A developer who labored on Nova Launcher has confirmed layoffs. The corporate that acquired Nova Launcher has laid off almost your entire group that labored on the favored launcher since its early days.
Layoffs within the Nova Launcher division confirmed
The Android OS ecosystem permits third-party launchers, and Nova Launcher stays one of the downloaded. Nevertheless, a lot of the growth group sustaining Nova Launcher has been let go quite abruptly.
It is very important word that the Nova Launcher group hasn’t been singled out. The corporate that acquired the launcher has laid off greater than 100 workers. It seems the Nova Launcher group could have been the one to be impacted probably the most.
Analytics agency Department Metrics acquired Nova Launcher in 2022. The corporate gave the app’s founder Kevin Barry and different core staffers spots on their group. Moreover, Barry and his group had full autonomy.
Nevertheless, Nova’s director of buyer relations, Cliff Wade, posted an announcement on Reddit confirming the layoffs. Wade and a number of other others have been a part of the downsizing train.
The assertion from Wade is stunning primarily as a result of Barry had reportedly claimed that “Department is totally different” when the corporate acquired Nova Launcher and retained its complete growth group.
Is there a future for third-party launchers?
Nova Launcher was one of many hottest third-party launchers for Android units. It really works nicely on almost all Android units. Customers have put in the launcher on sensible TVs, Android TV bins, tablets, and smartphones.
Nova Launcher is at present on model 8. Wade has indicated that the group will stay dedicated to releasing Nova Launcher 8.1. Nevertheless, owing to the layoffs, the app’s future could have develop into unsure.
It is very important word that third-party launchers as soon as supplied what Google’s default Android launcher lacked. Nevertheless, Google and a number of other system producers have steadily added capabilities and options to the native launcher.
Regular growth of the default launcher has considerably decreased the necessity for Nova Launcher or different comparable apps. Furthermore, Google has been steadily denying entry to sure core Android options comparable to gesture navigation. This has considerably hampered consumer expertise whereas utilizing third-party launchers.
With Department Metrics shedding a number of members of the event group, the way forward for Nova Launcher appears unsure. Nevertheless, Barry has indicated that he’s nonetheless employed, which suggests Nova Launcher could survive.