TRInvictus
I use nova free on P6a as well for over a year now with gestures and it works fine (Its worked the same regardless of android version), except one caveat.

I too started experiencing navigation issues. The swipe for home screen pages sometimes would start to jump erratically and incorrectly, and things would get worse pretty quickly. The swipe up would stop working and eventually the phone interface would be mostly frozen and i wouldn't be able to reach the app drawer or click on any home page icons, app switching not working, couldn't reach settings to restart apps.

At first i though phone had crashed, so I'd restart it and it got fixed. But eventually I realized the phone is still working and the notification swipe down is working fine. Then from the notification bar i found the settings icon and entered settings which worked just fine and decides to force stop "nova" app and restart it. Voila, the problem solved.

It was only the nova app that was crashing not anything else. Restarting it fixed the issue temporarily.

This issue doesn't happen too often. It either doesn't happen at all or when it happens it quickly escalates to a full freeze. This may happen for me once or twice a month.

Interestingly enough in the first 5-6 months this never happened. And i don't think I've seen it since the android 14 update. But who knows it might come around.

My nova free version is 7.0.58. From aurora.

Try restart the launcher see what happens. It's not a cure, but it might be a good enough temp fix for you.

I wouldn't switch back to the default launcher despite this hickup. I don't like the default icon colors and shape and size at all. Nova experience is faaaar better, esthetically.

      UndercoverBozo
      I have it internet blocked on a profile without google play. I dont see how it could spy, its quarantined.

      Though only reason i use nova and not Lawnchair is cuz i can get rid of the bottom bar entirely on nova. Which is what i want. Cant do that on Lawnchair.

      Otherwise i see no reason to use nova over Lawnchair. I think they are identical otherwise. In fact Lawnchair offers a few more features compared to nova free. Though nova is more stable.

        User2288

        Nova Privacy

        The services contained in this section enable the Owner to monitor and analyze web traffic and can be used to keep track of User behavior.

        Matomo (this Application)

        Matomo is an analytics software used by this Application to analyze data directly without the help of third parties.

        Bugsnag (Bugsnag Inc.)
        Bugsnag is a monitoring service provided by Bugsnag Inc.

        There is 0 reason to support this application, hopefully people will see that sooner than later.

            TRInvictus

            I posted this possible solution in a two other threads with similar third party launcher issues. It works for third party launchers using 3 button navigation and experiencing issues with the recent button, it's worth trying for your issue as well:

            Go into Developer Options and try different "Animator duration scale" settings (try "off," try "0.5x," etc). If that doesn't fix your issue, try playing with other animation settings in Developer Options.

                • [deleted]

                • Post #17

                UndercoverBozo I don't see how is enabling Developer options insecure (if you don't change things you don't have a clue about). But you can remove animations also by going to Settings > Accessibility > Colour and motion > Remove animations

                  Thank you all for your comments on this, very much appreciated!

                  I've given up using Lawnchair and Neo Launcher, as they're both having pretty nasty bugs (home screen layout is completely messed when changing settings, folder backgrounds and other UI elements not being rendered on screen, etc.). They're definitively out.

                  @User2288 what you describe is exactly the same issue I'm having too. To me the launcher/home screen has to work flawlessly, no lags and hickups tolerating at all, I'd have to force stop and restart it constantly, that's no option.

                  UndercoverBozo There is 0 reason to support this application, hopefully people will see that sooner than later.

                  That's my opinion on actual Nova too.

                  @graphie Thanks for the advice with the animation settings. I've animations generally off, so that didn't help. I'll try the animation duration scaling, would be great if it helps...!

                  UndercoverBozo This is not good advice and insecure.

                  Dev options can be set individually with adb, isn't it? So no need to enable dev options permanently...?

                        TRInvictus To me the launcher/home screen has to work flawlessly, no lags and hickups tolerating at all, I'd have to force stop and restart it constantly, that's no option.

                        I'd say before you move on at least give it a try. Like I said for me this is not constant, its a rare and occasional issue. Given that no good alternatives exist I'd say give it a try first. But if its too much trouble then go back to default launcher. The thing is we are living in a world of varying degrees of discomfort. Find out which option gives you less discomfort, and don't eliminate your options too soon. You don't have many.

                        Ultimately your call friend 😊. Just helpin.

                            User2288 Any help, or comments, always very much appreciated my friend 😃

                            Rate of discomfort is actually very high on any option, the home screen and recents is where everything starts and happens while using the phone from A to the Z, its not just a tool one randomly uses, its the phone actually.

                              @ GOS
                              Is there a way we can help nailing issues down with 3rd party launchers, if you plan on doing investigations? It seems to be a persistent issue to quite some users.

