Last year, Kevin Barry, the founder and sole developer of Nova Launcher, disclosed that he had parted ways with Branch Metrics, Nova’s parent company at that time. This came after a 2024 announcement indicating that nearly everyone working on the project had been laid off. However, there’s some good news: on Tuesday, the Swedish company Instabridge, known for its app that helps users connect to Wi-Fi hotspots, revealed that it has acquired Nova Launcher.
“Nova is not shutting down,” Instabridge stated. “Our immediate focus is simple: keep Nova stable, compatible with modern Android, and actively maintained.” Instabridge also mentioned that they are “evaluating ad-based options” for the free version of the launcher. Recently, users on Reddit have reported that the latest update for Nova Launcher contains trackers for Facebook Ads and Google AdMob, and there are indications that ads may be appearing, as noted by Android Authority.
If ads are introduced to the launcher, users of Nova Launcher Prime, the paid version, can expect it to “remain ad-free.” Instabridge is also “actively evaluating” the possibility of open-sourcing Nova. When Barry announced his departure in September, he mentioned being “asked to stop working on Nova Launcher and the open sourcing effort.” This was in contrast to a former Branch CEO’s public statement that “If Kevin were to ever leave, it’s contracted that the code will be open-sourced and put in the hands of the community.”
“Open sourcing a product responsibly involves licensing, security, build tooling, contribution workflow, and trademark stewardship,” Instabridge explained. “We do not have a decision to share yet, but we will be transparent once we do.” As of now, Barry, Instabridge, and Branch have not provided any immediate comments regarding the situation.
