Nitter link provided instead of Twitter post. Screenshot below.
deleted by creator
I mean, their message is a little weird, but so is the scaremongering that’s been going on against them ever since they changed ownership. From comments on the Reddit post, Branch is actually integrated into Google apps, Samsung Launcher, and a ton of other stuff and nobody really blinks an eye at that.
There literally is no evidence they do anything unseemly with peoples’ data, yet the scaremongering persists, including a lot right here in this thread. What exactly are they supposed to say other than to emphasize this fact? Anyone who would distrust them based on this post was already definitely inclined to distrust them.
I see it more as a jab at the insane scaremongering when they sold.
Yeah sure, some concerns are justified in that situation, alright. But it’s not like you need to instantly drop something the moment this happens, more so because half the alternatives people recommend have trackers the very company that bought nova runs.
“Insane scaremongering?” What an incredibly ignorant and biased characterization
Is it? Don’t get me wrong, it’s completely understandable to be concerned, disappointed, annoyed or distrustful of such a buyout. Entirely understandable.
But at the same time, immediately coming to the conclusion that all data is now being hoovered up isn’t helping anybody. Because if nothing else, it destroys nuance. If you assume the moment an ad company is involved that all data is being gathered, then you lack the ability to make any further distinction. This would also mean that nobody could ever create a more ethical ad company, as users would still immediately assume they’re gathering all data, and hence be no better than any of the other companies. This in turn removes any motivation to ever even try this.
Likewise, and more relevant in this case, if users immediately assume the worst has already happened, then no company can ever try to sell to another company in a more responsible manner, as again the perceived result is the same, so there’s no incentive to do so.
What actually happened:
- Nova got sold.
- The new owners might start gathering more data.
- Or not.
- Just as well, Nova could have started gathering more data without selling.
- Or not.
From the perspective of the end user, other than the chances of more data being gathered in the future going up a little bit (and apparently not even all that much given that it’s been one year now), nothing has changed. 🤷
That’s what I mean: You cannot always immediately assume the worst will happen right now this very moment. Scaremongering precludes any sensible form of discussion or improvement to a situation, as one side has already decided that it’s all a lost cause anyways.
Now, should the new owners start gathering more data, then we can all toss Nova into the bin. And then say “Okay it took far longer than expected, but fuck ad-company buyouts!”. But so far that hasn’t happened, and hey, if anything it seems Nova found some buyers who don’t just trash the product they bought for some quick bucks.
Integrity company here. It’s been a year since we partnered with known mobster Two Face and we promised you that he would have no influence over our business other than as a financier and we’ve kept that promise! As you can see his racketeering has been kept completely independent of our day to day activities. You can trust us and Two Face that we will be allowed to be completely independent and there is no tom foolery going around behind the scenes.
Surely you mean Tegrity Farms?
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=nQqBOz8bkBE
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
It definitely feels weird, but it could also just be a reaction to the significant criticisms at the time of the purchase and change of ownership.
the FLOSS alternative https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Launcher/
I don’t have a play store link if you do please post it for those in need
Thanks for sharing! They don’t seem to have a Play Store listing, but they do have an F-Droid link on the IzzyOnDroid repo. Can also add their GitHub releases to Obtainium for easy updating.
Thank you for Obtainium reference
It’s a great tool!
And now I just learned about Obtainium. Thank you!
Why do you need to trust a launcher with your data at all? Why does it ever leave your device? This made me very skeptical about them.
A launcher needs a lot of privileges to do its work. I have to trust it that it does not collect/send anything to anywhere.
My AOSP launcher has zero permissions, except one that I optionally enabled to see notifications so it can do the little notification dots on my app icons.
Just install DuckDuckGo browser app and let it block any the trackers, job done. I’ve been using Nova on a new pixel 7a for a couple of months now and really happy with it (especially vs the incredibly stupid stock launcher, with its un-movable pointless widgets taking up half the home screen)
edit the DDG browser app runs a VPN which blocks trackers, I’m not making it up
Just so you’re aware why people are disagreeing with you - an installed browser does not change the behavior of HTTP calls made in other applications.
It’s not just a browser though, it also blocks trackers in other apps. Or is the DDG app lying when it shows all the trackers it’s blocking for each app?
Some few apps it literally breaks and need to have the tracker blocking disabled before they work again, so I’m pretty sure it’s doing something. It runs as a VPN afaict
If it does include a VPN provider, then you’re correct - it would work for other applications.
I don’t think it’s common knowledge for people who don’t have the app, so you may want to include information about that in your original post.
Been using lawnchair since forever, I try to avoid closed source apps as much as possible, so Nova was never an option for me.
Just wish it would get more development.
The last Alpha is from August 8 and even then the current iteration is a shell of what Lawnchair was during the V2 Alpha daysConsider using Neo Launcher. It’s open source and actively developed and is basically what lawnchair aimed to be.
The play store says lawnchair isn’t available because it was made for an older version of Android… The versions on F-Droid are 2 years old too …
Get the alphas at lawnchair.app
The alphas there are the same ~year old ones on F-Droid
I really like Nova, but also prefer to keep as much of my data to myself so I blocked Nova access to the internet via app permissions. Also blocked branch domains on my pi-hole for peace of mind.
Anyway, I just wish KISS offered a better widget customization.
I love KISS. Anyone picking up my phone would just see a blank screen with seemingly no function unless you know to swipe.
I tried the alternatives people were suggesting on reddit at the time:
- Some are clean (no trackers, etc), but change the experience too much and I want a traditional launcher.
- Some work like I expect them to, but Exodus ( https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/ ) shows lots of trackers… moving from one that might track in the future to one that already tracks is not a good move.
- Open source alternatives, which I prefer, either move very slow (Neo Launcher) or are dead.
- Not all handle gesture navigation or Android 12/13 well.
So I’m still on Nova. I did upgrade to the beta as after a certain A13 update the stable version started bugging out, but that’s it. I use LineageOS and can remove internet access from apps, so that’s what I did. My hope is that Neo Launcher becomes more active, but until a few things are improved/fixed, I’ll stay on Nova.
I could just use the stock launcher on LineageOS btw… the reason I don’t is that it’s easier to backup an app and restore it after a reset/moving ROMs.
I made the jump to Niagara and have enjoyed it so far. I really enjoyed Nova, but there’s no going back at this point.
Im not even sure what this all means? Ive been using Nova Launcher since my Galaxy Note 2, though… maybe I should stop using it?
This means that around a year ago nova was sold to a data collection company. But nova team declared that this had no impact on the launcher.
this is declared for mostly every company takeover, and very rarely happens in practice.
What to do, is up to you. Many stopped using nova .
Interesting. Maybe its time to give the stock Samsung launcher a try, I guess?
I personally have still been using Nova Launcher and like it a lot more than Samsung’s on my S23 Ultra.
To my own surprise I found OneUI launcher very good and with good lock extension I have everything I need. One hand+ is a amazing tool on top of it
