As Nova Launcher loses its last dev, Microsoft Launcher feels abandoned — for the first time in years, I need a new launcher

Arguably the most famous Android launcher just lost its founder and original developer. Kevin Barry, who has been the only person working on Nova Launcher for the past year, has announced that he has left Branch and is no longer involved with Nova Launcher.

Nova Launcher has been considered one of the best Android launchers for years. Its customization options and excellent performance made it stand out in the crowded launcher space. The app has stagnated lately, but it undoubtedly has earned a place in history. Many features you see on modern launchers were inspired by Nova Launcher.

Branch Metrics, a mobile analytics company, acquired Nova in 2022. At the time, former CEO Alex Austin said that Nova Launcher would be open-sourced if Barry left the company. With a new CEO in charge of Branch, it's unclear if that will still occur.

Barry has, however, been preparing Nova Launcher to be open-sourced. He shared the following in a farewell post:

"For the past several months I have been preparing the Open Source release of Nova Launcher. This work included cleaning up the codebase, reviewing licenses, removing or replacing proprietary code, and coordinating with legal to ensure a proper release. When Branch acquired Nova in 2022, Branch then-CEO and founder Alex Austin made several public commitments to the community about Nova's future."

Barry has since been asked to stop working on the launcher, including work to make the app open source.

A Change.org petition has been created to make Nova Launcher open source, though it only had 3,011 votes at the time of publication.

Is Microsoft Launcher abandonware?

With Nova Launcher losing its founder and final developer, many will be on the hunt for a new launcher. Microsoft Launcher used to earn rave reviews, but its developer has slowed down over the years.

Officially, Microsoft Launcher is fully supported. The app received a small update on July 22, but it has not received meaningful updates in a while.

Apart from some token integration with Copilot in 2024, which does not feel special considering even Notepad on Windows 11 integrates with the AI tool, Microsoft Launcher has felt abandoned for months, if not years.

Our Executive Editor Jez Corden and Senior Editor Zac Bowden discussed five good Microsoft products that have become stagnant earlier this year. One of those products, Microsoft Movies & TV, is now being shut down.

At the time, I joked that Jez flagged the existence of Movies & TV to Microsoft, which then led the tech giant to end support for the service. Maybe publishing an article about Microsoft Launcher isn't a good idea.

Looking for a launcher in 2025

Microsoft Launcher came out at a time when third-party launchers were more important for a smartphone experience. Arrow Launcher, which later became Microsoft Launcher, entered beta testing in 2015 and first shipped to the public in 2017. The smartphone ecosystem has changed a lot since then.

First-party launchers have improved greatly, including optimizations for specific form factors. In many cases, you'll get the best experience on a foldable by using the launcher that ships with the device.

While it's worth browsing through the best Android launchers, it's not vital in 2025.

I recently got a new phone, and for the first time in years I have not installed Microsoft Launcher. Instead, I've opted to use the default launcher for the device as I look into alternatives.

With Nova Launcher losing its last dev, I may not look in that direction either. But that will depend on whether the app is open-sourced and picked up by the community.

Do you use a third-party launcher on your Android device? Let us know in the comments below!