My Favorite Nova 8 Beta Features

Nova Launcher has been around for well over 12 years at this point and has been the number one ranked 3rd party home screen replacement app in the Google Play Store for most of that time. Nova has tons of features that users find useful when it comes to various ways they can customize their home screens and even app drawers. Today, I’m going to give you my top three favorite Nova 8 Beta features that I use and enjoy the most.

One thing to note about these features is that they might require you to purchase and to use Nova Launcher Prime. Currently the price for Nova Launcher Prime is $4.99 USD.

Swipe Up And Swipe Down On App Icons

I try to keep my home screen relatively clean, as you will see by the screenshot below. While yes, I have a few icons, but I certainly don’t have a lot. Those that I do have, often do more than just launch the app icon that you see and click. For instance, my Mastodon icon that you see on the bottom row, second from the right, launches Mastodon if you click it. The cool thing here is, if you swipe down on that app icon, it will launch Instagram. You can see that I have this setup by long pressing the icon and clicking Edit(pencil icon).

You’ll also notice, as mentioned in the section title, you can set a Swipe Up action on any icon as well. While certainly handy, I don’t use the swipe up action too much as swipe down is more of a natural feel for me. It’s worth noting that for swipe up and swipe down you can set it to launch apps, Nova Actions or even shortcuts for various other apps. The swipe up and down on app icons can be a very useful feature and something I use all day, every day.

Nova Search Micro-results

This is a feature that’s not really advertised or mentioned much of anywhere, but back when Nova 7 was in very early beta, or maybe even alpha stages, Kevin added something really fun and neat to Nova’s search and those are called Nova’s micro-results.

As you can see by the couple of screenshots below, I have used the Nova search bar on the home screen, though this works from the app drawer too if you have a search bar added there, you can search for something like 32F, or any temperature and it will convert it to 0C in the results. You can do the same for something like 50ft and other things.

The list of micro-results below is a pretty complete list of what you can do within Nova’s search bar if you’re using Nova 7 or higher. It’s certainly not a complete list as I believe there are other things such as moon phase and it will tell you the current phase of the moon.

Caclulator (2+2)Unit converter (10F or 10oz to g)Open URL in (https://novalauncher.com/ and it'll let you pick which web browser)Maps for addresses (1234 W State St)Call/SMS for phone numbersDirect links for package tracking numbersDirect link for flight tracking numbersDirect link for Bitcoin/Ethereum addresses (blockchain.info)

Nova Gestures & Inputs

This has been around for many years, so it’s not necessarily new in Nova 8 Beta, but it’s a feature, or set of features if you will, that I have used extensively for years. That’s Nova’s Gestures & Inputs. Things like swipe up, swipe down, two finger swipe up, Pinch In and others. All of these can be done on Nova’s home screen and like the swipe actions on icons, you can configure them to open specific apps, perform certain Nova Actions or to perform shortcuts to various other things that other apps offer. While not an unlimited amount of things you can do here, the options are very numerous.

My most used Nova gestures are swipe up for Nova Settings and Double Tap to access System Settings. These are things I’m always having to access since I work for Nova and do a lot of testing of various different things not only for myself, but for users who email me with issues or questions. Again, such a powerful feature of Nova that so many users don’t really take advantage of or don’t really understand what all they allow you to be able to do.

These are my top three favorite features of Nova Launcher 8 Beta. While they aren’t specific to Nova 8 Beta itself, it’s the current beta version that we are working on and it’s what I’m using on a daily basis on my Pixel 8 Pro.

If you are interested in using Nova 8 Beta versions, you can either Join The Beta for Nova Launcher via your device in the Play Store, or you can download the APK and install it manually from here: https://novalauncher.com/beta/ Please make sure to grab the latest beta version, which as of this writing is Nova 8.0.14.

If you have questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to ask me via the comments below and I’ll be happy to answer anything I can.

Make sure to follow Nova Launcher on Mastodon here: Nova Launcher or you can follow myself, Cliff Wade, via Mastodon here: Cliff Wade.

