Earlier this yr, followers of the favored Nova Launcher discovered themselves waking as much as some unhealthy information. Again in September, developer Kevin Barry shared that he had lastly left Department Metrics, the agency which acquired the launcher in 2022. Whereas that appeared like the top of the highway for Nova Launcher, simply final week customers began noticing a brand new 8.1.3 replace hitting their units — and now it’s already being joined by a brand new launch.
When that 8.1.3 replace landed, one other former Nova developer, Rob Wainwright, posted to share a little bit perception into what it included. In response to him, this largely represented previous work that hadn’t but been pushed out to customers:
Please bear in mind that … no person within the unique Nova Launcher staff works at Department Metrics anymore. Whereas nearly all of the modifications on this replace had been constructed by the unique staff over a yr in the past, we are able to’t make any guarantees relating to knowledge assortment or analytics.
Right now, over on Reddit’s Nova Launcher sub, consumer Dankees98 has noticed a brand new 8.1.4 replace arriving for beta testers. As you’d in all probability be capable of guess from how rapidly that is touchdown on the heels of 8.1.3, it doesn’t seem like there are any new options right here, and the discharge is as an alternative centered on stability and bugfixes:
Admittedly, after final week’s back-from-the-dead replace, that’s a little bit underwhelming, however there mere incontrovertible fact that we’re getting one other replace so quickly may nonetheless be nice information for Nova followers. Whereas the unique staff isn’t round any longer, anyone at Department certain appears dedicated to maintaining with fixes, and that’s completely higher than seeing a beloved undertaking like Nova Launcher go deserted.
The larger query issues what the app’s state of affairs may seem like going ahead, and that’s nonetheless an open one. Will we maintain getting common bugfix updates like 8.1.4 within the months to return? Is there any hope of seeing extra new options arrive? And simply who’s engaged on this code now? Regardless of all these unknowns, it’s nonetheless good to assume that Nova’s story isn’t over fairly but.
