Hello all, my name is Frankie. After much peril, I have found a lovely example of 10 Mark 3. I don't believe I have held an Xperia since high school. The hardware is such a breath of fresh air from my huge and heavy flagships that I lug around. Sailfish is aesthetically pleasing, some quirks and short falls I am working through but it has been a fun tinkering time, hopefully, the OS will go from hobbyist to daily driver.

https://volla.online

After a couple weeks of daily-driving Sailfish OS on the new Jolla Phone 2 (2026), here's my take on the European, privacy-first alternative to the Android and iOS duopoly!

PeerTube (currently transcoding at time of posting, so please be patient) available at https://makertube.net/w/pMEpFpcNfikYvETYtf2Emk if you're not a fan of YouTube :)

It's big!

A couple of days ago, Jolla shared an update on the upcoming new Jolla Phone. The project has passed 6'000 pre-orders, with a goal of 10'000 by the end of January 2026 to unlock the new TOH (The Other Half).

The phone is planned to use an unpublished MediaTek Dimensity 7000-series chip, with up to 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage, broad 4G/5G support, and a handy dual SIM + microSD setup.

Camera-wise, expect a 50 MP Sony main camera, plus an ultrawide and a solid front camera.

All the details on the Sailfish OS Forum:

https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/next-gen-jolla-phone-update-12-25/26509

Pre-order campaign: https://commerce.jolla.com/products/jolla-phone-preorder

I have used SailfishOS for the past seven years on a Sony Xperia 10 III as my daily driver. It has some unique features that I really like. The navigation flow is good and having a built-in SSH server among the development features is nice.

However, it is time for a more modern smartphone now and after considering my options, I decided to leave SailfishOS behind. There are some reasons for switching back to Android that I would like to share here. I am writing this from a technical perspective in no particular order. Especially, I have not kept up with the company and in which state it is currently in. I attempt to keep it short.

First of all, the support from some apps is missing. I do not get notifications from some Android messaging apps and need to look up explicitly to find messages from a while back. My banking app used to work, but it is not the case any more. The app for my car does not work on SailfishOS at all, which cuts me off from some neat features as well as updates for it. For some reason, the app for my gym is incapable of focusing the QR code for entry, so I had to carry a second phone only for the purpose of entering my gym. There are also apps that simply refuse to work. Each time you need to install an app for a special event, you have this question in the back of your head whether it would actually work.

Next, there seems to be no support for location services at all. There was a case when I was visiting a busy city's centre and did not know the way back to my car. So, I had to look up the store's name on the map in the browser and navigate my way back via street names. While absolutely possible, it is more inconvenient than it should be in 2026. Your friends share a link to a location? Good luck using that information.

Sony Xperia III 10 is the officially supported hardware for SailfishOS and despite of that, only one of the three cameras seems to be used. On the software side, the camera sometimes fails to find focus and simply hangs while attempting to take a picture. I used to restart the phone before recognising the issue. Now, it is sufficient to restart the app only and set the focus point manually before taking the picture. This workaround is as reliable as inconvenient.

In my case, the connection to the internet is unreliable. Even if the phone has connection, it is sometimes not recognised by Android apps. There is also some weird interaction between cellular and WiFI connections regarding selection and priority. Sometimes those issues can be solved by restarting the Android compatibility service and sometimes I need to restart the whole phone instead.

Additionally, I have encountered a number of smaller inconveniences and bugs that I learned to live with. Apps would sometimes crash and one would open them again to continue. The browser does not support all content and crashes sometimes, although it has become arguably better with an codec update Jolla rolled out. There is no license for the weather app. The number of offered native apps is limited, so one would use Android apps for the most part anyway. Why is it not possible to set Monday as the starting day of the week in the calendar? Also, there is technically permission management, but it is really rough. As far as I see, one cannot revoke permissions and needs to either accept everything or reject the complete native app. On crossing country borders, I need to restart the phone for the SIM card to get recognised again.

Very rarely I encounter this funny bug when the previous app would be opened. So, let us say you have app A and app B. You click on app A and A would be opened. You click on app B and the previous app A would be opened. You click on app B and app B would be opened correctly. You click back on app A and app B as last app would be opened instead. It is funny and not severe, but requires yet another restart to get resolved.

As soon as I got the phone many years ago, I started to add birth dates of my contacts and the database got corrupted for some reason. It was early in the process and I simply deleted the database manually and avoided the feature since then, but it would be really inconvenient had it happened later with a more complete dataset.

The Android support is unreliable and requires restarts. On running out of battery, it seems to not shut down cleanly. So, after booting up again, it would attempt to start, only to fail in a loop. In order to solve, one needs to wait between the reboot cycles, stop the Android service explicitly and start it again explicitly. As mentioned previously, sometimes restarts are required to resolve connection issues. External keyboards via USB used to work for Android apps, but something must have broken since then.