Mobile Apps I Use The Most; The Android Edition

Today I’m going to talk about the Android apps that I use most often on my device or along side of my device. I was inspired by jcrabapple’s post that he did titled: More of my Favorite Apps. These are apps that I highly recommend to others to use for various reasons. These apps are often apps that I’ve used for several years now, though some are apps that I’ve just recently started using that work best for me personally. All of these apps I currently have installed on my Pixel 8 Pro running Android 14 Beta QPR3.

Nova Launcher And Nova Launcher Prime

Nova Launcher and Nova Launcher Prime are two apps I’ve been using for 11+ years. For that don’t know, Nova Launcher is a 3rd party home screen replacement app so that you don’t have to use the stock launcher on your device. Along with Nova Prime, Nova Launcher provides a lot more customization for you to get the look and layout that you want. If you’ve never given Nova Launcher a try, it’s an app that I personally install as the very first app on any new Android device I get.

Solid Explorer

Solid Explorer is a file management app inspired by the old school file commander applications. Solid Explorer lets you navigate to files stored on your device and automatically organizes them into collections. You can view, delete, move, rename or share any files. It also allows you to quickly find the files you need through indexed search with filters. This is another app I’ve used for well over 10 years and is one of the first apps to get installed on any device I own.

Vivaldi Web Browser

Vivaldi has become my browser of choice as of about 6 – 7 months ago. For me, it does so many little things that other browsers don’t do when it comes to browsers on the web. While I don’t use a web browser often via my Android device, I choose to use the same thing on my mobile devices that I use via the PC. Vivaldi allows me to sync everything from the PC to the mobile version and that just makes using it that much easier.

Trunks For Mastodon

Trunks for Mastodon is the best way to experience Mastodon any of your devices, at least on the Android side of things. With its rich features and intuitive interface, trunks makes it easy to stay connected with your friends, follow your favorite topics, and discover new content. The developer is constantly adding new features and fixing bugs. Trunks is also available via the web as well as iOS, which is something a lot of users enjoy as they can use it everywhere.

Proton Mail

Like Vivaldi above, Proton Mail is something I just recently switched to within the last couple of months or so. I switched from Gmail to Proton Mail because I wanted something a bit more secure and something that would allow me to have a bit more control over my email compared to what Gmail offers. Proton Mail is encrypted email from Switzerland. Used by millions worldwide, our all-new email app protects your communications and has everything you need to easily manage your inbox.

Aegis Authenticator

Aegis Authenticator is a free, secure and open source app to manage your 2-step verification tokens for your online services. Similar to Authy or Google Authenticator that most people are familiar with, Aegis is another two-factor authentication app that helps you keep all of your online accounts safe and secure from possible intruders. The number one thing I like about Aegis is that you can import/export your information to and from other similar apps, assuming those apps allow you to export things. Aegis is one of the first 5 – 7 apps I install on any new device as I often need it to be able to log into other accounts as I’m setting things up.

Final Thoughts

There are many other apps that I use daily and would suggest others to at least give a try as well. The ones above are usually my first set of apps that I install as soon as I possibly can any time I get a new device. Be it because I need them to be able to log into other apps, or because it makes things easier and quicker for setting up a new device.

Also to note here, is that some of these apps are paid for apps, or also have a paid version. I urge everyone to support the developers of the apps you use often and regularly. This helps ensure those apps continue being developed and updated on a regular basis.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author and do not represent any official endorsement by Nova Launcher, Solid Explorer, Vivaldi, Proton Mail, Trunks for Mastodon, Aegis or any other apps mentioned.

Image Source: Google Play Store

My Phone’s Home Screen; Explained In Detail

I am often asked what my phone’s home screen looks like or what things I have on my home screen, so today, I’m going to break it all down for you. Let me note one thing here is that some of the features that I make use of requires the purchase of Nova Launcher Prime, which I you can grab from the Google Play Store for just $4.99 USD.

Let me start with the basics of what I use as far as a mobile device. For today’s home screen post, I’ll be showing off my Pixel 8 Pro that I use quite regularly. I’m currently running Android 14 Beta QPR3 as I am almost always using beta software of some sort. I choose to use Nova Launcher with Nova Launcher Prime as my launcher simply because it works best for me. Not to mention, I happen to work Nova Launcher and have for 8 1/2 years now. The icon pack I use in the screenshots that you will see below is the OneYou Icons by PashaPuma Designs.

