Sailfish 4
sailfishos.org
sailfishos.org
I tried to use it a while ago (Sailfish 3) but was driven off it because of the huge gap between the marketing and the actual reality.
The claim that they are privacy and security focused was total bogus (and perhaps someone can comment if it still is).
To use the phone features, a Jolla account is needed, so it will "ping home to Jolla". Privacy policy is pretty standard, so they reserve the right to track you all they want and of course, this is tied to your license, payment method etc. So much for privacy focused...
What fully drove me off was that they launched full disk "encryption", but the LUKS encryption-key password they used was the user's numeric pin (4-8 digits long). So encryption keys could be bruteforced by a kid and they seemed to be fine with it (I don't know if nowadays it supports a passphrase).
Then I also learned that apps in the "app-store" were not signed in any way so impossible to certify that what you are installing is actually coming from the app repository etc. the phone was just lacking basic security all over the place.
I hope they are closer now to closing the "gap" between their marketing and the reality.
https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php?title=PinePhone_Software_R...
If you are searching for actually user-respecting alternatives based on FLOSS, have a look at Librem 5 and Pinephone.
Then a Haiku phone to break the monopoly of UNIX.
I've been using Jolla and Meego before that and I like the interface a lot better than the main players. Granted, I'm not much of a phone/app user beyond the basics like a music player, calendar, clock and TOTP app, so your mileage may vary.
"The mobile OS with built-in privacy"
Literally uses cookies on their website
The Sailfish UI far outclasses those other two. It's simple, consistent, and pretty. That's all one can ask for! And it's familiar Linux underneath, with easy access through SSH - no rooting required. This is the phone that everyone else wants, whether they realize it or not...
In comparison, I find iOS annoyingly inconsistent and obtuse. Android is straightforward, but feels like a step backward.
I just wish Jolla had bigger investors, and more developers. It's really a breath of fresh air in the claustrophobic (and increasingly dystopic) mobile landscape...
I wish more phone lines would give them a change like Nokia did with the N-series years ago.
The Android apps blend pretty seamlessly with the whole experience. For example, the keyboard that pops up in Android apps is the same as the one in that pops up in native apps.
> Sony Xperia X Single SIM (F5121) > Sony Xperia X Dual SIM (F5122)
Get the compact model's number to check.
But e.g. not XZ1c
EDIT: What about the KDE Connect app?
I ran Sailfish in the 2.x days on an old Moto G Falcon. They did not support Android apps at the time, but recent versions are supposed to.[1]
My experience with Sailfish was pretty positive, but I have a high pain tolerance and don't need or want my phone to be more than a phone. (I need it to make calls and handle SMS/MMS. MMS messaging was iffy: reception was fine, but multiparty conversations didn't always thread well. I consider web browsing on the phone a bit of a mixed bag. Tethering is a bonus.)
It was pretty. I liked being able to SSH into the phone. I appreciated the easy way to change themes (and that they migrated settings like volume, etc.). It was a slick O/S.
Sadly my Falcon died, and I got a burner phone. It's hard to argue with $40 for the phone (KaiOS) and an MVNO that handles my comms on the cheap. I've toyed with the idea of picking up another one that's compatible and flashing the phone--but it looks like it's harder to get the OS onto newer devices these days.
I flashed 2.x back then, too, back in the glory days of flashing ubuntu touch and firefox os, etc. I loved the UI of Sailfish. Fatal flaw for me was the inability to group text. As far as I know there is still no group texting. The European users/devs claim this isn’t an issue, because they all use third party messaging apps.
I’m glad they’re still developing Sailfish!
Back then they had a 3rd party whatsapp client called mittäkuuluu (litteraly what's up in finnish) in addition to the official one running through the android layer.
Since then whatsapp has blocked 3rd party clients and i believe youre not able to run whatsapp on the consumer version of sailfish.
Something really cool they had was integration with whatsapp and the facebook messenger with the sms app with contacts synced across the three.
