Sold, forgotten and (perhaps) revived: the Nova Launcher

Jan Johannsen

22/1/2026

Translation: machine translated

The popular Nova Launcher has a new home. The alternative interface for Android smartphones is to be revitalised after a few quiet years - including with advertising.

After the sale of the Nova Launcher in 2022, things had gone quiet around the popular among the editorial team alternative user interface for Android devices. Most recently, Kevin Barry, the founder and ultimately only developer, stopped working on Nova Launcher completely. A Swedish company has taken over the launcher and wants to reactivate it and also advertise it.

After the first sale, the Nova Launcher went quiet

The Nova Launcher started out as a project by a single developer and developed over time into one of the most popular launchers for Android. In 2022, Kevin Barry sold it to «Branch Metrics», which provided him with additional developers. However, the takeover met with disapproval from the launcher's users. A company that earns its money with a platform for measuring and managing deep links does not inspire much confidence when it controls the smartphone interface - and announces its intention to incorporate its services into the Nova Launcher.

In 2024, Branch Metrics withdrew all developers except Barry from the Nova Launcher. Work on the software came to a virtual standstill. In September 2025, Kevin Barry left Branch Metrics. According to his own statements, he wanted to publish the launcher as open source software, but was instructed to stop work on the project completely.

Sale to Sweden

In early 2026, Branch Metrics resold the Nova Launcher. It now belongs to «Instabridge». A Swedish company that sells worldwide internet access via Wi-Fi and eSIM. The company already offers a launcher in its Android app to customise the home screen.

The announcement of the takeover explicitly states: «Nova is not shutting down.» The aim is to keep the Nova Launcher active. It should run stably and be compatible with current Android versions. The company sees itself as a «responsible owner» that will not reinvent Nova overnight.

The performance and customisability, especially the many setting options, of the Nova Launcher should remain the important core. It is also important to fix bugs and incorporate new Android functions. They also want to listen to the Community before making any major changes. To this end, they are collecting feedback from reviews via the Play Store, Reddit, email and the Community channels.

No advertising for buyers of Nova Prime

Instabridge wants to finance the Nova Launcher from its own resources. That's why they are placing adverts in the free version of the software. Nova Prime with a one-off payment will continue to be available. This version will remain ad-free.

Other than that, the new owners emphasise that they will reduce the data collected to the bare minimum and will not sell any private data.

Jan Johannsen

Senior Editor

Jan.Johannsen@galaxus.de

As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus. more

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