As far as widgets on the home screen, I don’t use any. The search bar you see at the top of the page is actually Nova’s search bar and I use that extensively for searching for my apps that aren’t on my home screen. The reason I search for my apps is because I don’t use the app drawer any longer, though I did for a lot of years. Searching for apps via Nova’s search bar is just much quicker and fewer taps or screen touches in most cases.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, and links to the things I use, let’s get to the meaty details and the things y’all most likely care about the most, my actual home screen.

As you can see, compared to a lot of people, my home screen is pretty empty and very basic. I only have thirteen icons in total on my home screen, but there’s access to a lot more apps than just those thirteen.

I’ll start from the top left icon, Solid Explorer, and work my way to the right. Solid Explorer itself is a file manager, and then I have swipe a swipe down action set to launch Proton Drive. This is a Nova Prime feature that allows you to set a swipe up and a swipe down action on icons to do other things. In my case, I simply have it set to launch other apps. This allows me to keep my screen cleaner and more organized for my liking. You can also set swipe actions to launch shortcuts or Nova actions.

Next is the Uber app. I have no swipe actions set on this icon, so we’ll move to the next one which is the Google Play Store icon. This one I have a swipe down action set to launch a shortcut to My Apps, which is where you go to see all of your app updates within the Play Store as you can see via the image below. Again, this allows me to access app updates without several clicks.

Next up is the Slack icon. Slack is something I use regularly for work but the Slack icon also has a swipe down action to launch Door Dash, since the wife and I order from quite a bit. Then you have Messenger for Facebook, with a swipe down action for Aegis, which is a Two-Factor Authentication app, similar to Google Authenticator and others. Finally on the right side of the top row is Facebook itself. Likely my least used app on the home screen.

On the bottom row, again, from left to right, is my phone app, Vivaldi Browser, Proton Mail, Discord, Camera, Mastodon and then Google Messages. The only icon here that has a swipe action, which is again a swipe down action, is the Mastodon icon and the swipe down will launch Instagram.

Since I only have one home screen, and have for years, unless I’m testing something for a user, if I swipe from the left side of the screen, I can activate the Google Discover feed or the Smartspacer feed. Smartspacer integration is only available in the Nova 8 beta builds currently, but will also be available once Nova 8 gets to a stable release, which will hopefully be soon. One thing to note here is, if you want the Google Discover feed, you’ll have to install the Nova Google Companion APK manually, which you can get from here: Nova Google Companion App.

I would show a video of me accessing the Smartspacer feed integration, but unfortunately I’m using an internal Nova dogfood build that would show things that we have yet to announce publicly, so you’ll have to use your imagination of how things look and work.

As I mentioned early on, I don’t use the app drawer. In fact, I can’t stand having or seeing an app drawer. While I kept mine very well organized with folders and all apps within my folders, it’s just something I don’t care for any longer as I’ve learned to use Nova search for most everything. For me personally, it’s quicker and easier and often just a tap, type one or two letters and then tap the icon I want. This doesn’t work well for everyone, so I encourage everyone to use what they like and what works best and quickest for them.

As you can see in the image above, I can type the letters “pi” and find Pixelfed or Pixel Tips. This works very effectively for me and it also gives me other results that I might need to know about, such as a work meeting I have at 1pm EST today. You’ll also notice the search return for pi. These are Nova’s micro-results that we have quite a few of them.

That’s my home screen, explained in detail, and how I use it as well as how it works best for me personally. I’ve used a very similar setup for numerous years with only small minor changes here and there. The layout of my home screen icons has been the same dating back some 8 – 9 years and I have no plans to change that layout any time soon. I know exactly where everything is and it’s super easy and quick for me to access what I need at any given moment.

If you have questions or comments about my home screen, or just about Nova Launcher/Nova Launcher Prime in general, please don’t hesitate to ask. You can leave comments or questions in the comment area below or you can tag me on Mastodon and I’d be happy to share my thoughts there. My Mastodon account is here: Cliff Wade on Mastodon.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author and do not represent any official endorsement by Nova Launcher or any other apps mentioned.

Featured Image Credit: Wallbase.cc

Screenshots Credit: Cliff Wade