Why I Switched from Google Now Launcher to Nova Launcher Prime

I used to be a big fan of the Google Now Launcher customized with Xposed GEL Settings.  Well, I’ve now switched to a different launcher.  Here’s why I switched to Nova Launcher Prime, and why I’m glad I switched.

Problems with Xposed GEL Settings

I used to talk about how much I loved using Xposed GEL Settings (XGELS) to customize the Google Now Launcher, but then I started having issues.

UPDATE: Alexander Shultz, the developer of XGELS commented on this post explaining that this issue is actually an issue with the Google Now Launcher and not an issue with XGELS.  He explained that it’s an issue with apps being installed on external storage or a different partition.  In my case, it may be due to having ROM slots from using Safestrap.

Every once in a while, at random, all of my widgets would suddenly disappear.  There didn’t seem to be any way of getting them back, so I had to add them all back manually one at a time.  This was pretty annoying considering I’ve spent a decent amount of time getting it just the way I like it, and I use a lot of widgets.

While it was annoying, it wasn’t a deal-breaker.  The developer working on XGELS even has a page on the app that explains why it’s likely to have issues due to the fact that he has to reverse-engineer Google’s obfuscated code every time the Google Now Launcher gets an update.  So, I can understand and sympathize to some degree.

But then my widgets disappeared again about a week later, and then again and again with close to week-long gaps in between incidents.  That’s where I drew the line and switched back to Nova Launcher Prime.

Benefits of Nova Launcher Prime

Switching back to Nova Launcher Prime was much easier than I thought.

Import from Other Launcher

The feature that lets you import from other launchers is awesome.  I was able to import from the Google Now Launcher and it placed all of my app icons and folders in the right place, but missing the widgets of course because XGELS lost them.

Google Now Access

While Nova doesn’t have the “swipe left for Google Now” feature, I was able to easily set a swipe gesture so when I swipe up, it launches Google Now.  I’m not able to swipe up from home like many other Android users can do because my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has hardware buttons, so there’s no on-screen nav bar to swipe from.

New Features in Nova

After switching back to Nova Launcher Prime, I was also pleasantly surprised by a couple new features that I find to be really nice.

1. You can place icons and widgets halfway between 2 grid slots, centered over the grid line.  This is really nice, because it essentially doubles the grid positions to work with without cutting the size of the icons in half.  It’s nice to have the ability to center icons or widgets in the middle of the screen even though I have my home screen set to 6 columns.
2. “Disable Padding” is an awesome feature I found in Nova Launcher Prime that I wish I had many years ago.  Now all of my widgets stretch all the way to the grid lines or the edge of the screen.  Not only does this give my home screen a more modern (almost Windows “metro”) look to it, it also makes a lot of the widgets look better, like they were designed to have padding disabled.

Overall, I was happy with my switch back to Nova Launcher Prime.  My experience with XGELS made my appreciate the stability of Nova.

Get Nova Launcher

So what are you waiting for, why not give Nova Launcher a try.  It’s free, and if you want more features, you can upgrade to Nova Launcher Prime like I did.

What Do You Think?

So what is your experience with either of these launchers?  Or is there a different launcher that you prefer over these?  Why?