Sailfish floats v3.4 'Pallas-Yllästunturi', its latest Jolla good reason for itchy-fingered Android and Apple swervers
- Reference: 1602680712
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/10/14/jolla_sailfish_v3_4/
- Source link:
The latest update – [1]version 3.4 – was named after the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park in Lapland, located north of the Arctic Circle. Jolla has overhauled the browser, added experimental support for ARM64 and the Rust programming language, and introduced new features for corporate users.
On the browser front, Jolla has updated the engine to Gecko ESR52. ESR stands for "Extended Support Release" and is broadly analogous to a long-term support (LTS) release. Gecko ESR52 isn't the latest and greatest, but nonetheless represents a significant upgrade, with improved standards compliance and compatibility.
For business customers, Jolla has introduced the ability to have multiple users per device. In addition to the default admin account, up to six additional users can have an account on the device, albeit with limited permissions. This accompanies support for the creation of ActiveSync accounts using a personal SSL certificate, and the ability to automatically back up files to a remote cloud service.
Jolla also touted its experimental support for Rust, which the firm said will primarily be used in browser development, although didn't discount the possibility of using it elsewhere. This came with tentative support for the AArch64 (commonly referred to as ARM64) architecture, although Jolla noted that this isn't used by any existing Sailfish hardware and is not considered stable.
I'm sailing away...
Sailfish is a continuation of the MeeGo Project, which was initially conceived by Intel, the Linux Foundation, and Nokia as an all-encompassing operating system that would run across PCs, internet-connected household gadgets, and mobile. Just two MeeGo smartphones actually saw a release: [2]the Nokia N9 and the N950, with the latter exclusively sold to developers.
The project suffered [3]a crushing blow in 2011 when, under the leadership of then-CEO Stephen Elop, Nokia decided to [4]throw its weight behind Windows Phone . This prompted Intel to lose interest, and the Linux Foundation to shift development to Tizen.
That wasn't the end. Former MeeGo developers decided to continue carrying the torch, renaming the operating system to Sailfish and forming a new startup called Jolla. Although Jolla largely failed to drive a wedge between the Android and iOS duopoly, it nonetheless managed to release several devices under its own steam, before switching to a [5]licensing-based business model .
The biggest coup came in 2016, when [6]Russia's government selected Sailfish as its first certified approved mobile operating system, greenlighting it for official and corporate use. In practice, iOS and Android remain dominant in Russia, as well as within the wider CIS nations. ®
Get our [7]Tech Resources
[1] https://blog.jolla.com/sailfish-os-pallas-yllastunturi-is-now-available/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2011/06/21/nokia_singapore_meego_but_no_windows/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2013/10/09/nokia_shuts_symbian_meego_stores_early/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2011/10/26/nokia_rolls_out_winpho_range/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2015/07/07/jolla_cuts_devices_hardware_business_loose_sailfish/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2016/12/07/russia_bid_mobile_self_sufficiency_sailfish/
[7] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Quite happy with Sailfish
I'll go do some internet searches to find out if there's information about Sailfish accessibility, but can you as a current user of a device equipped with it determine if it contains a screen reader function & if so how well it works?
I would love a non Apple/Google phone but am stymied by the requirement of the screen reader function (reading menus aloud, reading text messages, echoing key presses for the calculator, etc) in order to use the device at all.
Thank you in advance for any data you can share.
A praise to Jolla and sailfish for bringing something new to the table and for fighting the duopoly.
I owned a Jolla 1 for four years. Although far from ground breaking, the device was pretty fine with the possibility to install hw modules.
That was not the only idea far ahead of its time: the whole os was gesture based from the start, with nifty ux features such as "release to activate buttons" and remorse timers, something still absent nowadays in the major mobile OSes.
I guess the lack of hw support, the already huge dominance of Android and ios and the steep curve to develop apps (c++/qml) made the rest.
Still,what they did with such a small team is remarkable. Glad to see the dream living on.
Likewise, I had a J1 until I lost it in a Taxi in Spain one holiday. It worked well, started to slow down towards the end but was still perfectly usable.
I currently use Android, when my current phone finally gives up on security updates (probably already happened!) I may consider putting Sailfish on it, not sure I'd do it with a primary device though.
Taxis eat Jollas ?
Lost mine in a Taxi in Taiwan.
Superb, version 3.4.0.24, yet another update for the Planet Gemini.
Very well supported by Jolla, the Gemini is the best of the Planet pocket rockets especially when running Sailfish exclusively.
Quite happy with Sailfish
I run Sailfish on my second phone, for purely business purposes. It's a Sony Experia XA2 dual Sim and it works a charm. My main phone runs iOS and for my second phone I wanted something different. I'm staying as far away from Google as possible (especially for business) so an Android phone was out of the question. For the same reason I don't run the Android layer on Sailfish, although that seems to work pretty well judging from other people's responses.
For a daily driver for business purposes I'd say it runs pretty well. Email, contact and calendar sync with Exchange works well, fingerprint recognition and camera work well. I was skeptical about the dual SIM but that works fine too. The browser is a bit sluggish but it sounds as if that is improved with this update.
If you want/need a second phone and want to escape the iOS/Android duopoly I can recommend Sailfish.