Update 1 (08/18/2021 @ 12:57 PM ET): The Discover Killer mod has received a major update that lets you replace the Google Discover feed with an embedded Assistant Snapshot page among other things. Click here for more information. The article, as published on June 29, 2020, is preserved below.

The default launcher app on Google's Pixel lineup and many other smartphones running close-to-stock versions of Android offers a handy integration with Google Discover. As the successor to Google Feed, Discover's launcher integration allows users to swipe to the left of their default home screen and conveniently access the latest news stories, video recommendations, and more. This feature has been adopted by notable skinned versions of Android as well, such as ASUS' ZenUI, Xiaomi's MIUI, and OnePlus' OxygenOS. However, some users have lashed out at Google for showing clickbaity content in Discover while also showing advertisements in feeds.

XDA Recognized Developer Quinny899 has now come up with an interesting mod to "replace the Google Discover page of your home screen with whatever you want". Dubbed as Discover Killer, the mod is presented in the form of an Xposed module. When enabled, the module can seamlessly substitute the Discover page with the Google Assistant 'Updates' screen or virtually any other third-party app, depending on how you customize it.

The Discover section is powered by the Google app, thus the module directly hooks into it instead of the launcher. This design allows Discover Killer to be compatible with any third-party launcher capable of showing the Google Discover feed without additional configurations. The module also offers a swipe-right-to-close option in case you choose to display the 'Updates' screen in place of the Discover page.

discoverkiller_xposed_settings

As a mandatory prerequisite for using this module, you need to install EdXposed with Riru Core after rooting your device using Magisk. Note that the initial version of Discover Killer is not verified by TaiChi. You can download the precompiled APK of the module from its XDA thread (linked below), while the source code is available on the developer's GitHub profile.

Discover Killer Xposed Module — XDA Download and Discussion Thread


Update 1: Discover Killer rewritten from scratch

After over a year in development, XDA Recognized Developer Quinny899 has released a new update to his Discover Killer mod. Version 2.0 of this Xposed Module has been rewritten from scratch and no longer uses obfuscated class or field names, which should hopefully mean it won't require constant updates to keep up with Google app updates. Another important feature of the update is support for embedding the Google Assistant Snapshot page, which is probably the best replacement for the Google Discover "minus one" page on the home screen. Of course, you can still replace the Discover page with anything else, including other apps. On devices running Android 12, app launches will seem almost seamless thanks to the new splash screen feature.

For more information on the Discover Killer mod, check out Quinny899's thread on the XDA forums. You can download the module from the forum thread or the project's GitHub page.