                              2 months later

                              Ok guys, I think I have found something. Logs of Launcher3, yes the stock launcher, not the 3rd party launcher, throws the following exception when I swipe up to the recents screen and getting a blank black screen instead. (I assume the stock launcher is still running in the background due to "quickstep" or something similar...?)

                              `type: logcat
                              osVersion: google/husky/husky:14/AP1A.240505.005/2024050700:user/release-keys
                              packageName: com.android.launcher3:34
                              buffers: main,system,crash,events,kernel
                              level: error

                              --------- beginning of main
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: RecentsView destination page is invalid
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: java.lang.IllegalStateException
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.AbsSwipeUpHandler.handleNormalGestureEnd(AbsSwipeUpHandler.java:1381)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.AbsSwipeUpHandler.lambda$onGestureEnded$14(AbsSwipeUpHandler.java:1108)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.AbsSwipeUpHandler.$r8$lambda$GUlUNPxlN5wUIt1E4ajyapS2w5Y(Unknown Source:0)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.AbsSwipeUpHandler$$ExternalSyntheticLambda58.run(D8$$SyntheticClass:0)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.launcher3.PagedView.onPageScrollsInitialized(PagedView.java:715)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.launcher3.PagedView.runOnPageScrollsInitialized(PagedView.java:709)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.AbsSwipeUpHandler.onGestureEnded(AbsSwipeUpHandler.java:1111)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.inputconsumers.OtherActivityInputConsumer.finishTouchTracking(OtherActivityInputConsumer.java:444)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.inputconsumers.OtherActivityInputConsumer.onMotionEvent(OtherActivityInputConsumer.java:376)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.inputconsumers.NavHandleLongPressInputConsumer.onMotionEvent(NavHandleLongPressInputConsumer.java:92)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.inputconsumers.OneHandedModeInputConsumer.onMotionEvent(OneHandedModeInputConsumer.java:138)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.TouchInteractionService.onInputEvent(TouchInteractionService.java:840)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.TouchInteractionService.$r8$lambda$JDK2db7a_ZtzI6D1EJ5hYukunXo(Unknown Source:0)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.quickstep.TouchInteractionService$$ExternalSyntheticLambda5.onInputEvent(D8$$SyntheticClass:0)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.systemui.shared.system.InputChannelCompat$InputEventReceiver$1.onInputEvent(InputChannelCompat.java:74)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at android.view.InputEventReceiver.dispatchInputEvent(InputEventReceiver.java:267)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at android.os.MessageQueue.nativePollOnce(Native Method)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at android.os.MessageQueue.next(MessageQueue.java:344)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:189)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:317)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:8532)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:552)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.internal.os.ExecInit.main(ExecInit.java:50)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.nativeFinishInit(Native Method)
                              05-17 09:24:41.674 2490 2490 E AbsSwipeUpHandler: at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.main(RuntimeInit.java:359)
                              `

                              @GOS Could you please check this? I am having this issue since months, would be great, thank you very much and best regards.

                              It's not a GrapheneOS issue. We didn't change anything which could have caused this.

                                GrapheneOS I do not know who is responsible and could help to fix that. Is it Google to check this, as Launcher3 is Google's? I am in the situation that I avoid using my Pixel 8 Pro since month, and keep using my old Andorid 10 phone which is unpatched since years (!), because 3rd party launchers do seem to not run propertly on GOS (I have tried a lot of em and they all show the same issue). I'm not pointing with the finger to GOS or anyone else, I am just looking for help. I ask for help since several month in this matter and do the best I can do by investigate and provide informations myself, with the very limited knowledge and possibilties I have. What else can I do?

                                  Vagabond8630 I know this doesn't really help you, but I have no issues like the one you are facing using Lawnchair 14.

                                  Thank you for your feedback. Which version are you using exactly? Owner profile only, or other profiles as well? The last tests I did with Lawnchair was some weeks/month ago and had the described issue (as well as a couple of other 3rd party launchers too). Lawnchair honestly isn't on my list anymore, as changing settings completely messed up the whole home screen (widgets gone, layout gone).

                                  Is split screen working with Lawnchair? When I use split screen with a 3rd party launcher, I get a crash too in launcher3. Same issue, using a 3rd party launcher, but the stock launcher crashed in background (quickstep?).

                                      Have tons of issues as well with O launcher, freezes every now and than, sometimes app drawer does not open and you have to force stop launcher app for some reason in settings.

                                      TRInvictus Which version are you using exactly? Owner profile only, or other profiles as well?

                                      I've been with Lawnchair 14 Beta 2 since they released it (Apr-3) and no issues. And yes, split screen works.
                                      I use it in the Owner profile only with no fancy features enabled.