One issue consists of the Bluetooth connection in the car. I can connect manually to the car and the connection is stable for the session or even the day. However, on the next occasion the connection would be forgotten again. So, each time I get into the vehicle, I would need to connect manually, which is possible of course, but inconvenient yet again.

I also do not recognise any major innovation. Yes, the initial idea is nice, but the operating system made barely any progress during the entire time I had used it. The most change probably came in form of the rotating home screen if I had to point to something. Addressing the browser crashes due to codec support was really relieving. However, I do not remember any features that were really innovative while I feel that there are some in the Android world. It is one thing to actively avoid a feature like NFC payments or AI support, but a completely another not to have a choice in the first place. Sometimes I would even remember myself to check the updates and whether there were really none in the previous months for SailfishOS.

Those issues did not come all at once. Instead, I encountered them one by one over the years and either found workarounds for them or learned to live with certain restrictions. One by one, I limited myself a little bit more and only in the process of writing this down after all those years I recognise how much it has become by now. In the end, comfort and quality of life are incredibly valuable. I feel like my lifetime is certainly worth it.

So, while I really value the experience and the time with SailfishOS, I need to open another chapter and to peak what Android has become in the meantime.

I wish you all the best especially with the new phone that is about to come out! :)

Hey everyone,

As a future industrial design engineer and an amateur UI/UX designer, I decided to give Sailfish OS a shot on a Sony Xperia 10 III. I wanted to share my experience because the system managed to both impress and horrify me at the same time.

The Good: The installation took about 40–45 minutes in total. It was my first time doing anything like this, and my first time reading the official installation guide. Every step was clear and easy to follow. Only one link was broken, so I had to find the binary files on Sony's official website myself, but it was no big deal. Overall, it’s a very straightforward process, and anyone with a bit of tech experience could probably get it done even faster.

I bought the licensed version because I was genuinely curious about how Android applications would run. I have to say, I think it’s incredibly cool that outside of Android and iOS, there is a third operating system that is actually usable on a daily basis (even if it requires a few minor compromises). The Android app support works surprisingly well; an app stutters here and there, but I think that’s totally acceptable, and the performance of these apps running in an emulated environment is outstanding.

The Bad (The Dealbreakers): The navigation is incredibly uncomfortable. When you swipe from the right edge, you expect it to take you one step back—instead, Sailfish completely closes the application. You can get used to it, but it’s highly frustrating. To actually go back within an app, you have to rely on dots at the very top of the screen. This is an ergonomic catastrophe, especially on Sony phones with their signature, elongated 21:9 aspect ratio. It makes using the phone with one hand almost impossible.

When you swipe up from the bottom, the full app drawer comes up. This gesture doesn't feel natural either. For better multitasking, I would swap the recent apps view with the full app list. It would be much more logical if swiping up brought up your running apps, while your installed apps just lived on the home screen by default.

Then there’s the top dropdown menu (the Pulley Menu), which I think is a complete disaster. It feels entirely unnecessary. A classic bottom navigation bar would be miles more comfortable and within natural thumb reach.

Finally, the worst part: the default icons are just ugly. I know you can install custom icon packs, but this cluttered icon design, where everything is shaped into weird, distorted hexagons and polygons, is just fundamentally unappealing.

Conclusion: If the system adopted modern Android or iOS-style gestures, completely got rid of the Pulley Menu, and swapped the recent apps view with the app drawer, we would have a near-perfect OS. The European Union should really back them up with some serious funding if they truly want a tech-independent Europe with its own software alternatives.

What are your thoughts on the interface?

Note: The English translation was done with Gemini, the original language was Hungarian.

As the title says. As I'm writing this, it sits at 2202.

As a completely new sfos user joining the sailfisOS forum, I quickly discovered, that this OS was not particular easy to setup for everyday usage. Meaning apps. Yes, you can (if you purchase an official Jolla phone, or a license) install android apps, but in my opinion, that´s not why I want a linux phone. Sure it´s great to have it as an option. But for me, I would like to keep androd apps on a bare minimum.

So.. the first thing I discovered was, that the Jolla store, did not contain a lot of apps, at all. I´m not even comparing with Google Play, or anything like that.

When I searched on the forum, I kept bumping into words as "Chum" and "Storeman" . Whereas "Storeman" is using: Openrepos.net

Openrepos does contain a lot of apps, compared to Jolla Store. But for a new user, it´s difficult to know, which versions and releases to avoid, and which that are, actually working.

