I’ve tried quite a few after leaving Nova a few years ago and have settled on Lawnchair. It seems to be the most stable and is under active development.
Yeah, just use the Beta, it’s extremely stable. Don’t get it from the Play Store though, as you’ve seen it hasn’t been updated in years. Just get it from their GitHub.
I’ve been using KISS launcher off and on since Branch bought Nova. Not nearly as flexible when it comes to customization. But if you just want a simple launcher that supports stuff like custom icon packs it is a good one.
Two best ones IMO are Lawnchair and Kvaesitso. I use the latter. Lawnchair works more like any normal launcher while Kvaesitso is more unique in the way it works.
Ah this happens to me occasionally as well. It went away for a long time. If memory serves its if I open an app and go back to the home screen too quickly or something. Usually I just lock and unlock my screen to fix it.