Earlier this week, one of the oldest and best Android launchers – Nova Launcher – was acquired by analytics firm Branch. In his announcement, Nova creator Kevin Barry tried to reassure users and reassure them that the original team remains responsible for the development efforts.
Version 8.0.2 Beta of the Nova Launcher is the first to include features powered by the new parent company’s technology. Specifically, Nova Search will be the first to be enhanced with on-device processing powered by Branch. It returns “micro results” so you can message someone in your app of choice simply by searching their name.
The Nova Launcher 8.0.2 beta appears to have renamed the feature to “Branch Search for Shortcuts and Contacts”, complete with its own section in the settings menu. The app’s changelog states that branch search uses an offline library called io.branch.search. It is clarified that the library does not access the internet and that the branch deep-link library, identifiable as io.branch.sdk.android, is separate.
Branch’s search results appear to be more comprehensive than Sesame Search’s when it was integrated with Nova. Interestingly, branch search doesn’t seem to have access to some apps – options for messaging people on Slack are shown separately.
In addition to the search function, the latest beta update fixes minor widgets and text resizing issues in the edit dialog and app drawer.
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