Nova Launcher Founder and Sole Developer Departs
▼ Summary
– Nova Launcher’s founder Kevin Barry has left the company after being asked to stop working on the launcher and its open-sourcing effort.
– Branch Metrics acquired Nova in 2022, and its former CEO had stated that the code would be open-sourced if Barry left the company.
– It is now unclear whether Nova Launcher will actually be open-sourced following Barry’s departure from Branch.
– A former employee suggests that new leadership at Branch does not prioritize Nova and may not honor previous commitments to open-source it.
– Community members have started a petition to pressure Branch into open-sourcing Nova Launcher, which the former employee supports as a way to encourage action.
The future of Nova Launcher, one of Android’s most popular and enduring home screen replacements, now hangs in the balance following the departure of its founder and sole developer, Kevin Barry. After being instructed to cease development and halt efforts to open-source the project, Barry has left Nova’s parent company, Branch Metrics. The launcher’s official website currently returns a 404 error, though the app remains downloadable via Google Play.
Branch Metrics acquired Nova Launcher in 2022, with then-CEO Alex Austin publicly stating on Reddit that if Barry were to leave, the code would be open-sourced and handed over to the community. However, Austin himself departed the company in 2023, and with Barry now also gone, it is unclear whether Branch intends to honor that earlier commitment.
Barry declined to comment on the situation. A request for comment was also sent to Branch, but no response has been provided at this time.
According to Cliff Wade, Nova’s former customer relations lead who was laid off earlier this year, the company’s current leadership appears to have shifted priorities. “I think the newer leadership since Alex Austin left has put a different focus on the company,” Wade explained, “and Nova simply isn’t part of that focus in any way at all. It’s just some app that they own but no longer feel they need or want.”
Wade expressed skepticism that Branch would voluntarily open-source Nova, stating, “I don’t believe Branch will do the right thing any time soon. I think they simply just don’t care and don’t want to invest time, unless of course, they get enough pressure from the community.” A Change.org petition has been launched to encourage the company to release the source code, which Wade described as a “great start” in applying public pressure.
Although Wade has not personally reviewed Barry’s contract and could not confirm the existence of a formal open-source clause, he emphasized that the community “deserves” transparency. “Branch just simply needs to do the right thing here,” he added, “and honor what they as a company have stated as well as what then-CEO Alex Austin has stated numerous times.”
The situation leaves longtime Nova users in a state of uncertainty, with no clear indication whether the app will receive future updates or if its code will ever be made publicly available.
(Source: The Verge)
