Does Android still need third-party launchers?

www.androidpolice.com /does-android-need-third-party-launchers/

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My Nova Launcher-config has survived in one form or another for 8+ years on multiple phones, so yes?
- Too bad they sold out to a data analytics company
  
  I agree with you. I still use Nova, they had a solid update recently and my phone is feeling snappier than ever. It does concern me, however, that they're tracking every interaction with my phone now 😮‍💨
  I'm normally very privacy centric - very conflicted about Nova Launcher because I like the launcher so much...
  
  You could download an earlier version from before they were bought, it's what I'm doing. Still better than every other launcher I've tried. I'm also preventing it from accessing the internet via GrapheneOS settings, but I don't think every OS can do that.
  
  try neo launcher
  
  Neo Launcher is decent, but it's definitely not in the same league as Nova yet in customizability.
  I'm not sure why it's just about the only classic style FOSS launcher though. Everything else is some sorta search or widget based thing.
  
  Neo kinda sucks, and looks like it’s abandoned so no hope in f it ever getting better.
  
  I don't know if this will fix it for sure, but you could try to download a VPN app with per-app network blocking (like AdGuard) and fully block Nova from accessing the internet
  
  I use Netguard to block internet access for half of my apps - the ones that shouldn't be using my mobile data anyway
  
  I still use version 7 because Nova is the only launcher that gives me tabs and treats icons the right way. No other launcher manages to do it, it’s baffling.
  
  I really wish there was another launcher that allowed all of
  •Multiple pages for widgets and things
  •Empty pages
  •Scrolling wallpapers
  •A totally transparent home page
  Every other launcher I've tried allows for maybe one of those.

80 comments