Sailfish 3 now fully packetizes the offering for multitude of corporate and governmental solutions. In line with the regional licensing strategy, Sailfish 3 has a deeper level of security making it a solid option for various corporate and organizational solutions, and other use cases. In addition to the security and corporate features there are many user experience highlights for Sailfish 3.0.0. Sailfish 3 brings the new Top Menu, giving you quick access to lots of functions with a single swipe. The new Light Ambiences will show you your device in a whole different light. SD card support has been improved with better formatting and encryption, and you can use external storage through USB On-The-Go. Also in this release we have quick keyboard layout switching, a dedicated Gallery folder for screenshots and Xperia XA2 support for Sailfish X. Finally, there are system-wide speed improvements: both the new app launch and in-app page opening paths are considerably quicker now. Things load faster.
It’s a pretty massive release, but since I doubt much has changed on the applications and third party developer support fronts, I have a hard time seeing any value in dedicating effort into updating and using my Jolla phone and tablet to give the platform yet another chance. Still, good to see they’re still going strong.
Getting developer’s and companies to support a third platform is always going to be tough. Microsoft and RIM both tried paying devs to port their apps. The QT developer tools for Sailfish (and previously Blackberry) are solid, as they were for Windows Phone. Unlike Windows Phone, Sailfish has provided consistent compatibility across releases for both phones and apps.
As far as I can tell, the one major missing piece for Sailfish that could help is support for paid apps in the Jolla app store. Apart from this, and providing an easy in-app advertising platform, it’s not clear if there’s a better way to attract developers that hasn’t been tried.
I updated today, and while there are some smallsmalsmall UI improvements, a lot of bugs that have been there for a while are still presentpresent. Like backspace inserting the previous typed word over and over until you either give up typing or throw the phone at the wall.
I love the swiping gestures and the overall feeling of the OSOS, coming from the Nokia N9 it just feels right. I never felt comfortable in Android, but the always in beta feeling in usage and with no flagship or even high mid range device in sightsight I suspect this Xperia X will be my last SFOS device.
I hate how this post answered the question it raised for me so clearly.
Don’t know what the issue is here. Typing that on Firefox in SailfishOS and don’t get any double typing issues.
Same goes for the native browsers.
I’m using Firefox and I have the issueissueissue. It’s a known bug reported to the official bug tracker by many. The native browser is so outdated I was expecting they released an update, but hopefully it will arrive in December.
Ha, I was wondering what was causing this! I get it all the time on my Note8, though so far only in the search/address bar.
What is most frustrating is their choice of devices to support. I have an Xa2 but it’s impossible to unlock because of carrier restrictions. I wish they had supported a device that the manufacturer truly supported unlocking.
Even then, their list of issues on their 2 supported devices is massive
Known issues specific to Xperia X
Issues with mobile data persist on some SIM cards. Turn the Flight mode on and off to reset the network setup. Reverting the device to Android and re-installing Sailfish X has often helped. See our support article: https://jolla.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004283713
Manual network/carrier search lists all networks by the same name (the name of the SIM provider). Use automatic search. If not possible, you need to try several items in the manual search results, unfortunately. The top most item is not necessarily the one that can serve you (still valid with most SIM cards)
[camera] Force autofocus mode for photos, and continuous for video. After this, camera focus is still not ideal – as the camera stays out of focus when it starts until you either tap or try to take a shot – but the pictures seem to be better focused now
Xperia X does not power up when alarm time has elapsed
Bluetooth: Still problems with car equipment, some audio devices and computers.
Waking up the device by double-tap does not work
Loudspeaker volume level cannot be adjusted high enough (but echo cancellation was added to the audio path in 2.1.4)
Sensors:
Not working: barometer, step counter
FM radio missing
Not all SD cards are recognised and mounted.
Known issues specific to Xperia XA2
Fingerprint support not working
NFC not working
Bluetooth not working (initial basic support only)
Display wake-up flashes old UI content
Startup wizard is showing noise before actual language selection UI
FM radio not implemented
XA2 does not power up when alarm time has elapsed
Display blanking is unstable during phonecalls or alarms (due to proximity sensor). issues specific to Xperia X
Issues with mobile data persist on some SIM cards. Turn the Flight mode on and off to reset the network setup. Reverting the device to Android and re-installing Sailfish X has often helped. See our support article: https://jolla.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004283713
Manual network/carrier search lists all networks by the same name (the name of the SIM provider). Use automatic search. If not possible, you need to try several items in the manual search results, unfortunately. The top most item is not necessarily the one that can serve you (still valid with most SIM cards)
[camera] Force autofocus mode for photos, and continuous for video. After this, camera focus is still not ideal – as the camera stays out of focus when it starts until you either tap or try to take a shot – but the pictures seem to be better focused now
Xperia X does not power up when alarm time has elapsed
Bluetooth: Still problems with car equipment, some audio devices and computers.
Waking up the device by double-tap does not work
Loudspeaker volume level cannot be adjusted high enough (but echo cancellation was added to the audio path in 2.1.4)
Sensors:
Not working: barometer, step counter
FM radio missing
Not all SD cards are recognised and mounted.
Known issues specific to Xperia XA2
Fingerprint support not working
NFC not working
Bluetooth not working (initial basic support only)
Display wake-up flashes old UI content
Startup wizard is showing noise before actual language selection UI
FM radio not implemented
XA2 does not power up when alarm time has elapsed
Display blanking is unstable during phonecalls or alarms (due to proximity sensor).
Edited 2018-11-01 07:59 UTC
I created a video showing the new UI and some of the highlights of the first new Sailfish 3 release:
https://youtu.be/1NskWyu8dJ0
Overall I am impressed by the speed improvement. Apps noticeably open up more quickly and transisitions and animations feel even smoother.
In terms of apps I have everything running which I need for everyday usage. Most of the apps are even native apps and not Android ones.
So as far as apps go it provides at least the best solution so far in terms of alternative smartphone systems. (everything except iOS and Android)
and you need a long runway to have any chance of taking off…
I’ve been impressed by their ability to keep going.
So it’s hard to say things like ‘they should focus on bugs not new features’ – as an armchair CEO I’m not sure I could have kept them going so long.
There main selling point appears to be ‘not owned by a US/Chinese company’ and therefore potentially more immune to government spying.
I wish them all the best.. but I won’t be buying one just yet.
/me goes to look for new Nexus 4 build