Overview

• Kevin Barry, Nova's founder and sole remaining developer, said he left Branch after being told to stop work on the launcher and his open-sourcing preparations.
• Active development has effectively ended, with Nova’s official website returning a 404 while the app remains available on Google Play.
• Branch acquired Nova in 2022, and then-CEO Alex Austin had publicly said the code would be open-sourced if Barry ever left.
• Austin departed the company in 2023, and the status of that open-source commitment is now unclear.
• Former staff and users are urging Branch to open-source the project, including a new change.org petition.