Nova Launcher. This 3rd party Android launcher has been one of the top apps for Android since, well, forever. Nova Launcher is arguably the first launcher, for those who use them, that most people reach for, and I’m sure most of them have the Prime version. There are other launchers out there, and some of them have also been around for a long time, like Apex and ADW. But Nova has always been the most stable and most updated.
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Well, the day has arrived, and Nova Launcher has been sold to Branch, a mobile linking and measurement company. Branch purchased not only Nova but also a company called Sesame Universel Search, an on-device search engine for Android. Branch says the acquisition of these two companies will “allow it to create new and better ways for users to discover and engage with apps.” Here’s what the press release from Branch had to say.
“The mobile ecosystem is incredibly constrained with walled gardens controlling app distribution and access,” said Alex Austin, CEO and Co-founder of Branch. “Nova and Sesame have pushed the boundaries of what Android can deliver, and we’re excited to collaborate with their teams to further develop and scale the future of app discovery.”
“Nova has been a hugely satisfying project to work on, but I have often wanted to work on something with an even bigger scope,” said Kevin Barry, founder of Nova Launcher. “When Branch first approached me in 2018, I saw potential, and when we reconnected more recently, I saw success. My first priority is still to the Nova community and maintaining Nova Launcher as the launcher it’s always been, but I’m excited to bring new features of bigger scope to Nova and contribute to a larger platform.”
“At Sesame we always had more good user requests than we could build,” said Phil Wall, Co-founder of Sesame. “Now we’ve got resources. With Branch’s vision and Steve and Kevin on board, I think we’ll make something very cool.”
Branch is excited to work with the founders of both apps who will remain fundamental to the roadmap and engagement of communities built by Nova and Sesame.
Cision
Nova Launcher has been a considerable part of the Android ecosystem and its various communities. The company has even established its own community that is relatively robust. Branch’s involvement is still not completely clear. The only avenue for revenue growth from such an acquisition would be to gather user data, and considering Nova Launcher has a lot of users, there is a lot of data to be harvested. You can find out more about Branch here.
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