Whatsapp also often blocked users using those apps (I had it happen multiple times) and you could reactivate your account if you logged in with the official whatsapp.apk again. A few days later the Sailfish apps were updated and I would switch to one of those again :)
So now there is no other option then use the whatsapp.apk, or just not use it and switch completely to Signal.
The Android layer is only available on the commercial version, and only on officially supported device. It has been available since 2013 on the original Jolla 1, which was for me the reason to upgrade from a Nokia N9.
For me it is stable on my XA2. Though the software is made by a small company and their efforts are spread relatively thin. They don't have thousands of developers working on their mobile OS.
For Android apps, the bluetooth stack of Android and Linux/Bluez is different, and the middleware called libhybris does not support offering bluetooth to Android apps. It might come in the future, many people in the community wish it to come available. There are many native apps, and there might not be that much need for all kinds of Android apps. Also, there is talk about offering Android support for community devices, like the Sony Tama devices (high end, small form factor) or Xiaumi devices.
I will say that installing the google play store is not a simple click through, but I also don't care for it. A majority of the apps I want don't use google play anyway.
I would highly recommend you give it a try for a few weeks and you won't go back.
There was a native app for Here Maps, but IIRC it was only licensed and available for the Jolla 1. I don't have it installed on my Sony XA2 and I think it's not available either.
I ask this because I find myself numerous times disappointed: after installing a new OS, there's mostly nothing "new" or outstanding to enjoy other than the few limited different features. After that, it's just the same old terminal and Chrome with the occasional trip to the file browser.
For me it's the idea that the software provider thinks privacy is important and I trust them much more than Google or Apple. It's also very close to desktop linux. Root access over ssh is just one checkbox away in the settings. After that I can install any software that is available on Linux, or I can mess about in /etc.
The Ambience system is very nice as well. With almost only native apps and a white-on-black ambience, my phone is visually very quiet and not that much distracting.
It feels like I own this phone, almost as much as my desktop computer. I am not renting it where someone else has root access and I don't (or I have to fight for it).
I am a linux desktop user so allowing me to ssh to my phone is amazing. Easy to terminal into it, gives me sudo, easy to navigate.
For the Apps, this one is a little tricky, however I have managed to live with a few things such as open street maps over google maps. However, I can still use google maps just in browser. It is not ideal but it is not that bad. I am certain someone will come out with something in the future so it is a matter of waiting.
There are absolutely things that can be improved no doubt. My personal experience is that I like to look at things in a more positive light of, what can I do rather than what can it not do. I got to the point of how I do not like Apple's and Google's practices, that you are basically locked into their environments and malicious practices.
I own the phone and what is on it. That means a lot to me. Sailfish helps a lot with that. There are always naysayers, but they also are the same people that are too critical of things.
Finding an old oneplus one or any community supported phone for cheap is not too bad. I ended up getting an XA2 and that worked out the best for me. I find that my phone performs quite well even though it is "older" compared to the latest flagships. I am not too caring about a 64 megapixel photo or image blending etc. I can do that on my normal box.
Additionally, the user interface is swipe-focused, with little bars where yozu can swipe that are that thin that they only trigger you subconcious, while not registering them actively with my view. It's the best unser interface design I've seen so far and recent iOS/Android design changes support the decisions they made years before Apple/Google.
Maybe emulation would be needed for most current machines and be really slow, but with more ARM laptops coming in the future it seems like something GNU/Linux would need to do to compete in that space.
I am hoping the next version, which is coming out soon, will support VoLTE, but until it does, Sailfish is useless as an actual phone in the USA in the very near future.
I am currently tethering my Sony Xperia 10 II with another cheap android phone so I can keep using it outside my house. Yes, I don't want to use iOS or Android that desperately. I enjoy using Sailfish that much.
What was most unexpected is how, unprompted, a lot of the most ardent phone abusers in my social circle started gradually releasing themselves from their phones, putting them in a drawer, or just outright turning them off for weekends.
