Nova Launcher, one of the most popular third-party Android launchers, was thought to be all but dead, but now has new ownership and the promise of future support. The catch is obvious.
In a post on the official Nova Launcher website, Sweden-based company Instabridge reveals that it has purchased Nova Launcher from its previous owner, Branch. This comes just a few months after Nova’s original developer, Kevin Barry – the sole person working on Nova since layoffs 2024 – had been asked to stop working on the project, including plans to open source Nova.
This new revival of Nova Launcher promises to restore active maintenance of the popular launcher. Instabridge says:
Nova is not shutting down. Our immediate focus is simple: keep Nova stable, compatible with modern Android, and actively maintained.
The company says it will be seeking feedback and that it is looking to be a “responsible [owner].”
Top comment by MartyKinn
Glad for this. Nova is currently the absolute best launcher for Android in terms of reliability, features, user-convenience, functionality and quality.
That said, Instabridge directly acknowledges that, yes, it is considering putting ads in the free version of Nova Launcher to crease a “sustainable business model,” but commits to no ads in the paid Nova Prime release. Nova Prime will be priced at $3.99, with a recent error having pushed the price much higher.
Nova needs a sustainable business model to support ongoing development and maintenance. We are exploring different options, including paid tiers and other approaches. As many of you have already anticipated, we are also evaluating ad based options for the free version.
If ads are introduced, Nova Prime will remain ad free. Our guiding principles are clear: keep the experience clean and fast, avoid disruptive formats, and provide a straightforward way to keep the experience ad free.
Ad tracking code has already been added to the app, including both ads powered by Google and by Facebook.
As for the original plans to make Nova Launcher an open source project, the company says it is still “actively evaluating” the option.
More on Android:
- What’s new in Android’s January 2026 Google System Updates
- Google app finally redesigns voice search on Android
- Google calls Android’s new sideloading flow ‘high friction’
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