Pretty sure that just has to do with how widgets are integrated

It's a launcher, it can do a heck of a lot of things, and needs permissions to be able to do so.

But you don't actually have to allow any of them in modern Androids if you don't need those features. Nova Launcher also has quite a list, but I haven't actually enabled any of them, it has never asked to, and everything works fine.

Those are for widgets that you choose to enable. Hard to access search features without permission to search, if you don't want them, all you have to do is ... not enable them / disable them if you flipped the on ...

Kvaesitso is awesome, updates regularly, and was the best launcher I found that worked for my use case transition from Nova.

Granted I avoided trying a lot of the Freemium ones, or others.that were corporate controlled. Not interested in a forced migration 2.0, open source is nice cause it can always be forked if something happens.

There is no way to use the built in features without those permissions I think. Like weather (location), search contacts and calendars, ..

I think they have been there a long time. It also needs pretty deep access if you want it to open notifications bar and more..

Someone correct me if I'm wrong

Is it not open source and on F-Droid? I used it before switching to Niagara.

I use Total. I keep trying other launchers, but none come close to the level of customisation.
I have created such specific layout and navigation that anything else is annoying and slow to use.

telemetry and crash reporting, and stuff like public statistics. Here's the "Easy to read" privacy policy: https://help.niagaralauncher.app/article/109-privacy-policy-summary

They explicitly state that they sell a launcher, not data.

I switched to Niagara after Nova added the shitload of trackers, and i love it. At first i thought: what, i should only place 7 elements on my homescreen? But it really works and it didn't even take a day of active use that i knew i had to get the Pro version. Was the first time i ever put down money on a launcher, but i've been using it for years now and hope i will never need to replace it, because there's nothing that comes close.

Edit: damn, i read like a goddamn adbot. No, i am really human and like it lol.
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I used it exclusively from Nexus and Pixel and now on the Fairphone 6. Probably works better on more stock android? Idk it is pretty solid for me and I recommend it