad I made the switch away a while back.

    When Nova was bought out by Branch, we all knew it couldn’t lead to anything good. But it sucks to switch away, and I know people kept using Nova because they could say “it’s not doing anything sketchy yet.”

    With this news, seems safe to say that “yet” is finally “now.” Tim to switch if you haven’t already. I’m happily using Niagara now.

  • tyrant@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    I’ve been using Niagara and it took a little getting used to but it’s simple and nice. Privacy policy seems less bad than a lot of others?

  • Eager Eagle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    31·
    3 days ago

    I had purchased it several years ago, but this is at least the 3rd concerning headline in the past 3 years. If you’re still on that boat, jump ship.

    • Redjard@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      11·
      3 days ago

      The old versions are still fine. I never found a sufficient alternative, and it was (predictably) never open sourced despite the claims at aquisition so I couldn’t fork it, but at least I can freeze the last good version in time, restrict network access and updates, and hold out as long as I can.
      Probably until some future android version breaks it too badly.

      • TruF@lemdro.idEnglish
        1·
        13 hours ago

        The issue with sticking with the old versions is newer versions of Android could totally break it with no way to fix it. Enjoy it while you can, but I’d recommend at least experimenting with other launchers so you have a plan when the day comes, not if. When.

        • Redjard@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          1·
          12 hours ago

          I have an eye on Lawnchair, it’s just missing customizations.

          But I also don’t have auto updates, and besides android apps tend to work on newer versions for a very long time unless Google purposefully wants to break them.

  • Rekall Incorporated@piefed.socialEnglish
    10·
    3 days ago

    I’ve been using Nova since Android 4.x and I am really did not want to switch, but it sounds like I have no other option now.

    It’s going to be a pain; multiple family members use Nova on their smartphones/tablets and they are used to the interface.

    Can Lawnchair be customized to replicate Nova?

    • MIDItheKID@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      2 days ago

      I’ve been using Nova launcher for just as long, and finally got off of it in November. First it was no updates, then whispers of ad injections, and now the ads are actually here.

      With that said, I tried Lawnchair, and found it to be clunky, unintuitive, and either lacking the features that I wanted or I couldn’t find them.

      I ended up going with Smart Launcher, which has been a fantastic replacement. It’s got everything that Nova Launcher has and more, and it’s very easy to use.

  • ladfrombrad 🇬🇧@lemdro.idMEnglish
    6·
    2 days ago

    Cheers OP for the heads up, sooooo glad I started blocking those domains a long while ago with OpenWRT > Tailscale exit node at home.

    Frustrating sometimes since peeps link many charities and shit via FB, but easily circumvented via archive sites tor i2p etc.

    • K0Z@lemdro.idOPEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      If you’re using Nova, be aware that it keeps retrying some failed connections, so while this might improve privacy, it may also increase your battery drain.

      I was going to keep using it for now with an Android firewall, but decided to uninstall it to force me to find a replacement.

      • ladfrombrad 🇬🇧@lemdro.idMEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Aye, I’m all good and stopped using Nova after many years when the Branch crap came out.

        It’s the FB domain, and their many other bought out ones (WhatsApp nty) that are blocked at a network level here. No ghost accounts for me :p

  • hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    one should just grab a version of nova prime and patch out the bs with lucky patcher or similar tools. maybe just use russian hacked versions of it with network permission revoked lol (IME 4pda hacked releases of apps are actually cleaner than official ones…)

  • MalReynolds@slrpnk.netEnglish
    7·
    3 days ago

    Here’s me using it on gOS with network deny permission (suck it assholes, also haven’t updated since years? ago). I’d use something else but I use KLWP for my UI and it gives the least friction…

    • K0Z@lemdro.idOPEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      Keep an eye on your battery life. I blocked Nova on my firewall app and it was retrying a connection to Google’s Firebase every minute or so. I assume because it was failing.

      • MalReynolds@slrpnk.netEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Nah, battery life is 30+ hrs, not bad for a Pixel 7 (no Google services helps a lot), did change the battery 18mnths ago.

        • K0Z@lemdro.idOPEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          It’s crazy how much longer battery lasts after removing Google Services from Android.

          Unfortunately for me, not only some of my apps require Google Services, but I also use a Samsung… I don’t even have LineageOS available. Even if I did, custom ROMs on Samsung can’t use VoLTE, which is a problem as they’re shutting down 2G/3G where I live.

    • K0Z@lemdro.idOPEnglish
      7·
      3 days ago

      What’s the version to use? The latest pre-release?

      I installed it to test. Went to change the fonts, some apps had the old font, some had the new one (even after restarting the app). Couldn’t organize apps inside folders by name. It doesn’t seem to handle icon adaptation for old apps as well as Nova did.

      I feel bad for saying this as it’s free and open, but it doesn’t seem to be as polished as Nova.

    • K0Z@lemdro.idOPEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      Man, I’d love to adapt to some of these launchers, but day to day, having a few icons and folders in easy to reach places works better for me than having to type, scroll, use gestures, etc. I always go back to traditional launchers.

  • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    3 days ago

    Glad I bailed, sad to see this from a launcher I used for years, but big Ole YIKES to everything since they were bought out.

    Using AIO launcher now. Don’t care for the chat gpt feature it’s pushing. But when you ignore that it’s just a nice slimmed down minimal utilitarian UI.