After Working on it alone for a year, the founder and original developer of Nova Launcher Kevin Barry has stopped working on Nova Launcher and the open sourcing efforts. More Info: https://teslacoilapps.com/nova/solong.html
People want to interact with their devices in ways that fall outside the blessed functions permitted by the corporate designed pattern deemed appropriate for them. If corporate UI works for you, that's great for you, but it doesn't for everyone.