Fix: Nova Launcher crashes in Android

People who are pro-Android always tend to prioritize the customization, referring to it as the best trait of the Google-powered system. You can change almost everything to your liking, to the point that your Android smartphone is just a ”shell” for the endless software ”souls”. If you’re not into rooting your device, you’re just a little bit limited. But, with the proper launcher, as Nova, you can customize almost everything.

There are not many reports of Nova Launcher issues, but it’s low-key impossible to create flawless software that works on hundreds of different handsets with errorless optimization. One of those rare but troubling issues that emerged lately is related to sudden crashes. There are many different causes for Nova crashes, so we prepared a list of workarounds that should resolve the issue from different perspectives.

If you have had experienced crashes in Nova Launcher on your Android lately, make sure to check the list below for answers.

Restart your device and the launcher

The first step seems too obvious but it can help you, nonetheless. Sometimes, due to bugs in regard to system integration of Nova Launcher, you might experience crashes or gradual performance drops. A first troubleshooting step is to restart your device and, hopefully, that should speed things up and relieve you of crashing.

In addition, you can restart solely the Nova Launcher from time to time. This won’t affect your preferences, so you don’t need to worry about that.

First, let’s try with the Nova restart.

1. Tap and hold on the Home Screen to summon the Nova Settings menu.
2. Open Settings.
3. Scroll to the bottom and open Advanced.
4. Tap Restart Nova Launcher.

Even if this evoked some positive changes, you may as well restart your device, too.

Grant Nova permissions

In order for Nova Launcher to work in a seamless manner and take the role of the default system launcher, you need to grant it certain permissions. For starters, you need to make it the default launcher. Second, you’ll probably want to let it access notifications and phone settings.

This can be done by following these instructions:

1. Tap Settings and open Apps.
2. Choose Nova Launcher.
3. Open Permissions and enable both Phone and Storage. You don’t need to enable Your Location.
4. Now, choose Home.
5. Open Default App Settings.
6. Choose Nova Launcher as the default launcher.
7. Now, get back to Configure apps screen and open Special Access under the Advanced tab.
8. Open Notification access and toggle On both Nova Launcher and TeslaUnread, if available.

Clear cache and data

Even though the third-party launcher, once the permission is granted, can take the role of the default launcher on your device, it’s still an app. It collects cache and stores the data in order to maintain the customization and preserve your preferences. Moreover, if you’re a beta tester for Nova Launcher, there’s a chance that the stored data from the previous stable release and the beta upgrades will conflict. So, if you pack either stable or beta version, it’s advised to clear the data and cache and look for changes.

However, have in mind that this procedure will delete your current settings, so make sure to back them up so you can restore them later. On the other hand, some users claim that it’s favorable to start from the scratch and customize everything again. That might take some time, but it’s a good point.

If you’re not sure how to clear the cache and data from the Nova Launcher, follow the instructions below:

1. Tap and hold on the Home screen to open the Nova menu.
2. Choose Settings.
3. Scroll down until you reach Backup and restore.
4.  Backup your data.
5. Tap Settings.
6. Open Apps.
7. Open Nova Launcher.
8. Select Storage.
9. Clear Cache and Data.
10. Restart your device.
11. Tap and hold on the Home screen to summon the Nova menu.
12. Open Settings.
13. Navigate to the bottom and open Backup and restore.
14. Restore the preferred backup.

That should resolve some of the minor bugs that provoke crashes from time to time.

Remove the Google Companion app

Many users rely on Nova Launcher to provide them with the Pixel-like interface on their non-Pixel smartphones. And, to date, Nova Launcher is doing a great job. With the little help of other third-party apps and moderate tweaking, Nova will indeed look like the Pixel Launcher. Even the Pixel Launcher for Android Oreo which is still not available over OTA. Besides the Icon pack, you’ll need an APK to truly recreate the Pixel Launcher. That’s Google Companion we’re talking about which enables you to access the Google Now feed on the Home Screen with the Nova Launcher.

Now, for some users, the Google Companion integration with Nova Launcher works great. They swipe left on the Home Screen and the News Feed is right there. However, this integration isn’t always perfect, especially if you’re enrolled in the Google Beta (most people do this in order to access the full features of Google Assistant on non-Pixel devices). For some people, this integration just won’t work. So, if you’ve had experienced crashes while using Google Now Feed, you’ll need to disable it in order to regain the overall stability of the launcher itself. Basically, some users are forced to use one or the other.

Yes, we’re well aware that this means the departure of a nifty feature, but, if we need to choose between the one perk and full experience of customization, we’ll stick to latter. So, it’s recommended to remove the Google Companion and look for changes.

This is how to do it:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Navigate to Google Companion and tap Uninstall.
4. Restart your device.

Remove the Pixel-like weather widget from Search Bar

One of the best things about Nova Launcher is that you don’t need too much extra secondary apps to create the interface of your liking. On-screen weather widget, for example. Even though this isn’t fully supported feature, many users are quite satisfied with the weather widget provided by the Nova itself, placed in the persistent Search Bar. This especially emphasizes the ”Pixel look”. Sadly, that’s not the case for a multitude of users. Some of them encountered momentary crashes just after they enabled this feature within the Search Bar settings.

Our first thought is to leave the beta program for Nova. Beta features are in the testing phase, so you should have much better time with the stable version. On the other hand, this still won’t guarantee that the built-in weather widget will work. What you’ll need to do is to disable this feature for the time being and turn to the third-party widget in order to recreate it. Maybe Google enables third party apps to access its features in the future and that will, presumably, enable users to run this widget without fear of further crashes.

1. Tap and hold the Home Screen to open the Nova menu.
2. Select Settings.
3. Hold the Volume Down key to enable Labs where experimental features are presented.
4. Toggle Off the ”Allow weather in search bar” feature.
5. Now you can go back to Nova Settings > Desktop > Search bar style, and choose an alternative.

Additionally, we suggest using some small, minimalistic weather widget to fill up space. There are many apps that offer just that, but we’re using a Chronus which is small in size and have great customization features.

Reinstall the app

Finally, if crashes are still present, the reinstallation is the next obvious step. Have in mind that, if you’re using a cracked version of Nova Launcher, even this may not be enough to get rid of the problems. Some of them might work well, while others are just lackluster. On the other hand, if you’re in possession of bought Prime version and crashes are still reoccurring, the reinstallation should help you.

In order to reinstall Nova Launcher, follow the instructions below:

1. Tap Settings.
2. Open Apps.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Choose Default app settings.
5. Select Launcher.
6. Switch from Nova to any other launcher, preferably to a stock launcher.
7. Get back to Apps.
8. Locate Nova Launcher (and TeslaUnread, also) and uninstall it.
9. Restart your device.
10. Navigate to Play Store and install Nova Launcher again.
11. You can restore an old backup, but we suggest you start from the scratch.

That should do it. In case you have any questions or suggestions in regards to the subject, make sure to tell us in the comments below. We’ look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for reading and have a good day.

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