Following the significant layoffs that occurred last year, in which nearly the entire team responsible for Nova Launcher—long regarded as one of the most well-known and widely respected Android launchers—was dismissed, a major development has now surfaced. Over the past weekend, Kevin Barry, the founder of Nova Launcher and the final remaining developer still affiliated with the project, revealed that he has officially departed from Nova’s parent company. According to Barry, this decision came in the wake of management explicitly instructing him to discontinue his active contributions not only to the launcher itself but also to any attempts at making the project open source. In parallel with his departure, Nova Launcher’s official website has gone offline and now returns a 404 error, though the application itself remains accessible for download on the Google Play Store, at least for the moment.
To trace the origins of Nova’s corporate restructuring, one must look back to 2022, when Nova Launcher was acquired by Branch Metrics, a company specializing in analytics for mobile applications. At that time, Branch’s co-founder and then–chief executive officer, Alex Austin, addressed concerns from the community on Reddit regarding the future of the launcher. Remarkably, Austin stated quite clearly that if Kevin Barry were ever to leave Branch, there was a binding contractual provision mandating that Nova’s source code be released openly, thereby transferring stewardship of the project to the Android community. However, Austin himself departed the company in 2023, leaving behind leadership whose priorities have demonstrably shifted away from any focus on supporting Nova Launcher. Now, with both Austin and Barry no longer affiliated with Branch, considerable uncertainty hangs over whether the promised open-sourcing of Nova will actually materialize.
When approached by The Verge to comment on these developments, Barry chose not to provide further statements. Meanwhile, Branch Metrics itself has yet to offer a formal response to questions regarding the launcher’s fate. Insight, however, has been provided by Cliff Wade, Nova’s former head of customer relations, who was among those laid off during the 2024 downsizing. Wade explained to The Verge that he believes the company’s strategic focus has changed dramatically since Alex Austin’s departure, with Nova Launcher now viewed as nothing more than a minor asset the company happens to own rather than a product they value or intend to prioritize. In his words, it has become simply “an app they own but no longer feel they need or want.”
Wade went on to express his skepticism about Branch’s willingness to fulfill its prior commitments concerning open-sourcing the launcher. He conveyed a firm belief that the company is unlikely to act in good faith unless compelled by external pressure, specifically from the surrounding community of users and developers who have long relied on Nova as a cornerstone of Android customization. Reflecting this stance, a community-driven petition hosted on change.org has already been launched, calling on Branch to release the launcher’s source code to the public. Wade described this grassroots initiative as a promising and necessary first step toward amplifying the collective voice of the user base. Nevertheless, he noted that, lacking access to Barry’s contractual documents, he cannot personally verify the legal obligation Alex Austin once described with confidence.
Despite this ambiguity, Wade emphasized that the broader Android community genuinely “deserves” access to Nova’s source code, especially given its longstanding importance in allowing millions of users to reshape and personalize their mobile experiences. He strongly urged Branch to act ethically and honor not only the assurances repeatedly made under Austin’s leadership but also the expectations of a loyal user base whose support sustained Nova for well over a decade. According to Wade, the decision now rests squarely with Branch’s current leadership, who must choose between continuing to neglect the project or finally empowering the community by opening it up for collaborative development.
Additional reporting contributed by Dominic Preston.
Sourse: https://www.theverge.com/news/773937/nova-launcher-founder-left-kevin-barry-branch-open-source-android
