Nova Launcher’s new owner might offer a version with ads
Jan 20, 2026
Last year, Nova Launcher founder and sole developer Kevin Barry announced he had left Branch Metrics, Nova's parent company at the time - which followed an announcement from 2024 that nearly everyone working on the project had been laid off. But the launcher is getting new life: in a blog p
ost on Tuesday, the Swedish company Instabridge, which makes an app that helps people connect to Wi-FI hotspots, announced it has acquired Nova Launcher.
"Nova is not shutting down," according to Instabridge. "Our immediate focus is simple: keep Nova stable, compatible with modern Android, and actively maintained." However, Instabridge says it's "evaluati …
Read the full story at The Verge. ...read more read less