I’ve discovered the very best Nova Launcher alternative and it is not even shut

In the event you’ve been maintaining with Android information as of late, you will know that the enduring Nova Launcher utility is all but dead in the water. After asserting his departure from the app’s open sourcing venture again in September of final yr, the unique developer confirmed that present possession not intends on opening up the code to the general public, sparking uncertainty over whether or not extra Nova updates and patches will ever even land going ahead.

Whereas the lack of Nova Launcher is an unlucky improvement throughout the world of Android for quite a lot of causes, the excellent news is that Google’s flagship cell platform is saturated with competing house display alternative apps of each the mainstream and the more experimental selection.

Personally, I’ve at all times been a fan of the digital minimalism offered by list-style launchers like Niagara and Olauncher, however there is definitely one thing to be mentioned about Nova’s ‘throw all the things together with the kitchen sink’ strategy to house display administration as nicely.

With this in thoughts, I went on a quest to discover a high-quality launcher for my Pixel 10 that may fill the void left by Nova Launcher in all its customization-powered glory. In my analysis, I stumbled throughout one app particularly that, in my eyes, suits the invoice greater than another obtainable possibility presently in the marketplace.

Hyperion Launcher will get the basics proper

Nova Launcher adjoining, however with its personal sense of aptitude

On the floor, Hyperion Launcher resembles most different tried-and-true Android house display options. Fairly than try to reinvent the wheel, the app’s interface leans into the everyday paradigm of a paginated most important house atmosphere, icons and widgets organized inside a grid, and an app drawer for entry to all put in software program.

Equally to Nova Launcher, Hyperion goes the additional step by providing numerous customization choices inside its devoted House settings web page. Colours, iconography, typography, grid measurement, animations, and extra are all extremely tweakable proper from the onset, albeit not fairly to the staggering diploma that made the previous software program package deal so well-known throughout the tech house.

By exercising only a little bit of restraint within the configuration division, nonetheless, Hyperion manages to current its listing of choices in what I contemplate to be a much more user-friendly setup. All the things feels nicely organized and deliberate right here, with extremely accessible sliders, toggles, and radial buttons.

Higher but, I discover Hyperion’s full-on embrace of the Material 3 Expressive design language to be an aesthetic step-up when put next side-by-side with Nova Launcher, which itself has adopted some trendy UI components whereas remaining stale throughout different surfaces.

General, Hyperion Launcher is up there amongst my favourite launcher apps obtainable for Android. Alongside the likes of Smart Launcher, Lawnchair, Octopi Launcher, and Kvaesitso, Hyperion seems like a form of religious successor to Nova, with its embrace of configurability and its Pixel-esque person interface design.