Nova Launcher recibe dos actualizaciones inesperadas tras ser dado por muerto

Nova Launcher, el icónico personalizador de Android, ha revivido inesperadamente con dos actualizaciones rápidas (v8.1.3 y v8.1.4) centradas en la estabilidad y corrección de errores, tras meses de silencio. Las actualizaciones surgen luego de la salida del equipo de desarrollo original, dejando el futuro del proyecto enteramente en manos de su actual propietario, Branch Metrics, generando tanto optimismo como dudas en la comunidad (Fuente Reddit).

La popularidad de Nova Launcher, la aplicación que durante años fue considerada el rey de la personalización de Android, había disminuido significativamente, especialmente después de que su fundador y único desarrollador dejara Branch Metrics, la empresa propietaria. Este movimiento llevó a la comunidad a asumir que el lanzador estaba esencialmente «muerto».

Sin embargo, en un giro inesperado, Nova Launcher ha recibido dos actualizaciones consecutivas en un período muy corto: la versión v8.1.3 y, poco después, la beta v8.1.4. Esta actividad repentina sugiere que Branch Metrics ha tomado un rol activo en el mantenimiento del código, reviviendo un proyecto que se creía abandonado.

Las actualizaciones, sin embargo, no introducen nuevas y ambiciosas funciones, sino que se enfocan en mejorar la estabilidad y corregir errores, actuando como un «fantasma del pasado» en términos de desarrollo. De hecho, antiguos desarrolladores de Nova han señalado que la versión 8.1.3 se basa en un código de más de un año de antigüedad que finalmente ha sido lanzado por Branch Metrics.

La reactivación ha generado una mezcla de alivio y escepticismo entre los usuarios. Si bien el mantenimiento activo es preferible al abandono, la ausencia de los creadores originales y la falta de transparencia sobre la hoja de ruta a futuro han planteado serias preocupaciones sobre la dirección del launcher . La comunidad se pregunta si Branch Metrics continuará con las correcciones básicas o si invertirá en las características innovadoras que definieron a Nova como el favorito de los usuarios avanzados de Android. Por ahora, el destino del icónico launcher se encuentra en un nuevo y algo misterioso capítulo.

#actualización #android #arielmcorg #BranchMetrics #DESARROLLO #infosertec #Launcher #NovaLauncher #Personalización #PORTADA #tecnología

Great write up by Jay Peters of The Verge with regards to the Nova Launcher/Branch situation that I wrote about this morning.

Dominic reached out to me via LinkedIn this morning and asked some questions to get some insight.

You can read that here:

https://www.theverge.com/news/773937/nova-launcher-founder-left-kevin-barry-branch-open-source-android

#NovaLauncher #NL #Android #Apps #Google #Branch #BranchMetrics #News #Tech #TechNews

I'm writing this post here today in hopes to bring some attention to something that is near and dear to my heart, and that's an update to the current situation with Nova Launcher, that I worked for and with for nine years up until August of 2024.

For those that haven't seen the news, Kevin Barry, the founder and developer of Nova has left Branch which in turn means he's now no longer involved with Nova Launcher in any way going forward.

https://teslacoilapps.com/nova/solong.html

For the past year or so Kevin has stated that he was working on the open source version of Nova Launcher so that if/when this time came, it would be out in the open and the community could take it over and contribute to it and have it continue being developed.

However, it seems that Harish Thimmappa and others at Branch had told him to stop working on that effort as they didn't want him to continue doing that for unknown reasons. This is sad news because this was something that former CEO, Alex Austin, had promised both via a contract and publicly that if Kevin were to ever leave Branch, Nova Launcher would become open source. You can find that quote here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/w2q6al/comment/igzoniu/

and another very similar quote with similar conversation here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/w2q6al/comment/ih25ntz/

The reason for this post is to try and draw some attention to the folks at Branch, specifically folks like Harish Thimmappa to do the right thing and honor these promises and any writings in the contracts from 2022 and to fully focus on releasing Nova Launcher as an open source app.

The community deserves this more than anything, since that was something that Kevin was very adamant about when he allowed Branch to acquire Nova Launcher back in 2022. Plus, this is just something that Branch should do since it is something that has been promised.

There is currently a petition on Change.org to try and get Branch to do this as well. After only 3 days of it being posted to Change.org, it sits at almost 1,500 signatures, and that's with very little to no press coverage at this time, which is something that would be super useful to bring full attention to this situation. You can find the petition here:

https://www.change.org/p/make-nova-launcher-open-source-let-the-community-continue-its-development

I ask that everyone who sees this post can share it with their followers as I would love to see Branch do the right thing and follow through with their promises that were made back in 2022 when they acquired Nova Launcher and release it fully as an open source app now that Kevin is no longer working for Branch and not involved in Nova Launcher.

I'm going to tag some folks below that I worked with at Branch in hopes of getting this post seen by as many folks there as possible.

#NovaLauncher #Nova #Branch #BranchMetrics #OpenSource #OpenSourceNova #Petition #Android #Apps #Google