I have a single prepaid phone that my wife has the number to, it has no apps, no email, no scrolly things. When we are apart, it is turned on, otherwise, my time is otherwise occupied.
There are some real-world issues with that, all of which a friend recently encountered (they don't even use a credit card). Firstly, if you don't set up internet/mobile banking, it does leave you open to someone doing it "for you." Luckily money in the bank is insured, but that doesn't help the stress experienced by a 70 y/o (who was doing all the right stuff, as she's retired intelligence). Secondly, you're going to struggle if you're forced into some situation away from your landline, such as a hospital visit.
I was able to repurpose my Pixel 4 with GrapheneOS for her: no app store, no email, no scrolly things, data disabled, no e-waste, nothing but phone calls over LTE.
Meaning the price for a consumer is steep and dunno if some of the features are useless without the matching backend. But I guess the level of security should be good. At least the folks from Bittium I’ve interacted with seem to know what they’re doing, for what that counts for :-)
But since there are plenty of apps in the froid store there are plenty of free alternatives...
I prefer to use FOSS apps where I can, and as such, most of my installed apps come from F-Droid. When I do need something from the Play Store, I simply use the Aurora Store to grab those applications (which are really just Paypal and Slack for work).
Potential issues you might run into are some apps like banking and such not functioning thanks to SafetyNet. For banking, I just use the browser anyway, have never had the need to use my local bank's mobile app.
It really depends all on your needs, but you will find that using a de-Googled device is very doable as a daily driver, and I have been doing it for a number of years now - I can't tell you when the last time I signed into a "Googled" Android device was.
I also have a few PinePhones (my first testing grounds for Sailfish, interestingly enough) and am a huge proponent of Linux phones. I throw my SIM in my Pinephone sometimes and use it often for testing development stuff. For daily driving, however, my de-Googled devices are still what I reach for the most.
What does this mean?
The main features which require a license are:
* Android emulation
* Predictive text
* Microsoft Exchange support in the email application
* Support from Jolla
https://jolla.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003837053-Wha...
There is the potential(given an unlocked bootloader), to use webusb to allow people flash the OS from an official website.
And maybe at a later day allow install from phone to phone via a cable, as a lot of people nowadays don't have a PC.
The pricing will be tricky though, $5 per install given a large user base, plus maybe some additional features for sale.
That being said, having an OS also means having an appstore, that alone could generate enough revenue to make the OS free.
By OS I mean an Android fork or a fuchsia based OS if the license allows it.
And so far, I haven't seen any path towards monetization.
Most people won't give you directly money, unless maybe you target very specific niches, like privacy or FLOSS (And I don't believe I can address either of those).
As you mentioned, another possibility is to get revenue through app store (or other revenue sharing sources) possibilites. There is the obvious one, Google Play Store. I simply can't bear Google's bureaucraty, and if I were to try that, I'd have died of old age.
Other actors would be much more willingly to discuss to 3rd parties, maybe Aptoide or Amazon Store would be interested? But then, you can't have Google Services, and usage would be much more limited. Also, I believe that the revenue from people out of Amazon Store is much lower than Play Store, because people have less trust towards it (but I could be wrong there).
5$ per install is imo far from enough, because it barely pays for the bandwidth to download OTAs for one year. Unless you mean 5$ per install and per OTA, but I don't like the idea of having the user pay for security upgrades. Also, it lacks an important property to replace revenue sharing, which is adaptability to users' money (if the user has a lot of money, the revenue sharing will give more money, and it's better for reach to still have a place for low income people, notably indian peoples can give you a lot of advertisement "for free" but they don't have much money)
Yeah, $5 even at a 1M users is probably not that much, having to maintain drivers, and as you mentioned serving updates, that would require a team.
With regards to the Google apps, I think a company would be better off trying to make something of their own, or collaborate with some app makers, at least for difficult stuff like maps, camera, gallery, browser(not sure about the paid codecs)
As for the app store, I know that's a big project, but that would have to be custom and a core product of the company.
