@9488fcea02a9 bummer. I was hoping one had an implementation like this.

@9488fcea02a9 hmm, didn’t lawnchair also have an app drawer and a dock? Or other similar launchers like Microsoft, action, hyperion etc.? There are plenty more AOSP based launchers in the Play Store.

[…] and Android is worse off for it

Hard disagree!

The only damage the whole Nova Launcher thing does is mostly sentimental. Nowadays, there are plenty of launchers to choose from, all with some great degrees of customizability. Here are my top picks:

• Kvaesitso - my current pick. It’s not the most flexible on this list, but I generally find more and more ways I could integrate it in my personal life. And the font pick is just great.
• Lucid Launcher - another top pick of mine that is not relied on AOSP. Goes more like a vertical scroll than a horizontal one. Used it on my tablet for as long as it lived, almost.
• KISS Launcher - If you want to Keep It Simple, Stupid. It’s all just a search bar. That’s it. Search for everything you need and when you’re done, you’re done.
• Niagara Launcher - also minimalist, but more functional. Didn’t really get the hang of it just yet, not sure if I will. Kvaesitso is quite cool.
• AIO Launcher - let’s just call it the best strike between minimalist and functional, ok?
• Lens launcher - for when you want to be so minimalist you put all your apps on the home screen
• ap15 launcher - same as Lens but there are only labels instead of icons
• Total launcher - goes the opposite way. Probably the most customizable on this list. Really great once you get the hang of it.
• Square home - if you used a Windows phone, you know what this is about. If you did not, you will know (alternative implementation, Mur)
• Microsoft Launcher - as the name implies, it’s Microsoft’s current attempt at a phone launcher. Really useful, especially if you are invested in Microsoft’s ecosystem.
• Plus there are plenty more others that I didn’t get to test really much, such as Smart launcher, Action launcher, hyperion etc. However, the most hyped in this thread seems to be Lawnchair. Looks like it follows Nova the closest among the open source picks.

Really, there’s no point in worrying about this. I’m also sad to see Nova go, especially since it was that popular. But there’s that. The launcher landscape is the one I worry the less in Android.

I got Nova Premium on a sale and used it ever since, but I had some issues with it on an older phone with lower resources, so I switched to the default launcher (which was still cool btw, I could open the app drawer straight from the recents menu).

After I got a new phone and went for Android 14 I discovered that the search bar in the app drawer of the default launcher opened the Google app instead of being a simple search screen with all the apps. Also, I couldn’t have themed icons in the app drawer. So I tried Nova again and it didn’t have these either.

I took advantage of this and decided to try something that would not be based on AOSP, and Kvæsitso seems to be pretty much what I was looking for. My only problem is the fact that I cannot add more than one widget per row but that does make for a more minimalist setup tbh.

@mesamunefire The latest find, highly underrated, is @flwwhtrbt (also posting under @PerfectDark on !steamdeck@sopuli.xyz) posts about the latest gaming stuff on Linux and in general. Highly informative imo and not overwhelming with posts.

Then I get my memes from @nonfedimemes and @memes.pixelfed. I also liked @DarthPutinKGB, but it now it appears to have stopped posting.

There’s also my page called @cheamaminerii where I post infrequent updates about the health condition of Romania’s 1st president, Ion Iliescu, charged for crimes against humanity (currently mostly posting about the fact that he’s alive - which is what trăiește means).

There’s also @FoxNews which posts the latest news about foxes. Highly recommended if you want to stay up to date in this regard.

For serious news, some of the journalists I recommend following are @timkmak @kevinrothrock @w7voa @anneapplebaum plus other big publications, which have enabled federation via their Flipboard account, like @BBCNews or which they have an actual Mastodon presence like @theintercept @arstechnica or @Bellingcat

Other creators that I like are @silentbeauties (posting about vintage movies and actors), @Astro_benny (Italian NASA astronaut, posting about all things space) or @notjustbikes (yes, the real one).

Last but not least, there are some bots that reply to you with some various stuff if you tag them:

• @scream
• @bees
• @sandwich

Well, you can easily tell if an envelope has been tampered with. For email, on the other hand, it’s more difficult for the average folk. And again, Gmail is also sharing information with the government (okay, it’s mostly the US government, but still).

Imo, we need more providers like Proton, Tuta, Mailbox dot org etc. and probably more education into how one could protect their data and so on.

Having the government provide email as a public communication service sounds good in theory. However, this could also pose a privacy risk if your government turns rogue and authoritarian. If it is possible to also have this communication E2E encrypted in a way that is as frictionless as possible (no, PGP is not really that frictionless unless it’s built in), it would be great. However, we all know what is the general take of governments regarding E2E encryption, so I think I’ll pass this one.

Elon Musk was caught on the street and beaten to death…

<details class=“spoiler”><summary>Reveal/hide</summary>…In Minecraft</details>

@ForgottenFlux such a great feature. Will definitely use it next time I’m bombing some Houthi rebels.

@LiveLM Oh wow. Great for discovery. /s

Thank you! I will try this way. The issue is that the phone was a Cubot phone, so likely quite obscure to appear on the website.

Yes

How are custom ROMs generally installed nowadays? I tried to find one for a phone and to check for a way to install it, but to no avail. I did install a few almost 10 years ago, but back then tutorials on XDA were pretty clear.

@fuzzy_feeling too many of them tbh. I also gotta do some cleanup at some point:
postimg.cc/7GXfY6Sn

There’s plenty more in my Feedly account, some duplicates, cannot catch them all. At this point, I returned to getting what’s currently in the spotlight.

@bigboismith You’re probably referring to some sort of public broadcaster, right? That’s actually quite a good source if the management is not politically controlled/infiltrated in any way by any political party

@fuzzy_feeling

@cm0002 an e-ink phone is such a cool thing. Imagine the battery life.

It’s been a ride

It would be cooler if Steam or GOG would bring their front-ends to Android and host games as Android apks too. Of course, that would mean that these are sideloaded, but that’s nothing any medium-tech-literate person wouldn’t know.

@xapr mine is libranet.de

Which Friendica instance would you recommend that is currently accepting sign-ups?

Haven’t really explored other instances other than mine and venera.social, but these ones might be a good fit.

@Fitik @the_boxhead Yep. Look out for updates on Relatica if you’re on iOS

@thebustinator Guess it’s the author is still working on it, polishing it out, but there’s a start