I've been using it for couple years now, it gives me feeling of stability even when moving across devices.

Now what to do? Android apps is rarely a thing that you download once and use for multiple years.

ignoramous 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

> Android apps is rarely a thing that you download once and use for multiple years.

I've been using FOSS apps, Amaze File Manager, Muzei (wallpaper manager), and Lawnchair (Launcher), for well over 8 years across multiple Android devices and versions, with nary an issue.

The situation with Nova (and SimpleMobileTools before it) is that developers are selling their popular projects. This isn't an "Android" thing, but more of an indictment of sustainability of indie FOSS projects. This isn't limited to consumer apps, though (see: Redis).

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slightwinder 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

> The situation with Nova (and SimpleMobileTools before it) is that developers are selling their popular projects. This isn't an "Android" thing, but more of an indictment of sustainability of indie FOSS projects.

Exactly this. I bought Nova 10 years ago (December 2015), and I even paid only 10 cent (Google had some absurd sales on apps back then). Till today, I'm using it, receiving updates, and never paid another cent to the dev AFAIK. I don't know how they even financed their business, but even as popular as it was (is?), I doubt they are swimming in money.

I can understand why so many apps end up in subscription-traps, or are selling the whole business to someone else. But at the same time it's insane that as a customer it's really hard to find a useful app, and have a way to continue support on a low level. For example, I probably wouldn't have a problem with paying Nova some dollar every time I switched to a new device, to get a new compatible version. But I can't even do that. There is barely any mobile app iterating this way through the android-versions. So they all are either dying at some point, or end in a trap.

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netsharc 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I have an old launcher, and even an old version of it. Version 2 was great, version 3 came with small cosmetic changes I didn't like, plus fucking ads. So I restored v2 from backups and stopped allowing auto-updates, to stay on v2.

One day the makers disappeared from the Play Store, voila, no more auto-enshittification, I win!

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sborra 5 days ago | parent [-]

except it's a matter of months, a couple years tops, until your old app stops working o doesn't work with your new phone

	▲	eloisant 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		Nova Launcher is 13 years old. Having to change your launcher every 10 years isn't too bad.

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eloisant 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I've switched to Smart Launcher about a year ago, and I'm really happy with it.

Nova already seemed to be stuck 10 years in the past, also it had accumulated too many features that made it cumbersome to configure.