Hope you'll eventually find a way to monetize your ROM.
- with "all you can eat" monthly subscription that gets you all the apps included, so no whaling allowed
- and with severe policing against dark patterns
- including a "panic button" so users can report whether they got addicted to some app.
But when I tried to design that, I very quickly ended up into a rabbit hole of "how to compute which app deserves which share of the revenue". And then, how to define "dark patterns".
And here I am, still haven't actually tried anything.
Windows is collecting data and milking a declining Enterprise client base, all the early "influencer" companies use macOS. Regular consumers essentially refuse to pay for Windows even if they prefer it.
macOS isn't installable and is subsidized by hardware sales and monthly services.
That leaves you with *nix, which is free. No business plan!
In 2021 I don't think operating systems are a good business to be in! You can make more money selling subscription sleep apps or budget apps which have way less complexity.
Of course it will be hard to find corporate clients for a mobile os, but may be doable.
But, you're right, aside from Microsoft and Red hat, and maybe CoreOS some time ago, people don't seem to earn money from OSes, unless I'm missing something.
Please stop hijacking native scroll functionality in an attempt for clever designs. You're breaking the web.
>The OS is an evolved continuation of the Linux MeeGo OS previously developed by alliance of Nokia and Intel which itself relies on combined Maemo and Moblin
MeeGo. The era when both Nokia and Intel had zero freaking idea about Smartphone.
But I am glad Sailfish is still doing great. It has been a long time since the name appeared in any media.
So, EU-only (and 2 or 3 morecountries) and limited devices.
EDIT: Emphasis on the non-OSS part. I couldn't care less as long as it was actually fully open.
> One of the first customers for OMP was Russian Post
From your link. Is there any evidence of them pushing code back upstream?
To be fair, without the Russian investor, there would be no Jolla anymore :)
Edit: For some reason I missed a bunch of words when I posted.
Russian connection is just the Russian government decision to use Sailfish as the base for their own Aurora OS. China and India are also somewhat interested.
https://together.jolla.com/question/178875/rostelecom-acquir... https://www.mobileworldlive.com/devices/news-devices/russian... https://blog.jolla.com/new-strategic-investor-joins-sailfish... et al.
But this is not the problem. I would not have any problem with a 100% russian OS, as long as it was OSS. But Sailfish is also not OSS. That is the problem.
I see this posted as a problem often, sometimes even "the" problem. I do understand it is a problem, but at the current moment there has been no better Linux phone then a Jolla or Sony with Sailfish.
So for people shying away from Sailfish, because it is not fully open source, I wonder what people use instead.
Is it an open source AOSP system (with probably binary drivers)? I would not trust that all Google stuff was removed from AOSP, I don't even trust it for Chromium. Or do people use Ubuntu Touch that is probably fully open source on some systems? Everything right now is a compromise. I do hope that it will change in the near future.
My main argument for the last 7 years was that I want a Linux phone in my pocket, that I can order today and use tomorrow. A Linux phone that serves me, with simple root access, ssh access, compiling apps and installing anything, messing about in /etc.
You lose half the benefits of having an open system in the first place. I will have exactly the same issues than I do when a run Google Android: no control over the device. You're 100% at the whims of Sailfish.
And as for "OSS Android" still having unknown Google stuff, I disagree.
It could have been great, but many mistakes where made in many places, not just by management. Now it's a fringe OS, with a closed source UI and no noticeable market share. Let alone growth in such.
NB: This is based on my personal involvement up to 2015-ish.
You can also have pure SDL apps on WINDOWS, out of all platforms, so what is the point? And sure, there is also value in that, but "privacy" value?
After Qt 5.6 some important parts were relicensed as GPL. Which means that the Wayland compositor and some other Jolla parts needs to be either GPL (which the main investor is reluctant to do) or Jolla needs to buy a commercial license for Qt (which the main investor is reluctant to do).
I understand that the developers at Jolla are ready to flip the switch to a newer Qt and have been for some time, but there is no business decision made yet.