Nova Launcher joins Branch

[tube517]

https://novalauncher.com/branch

For those not on discord or who didn't see this yet.

One of the great apps and developers of all time has been bought by Branch.

 

[B. Diddy]

Hopefully they continue its excellence, and don't mess things up.:-[

 

[YankInDaSouth]

Ruh oh!

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

and who are branch?

 

[mustang7757]

and who are branch?

 

[Javier P]

Nova staff and Branch CEO are having a very busy day in Discord explaining the acquisition and reassuring users that we don't need to worry After many users exposed their concern about monetisation and privacy issues they swear that nothing is going to change there.

 

[mustang7757]

Nova staff and Branch CEO are having a very busy day in Discord explaining the acquisition and reassuring users that we don't need to worry After many users exposed their concern about monetisation and privacy issues they swear that nothing is going to change there.

Must of sold it for good money and still be onboard, smart move .

 

[Javier P]

View attachment 346680

Yup. For example, any time you share a link with a Spotify song, playlist or whatever that's a Branch link.

They have different ways to make money and one the biggest is with OEMs trying to improve their launchers and search features. Here is where, they say, come the acquisition of Nova and Sesame into place. They are buying their talent, expertise, community feedback and analytics, of course, and use it in their business with OEMs. Launcher improvements (like Recommended apps in Recents, themes, general interaction), local search in the device (apps and options inside apps), find and discover new apps ...

 

[Javier P]

By the way, Nova settings has an option where you can opt in/out for usage reporting. Nova settings - Advanced - Error and usage reporting. It's ON by default. If you are using the new Beta 8 this option doesn't work in the new layout and first you need to switch to the old one holding the settings icon bottom left.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

I trust them with Nova about as much as I trust Hasbro with D&D Beyond... but hopefully I'm proven wrong on both counts.

You do have to wonder how much revenue Nova generates though... There is no recurring charge, and it's not like the good ol' days when you NEEDED a third party launcher. The Pixel and OneUI launchers are both pretty good out of the box.

 

[Javier P]

Android Police: Nova Launcher has been acquired by analytics company Branch.
https://www.androidpolice.com/nova-launcher-acquired-by-branch/

 

[Javier P]

From Nova's Discord server.

 

[J Dubbs]

Nova staff and Branch CEO are having a very busy day in Discord explaining the acquisition and reassuring users that we don't need to worry After many users exposed their concern about monetisation and privacy issues they swear that nothing is going to change there.

Unfortunately users are concerned about this acquisition because history has shown over, and over, and over, and over again that acquisitions like this 99.9% of the time have a negative effect on the beloved company being purchased.

 

[Javier P]

Unfortunately users are concerned about this acquisition because history has shown over, and over, and over, and over again that acquisitions like this 99.9% of the time have a negative effect on the beloved company being purchased.

Agreed, we all have been there before with the likes of ES, QuickPic and more. Oh well, I trusted them for a decade, now I'm giving them a bit of time and the benefit of the doubt.

Some changes are coming shortly. The next Beta version 8.0.2 will come with Branch stuff in Nova search.

 

[Javier P]

This is what I think. Posted in their Discord server.

 

[mountainman]

I will Uninstall Nova this evening, and really, it was the only thing keeping me on Android.

If I can't customize the way I want to, I might as well get a dang iPhone and be done with it.

What a shame for the Android community.

 

[mustang7757]

I'm also sad to hear the News but let's see where it takes us .

 

[YankInDaSouth]

I will Uninstall Nova this evening, and really, it was the only thing keeping me on Android.

If I can't customize the way I want to, I might as well get a dang iPhone and be done with it.

What a shame for the Android community.

To each their own, but in my opinion I think this is a bit of an over reaction. While Nova is indeed extremely customizable, I think it's safe to say even the stock launchers on any Android device offer more customization than the iOS home launcher (or whatever they call it).

While I hate this news and I plan on waiting until the dire end to uninstall Nova Prime, if need be, I'd take Samsung's OneUI launcher, Pixel's launcher and/or the plethora of launchers available in the Play Store before switching to an iPhone.

 

[Laura Knotek]

While I hate this news and I plan on waiting until the dire end to uninstall Nova Prime, if need be, I'd take Samsung's OneUI launcher, Pixel's launcher and/or the plethora of launchers available in the Play Store before switching to an iPhone.

Those are my thoughts as well.

 

[joeldf]

I will Uninstall Nova this evening, and really, it was the only thing keeping me on Android.

If I can't customize the way I want to, I might as well get a dang iPhone and be done with it.

What a shame for the Android community.

To each their own, but in my opinion I think this is a bit of an over reaction. While Nova is indeed extremely customizable, I think it's safe to say even the stock launchers on any Android device offer more customization than the iOS home launcher (or whatever they call it).

While I hate this news and I plan on waiting until the dire end to uninstall Nova Prime, if need be, I'd take Samsung's OneUI launcher, Pixel's launcher and/or the plethora of launchers available in the Play Store before switching to an iPhone.

I agree. And who said the customization Nova has now was going away?

I don't know what Branch would necessarily do that I would notice. I don't ever use search on my phone's home screen - in fact I disable that the first chance I get. The only search I ever do is by opening the browser and Google from there.

I too will wait and see if anything is added that I can't get around before I start thinking of using some other launcher. But switch to the iPhone? Never.