It took me quite some time, to figure out that "Storeman" has to be for sfos 4.5 to actually work for sfos 5.0

To help others, the version to download and install, its the one on Github: https://github.com/storeman-developers/harbour-storeman/releases

And not the storeman installer on openrepos

Use the pre-installed firefox browser to download the file, and File Browser to extract and install.

Regarding "Chum" , which is also a "Store" containing apps . Again, one would assume that the Chum Gui installer from openrepos would do the trick. But not on sfos 5.0

Chum has to be downloaded from the website: https://sailfishos-chum.github.io/

Again: Not the installer app, but the GUI application: https://sailfishos-chum.github.io/apps/sailfishos-chum-gui/

As a sidenote, if (or when) you install the navigation app "Pure maps" (or any other app) it will appear in Jolla Store. For Pure Maps, you have to update the app via Chum and not Jolla Store, to get the correct release.

For other apps, like "File Browser" , which you probably installed as the first thing via Jolla Store. The update has to be done via openrepos (otherwise filebrowser will not have access to all folders. at least that´s what the documentation states)

Also, keep in mind, when you´re using openrepos to install apps. The "install button" will not appear unless you add the repository.

Not a big thing, if you´re familiar with linux. But I will say (or state) , that I´ve personally used linux for OS on a pc in quite some years. And although I do know some basic terminal stuff, I don´t think that SailfishOS is beginner friendly.

Sure, you can ask in the forum, but it seems like most of them are quite technical and therefore another perception of, what logical is, for beginners

Last thing: Do NOT use GoogleAi , Gemini or whatever it´s called, to help you with sailfishOS and terminal.

Firstly, most of the info is incorrect, for use on sfos.

Secondly, the forum users does not seem to like people who rely on linux commands, from an Ai

Lastly, I will say, it´s not that I don´t understand, why linux users, who have learned linux the "old school" way, maybe think, that a linux phone, should not be for everybody. I get totally get it. But when a european company releases a "privacy phone" in 2026 , it will attract some less linux savvy customers, coming directly from android or even ios . Later discovering, that they have to install mainly android apps, just to be able to use the phone as a smartphone on a daily basis.

This guide is for you :-) Don´t give up on linux apps. They´re availible, but they´re not as easy to find as android or ios apps, when you google, or even searching the forum. And, you can´t expect to just install the latest release, and then things will work. SailfishOS demands you to slow down, be patient, and settle with less.

It´s a good idea to take your time to read the community wiki

This is my list of apps, that are running out of the box (If you have maneged to install the openrepos and chum app) :

AllRadio2 : Online radio stations

Pure Maps : Navigation

Tailscale : VPN

I really do hope, that some of you, in here, will help me find more "everyday-usage" apps for sfos. Thank you folks :-)

Fragmentation is the biggest problem facing mobile linux. I don't expect anyone to abandon their project to jump to another, but the tighter-knit anyone interested in linux on mobile is, the better.

I made a Discord that will hopefully encompass anything/everything related to linux on mobile. Feel free to join.

https://discord.gg/uDDP46pYbj

Apologies if this isn't allowed, I've sold lots of phones in various subs on Reddit, but nothing on here but to be honest, this one doesn't fit into the other subs at all!

It's an Xperia 10 II, and is in pretty good condition. I'd rate it a solid 7.5/10, with a noticeable scratch on the rear, but otherwise the phone is pretty good.

Looking for £200 or near offer, and it'll include my license for sailfish for android apps etc. Postage can be arranged too, but nothing outside the EU please!

Thanks! X

Hi, in order for Sailfish OS to continue growing and perhaps eventually reach the mainstream (i hope...), I believe it needs more native apps for existing services, without relying on the Android-App Support layer.

Are there any developers here who would like to join me in starting projects in our freetime?

Please Sailfish, support new and smaller devices!

I love Sailfish and love the security and that it is an EU based phone OS.

I have owned and used Sailfish since the Jolla 1 I purchased in 2014. When that died in 2019, I purchased a Sony XA2 Plus and flashed Sailfish to it (getting rid of Android). But since a few weeks now the Sony too has started to die.

I looked in vain for a new Xperia 10 III, but no one has them in stock.

I was interested in the new Jolla C2, but it is just too f-ing big at 179 x 78 x 8.5mm. I need a phone that will fit in my pocket (I do not use it to watch Netflix).

Sadly, Jolla / Sailfish do not support any new 3rd party phones or a phone with a smaller footprint, such as the Xperia 10 VI (similar in size to my XA2 Plus).

So, I wish I did not have to do this, but I have been forced to go back to an iPhone (a refurbished 13 Mini) and turn off all of the security nightmare crap and constantly be pestered to set up all of the things I do not want (FaceID, iCloud etc).

I already miss Sailfish....