I previously used Nova and finally moved to the open source side with Kvaesitso. I didn’t like using a search focused launcher at first, but I decided to try and use it for a few months to get used to it. What I’ve found is that:
- I barely ever scroll down into the widgets menu and so I don’t make use to widgets as much as I’d like to
- Even after carefully setting up the search settings, I find it unintuitive and prefer to use specific apps for specific tasks
- I like having apps sorted by tags, but the tiny moving pill shape icons aren’t as nice as if I had folders on my desktop
The biggest problem now is that Kvaesitso is draining my battery for some reason. Battery usage says that it used 27% of my battery today.
I think I gave it a fair shot, and I’d like to try something new.
Development of Nova went to shit after it was bought out, too. I dropped it when some major bug I now forget the details of was introduced and my reports went ignored for a full year.
I still have it and I can’t get off it because my whole flow depends on a feature that no other launcher seems to have.
I have all my apps in folders, but the folders when tapped will launch the first app in the folder. If I swipe up on them the folder opens.
So for exameple I have what looks like a Camera icon. If I tap it Camera opens as expected, but if I swipe up on it all my photo related apps are there. It allows me to keep a simple easy to use home screen but then all my apps are grouped underneath. It’s awesome and the best feature Nova ever made.
That sounds like a very cool feature. Have you tried suggesting to other launchers?