Jolla on track to ship new phone with Sailfish OS, user-replaceable battery

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Project history, strategy, and trust

  • Sailfish/Jolla seen as the spiritual successor to Maemo/MeeGo and Nokia N9, with some users very nostalgic and positive about that lineage.
  • Others highlight a long list of missteps: company collapses and ownership changes (including Russian ties), the tablet refund scandal, closed-source UI components, locked bootloaders, device reset fees, and little visible OS progress.
  • Some argue 13+ years is reasonable for building a full mobile stack and hardware on a shoestring, others say they should have followed the AOSP/Android ROM path instead of “going it alone”.
  • Perception split between “persistent underdog trying something hard” and “zombie project/grift repackaging old tech and preying on EU-tech-sovereignty sentiment”.

Hardware, bands, and regional support

  • New phone targets EU/UK/EEA; shipping to Asia and North America is limited or not planned, which some find “ridiculous”.
  • Radio band list suggests partial compatibility with US carriers; may work in cities but looks weak for rural/low-band coverage and needs carrier certification/IMS profiles for voice.
  • Mediatek SoC and no eSIM are seen as practical deal-breakers for some, especially frequent travelers.
  • Some want hardware video-out and small-form-factor variants; others dismiss concerns like camera bump due to using cases.

Security, openness, and GrapheneOS comparisons

  • Debate over Sailfish’s security vs Android/GrapheneOS:
    • Critics: proprietary UI stack, weaker hardening than Pixels with Graphene; hardware switches meaningless if software stack isn’t highly trustworthy.
    • Supporters: it’s “just Linux” with familiar hardening options and sandboxing; fewer Google dependencies than any Android ROM.
  • GrapheneOS project is repeatedly cited criticizing Sailfish and many other alt-OS efforts; some see that as accurate but harsh, others as hostile and off-putting.
  • Discussion around proprietary blobs on both sides; GrapheneOS still relies on vendor firmware but tries to reduce Google exposure.
  • Jolla is involved in an open attestation initiative (uattest) aimed at giving banks and others a non-Google/Apple trust mechanism.

Apps, banking, and real-world viability

  • Core concern: banking and government apps increasingly require official Android/iOS plus Play Integrity-style attestation.
  • Sailfish has an Android compatibility layer, but:
    • Some say banking apps can work (e.g., certain European ID/banking solutions).
    • Others note many modern apps depend on hardware-backed attestation that third-party OSes can’t satisfy.
  • Multiple strategies discussed:
    • Carrying a cheap secondary Android phone just for banking/ID and using Sailfish as a “freedom phone”.
    • Arguing EU regulators should require banks/government services to support alternative OSes.
    • Skepticism that regulatory fixes will arrive anytime soon.
  • For many, loss of NFC wallets (Google/Apple Pay) and mandatory phone-based 2FA are major blockers.

User experience and alternatives

  • Sailfish UI opinions are polarized:
    • Fans: cleaner, more consistent, and more elegant than iOS/Android; stable enough on some Xperia devices.
    • Critics: “different for the sake of different”, sluggish even on good hardware, not very intuitive, and diverged from the best parts of MeeGo.
  • App ecosystem for native Sailfish is described as sparse; many developers reportedly left, making the Android layer essential.
  • Alternatives frequently mentioned: GrapheneOS, /e/OS, LineageOS, Plasma Mobile, Librem 5, PinePhone; each with its own trade-offs in openness, usability, and security.