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Official fxtec Pro1 Sailfish Support

asked 2019-06-23 22:01:21 +0200

Sefriol gravatar image

updated 2019-11-16 14:12:47 +0200

Hey Sailors!

Sailfish still has many problems and support for XA, XA2, Gemini leaves a lot to desire. But I still want to bring some light to a device that has been talked about previously in TJC: fxtec Pro1. Android phone with unlocked bootloader, physical keyboard, curved screen.

Some alpha adaptation is already done by one of the key developers for Pro1:

https://twitter.com/chenliangchen/status/1114494724264595457

They seem to have some talks with Sailfish team, but unsure how much:

https://www.fxtec.com/forums/topic/alternative-os-availability-common-entry/page/2/#post-11194

I posted a brief history of the OS on their forums and asked about the situation. Probably not 100% accurate and there are some major simplifications, but I tried.

https://www.fxtec.com/forums/topic/pro1-and-sailfish-os/

I have also tried to contact one of Sailfish Team members via email, but have not heard back or any comment. Not surprising, but hey I had to try.

But yeah, I think conversation over this would be interesting and any response from the dev team of course appreciated. Official support with Android apps would be awesome for this kind of "high end" phone. Personally, I will probably buy it for the keyboard alone.

COMMUNITY PORT

[Fxtec Forum] Community Port: Sailfish OS 3.1 for Fxtec Pro1

[Github] Port Repositories

[Github] Port Issues

Tweet collection of the port so far:

By Michał Szczepaniak

VIDEO: Basic Operation

by Adam Pigg

VIDEO: First setup

PICTURE: WLAN

PICTURE: Bluetooth

PICTURE: Camera App

VIDEO: Switch from software to hardware keyboard

PICTURE: NFC reading and writing via command line

Other Pro1 Sailfish updates:

Waxberry's vague comment about future options after community port is done

Chenliangchen will be presenting the F(x)tec Pro1 running SailfishOS at FrOSCon 2019!

14.8.2019 - Maemo.org member did a short Q&A with Michał Szczepaniak about State of the port

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Comments

It's very interesting... :)

Asmir ( 2019-06-23 22:31:59 +0200 )edit
3

That sounds interesting, if it will ever be delivered. A person chenliangchen was involved in the Youyota Tablet on Indiegogo, but this has not been delivered to date. Now here is someone who calls himself Liangchen Chen, with his new project ;-). Attention!

s_mario ( 2019-06-23 23:35:57 +0200 )edit

Yeah, all Sailfish Tablet projects were pretty much disasters. But I hope this phone succeeds, since there are very few products like it. Official Sailfish support would just seal the deal for me, but hard to say if it will ever happen.

Sefriol ( 2019-06-24 02:33:07 +0200 )edit
3

@s_mario you were disinformated about chenliangchen in Youyota project. That's sad.

coderus ( 2019-06-24 13:43:35 +0200 )edit
2

@coderus I would say, we were misinformed by chenliangchen in the Youyota Tablet Thread. He was something like a Rat catcher ;-). But maybe his own product will come true.

s_mario ( 2019-06-24 18:03:22 +0200 )edit

3 Answers

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14

answered 2019-06-25 18:00:29 +0200

pigg gravatar image

there are 3 community porters working on the fxtecpro1. im sure when there is exciting news you will hear about it ;)

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So there is some hope! ;)

Thanks for sharing. Sounds a lot better than I initially thought.

Sefriol ( 2019-06-25 20:23:40 +0200 )edit
1

It sounds really good.

For me, I have owned and loved my N900 and N9, so it would be really good to have a similar system on a similar phone with real keyboard like my N900 was. However, Android apps support is mandatory to be a perfect solution so I hope to have a full-featured Sailfish system and I really think if this phone will be a success and fully supported phone, this may even help Jolla / Sailfish to become more popular, especially if Pro1 or a later product may come with preinstalled Sailfish system in the farther future.

So, I am looking forward to see Pro1 as a fully supported device as I think Sailfish would be a good system for me on this phone.

VaZso ( 2019-06-25 22:53:45 +0200 )edit

I remember reading on their website a long time ago that they would share necessary software (blobs?) to help with port as long as a NDA is signed.

Most probably will not be able to get a lot of info because whoever is working on it signed a NDA

jason roland ( 2019-06-26 23:51:03 +0200 )edit
12

answered 2019-06-28 23:55:33 +0200

Sefriol gravatar image

updated 2019-07-13 13:39:43 +0200

Adam Pigg and Michał Szczepaniak showed some of early port implementations for Pro1. Michal also confirmed that this is an unofficial port so Android App support seems to be out of the question.

Port quality is probably going to be good, but lack of Android app support is still a shame.

EDIT: A few more update posts about the port by Adam Pigg

WLAN

Bluetooth

EDIT2:

Camera App

Switch from software to hardware keyboard

Waxberry's vague comment about future options after community port is done

EDIT3:

NFC

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6

@Sefriol, IMHO, it's a shame install SFOS to use android apps :)

Asmir ( 2019-06-30 07:45:02 +0200 )edit
2

"but lack of Android app support is still a shame."

No, that's a big PLUS. If this device will run stably with Sailfish but without any trace of Android infection, it's what I want after my current X! I'm sick of people being a hindrance to the Sailfish project by demanding Android support. If that's what your dumb ass wants, get an Android phone FFS!

bocephus ( 2019-08-06 11:30:23 +0200 )edit
1

What infection? Infection of having better app coverage and making the phone more usable? Yes please.

The fact is that Android support with good hardware would bring more active users which could eventually bring up more native applications to the platform. More users would improve Jolla's financial situation and with that they could hire more developers to improve the OS to bring it more up to date.

Stop being delusional..

Sefriol ( 2019-08-06 16:07:46 +0200 )edit

Because users will flock to a worse platform for running Android apps instead of staying with actual Android if Android apps is what they want to run? Sailfish needs to be a better, clear-cut alternative to Android to attract users, not a poorer clone meant to run the same apps. And maintaining Android support is a hindrance to the development and progress of Sailfish and a waste of resources that could otherwise be put to better use making Sailfish attractive to a larger userbase in its own right. Stop being delusional.

bocephus ( 2019-08-15 08:48:04 +0200 )edit
3

@bocephus It would be great to remove Android support from SailfishOS! The only prerequisite is that all important apps (like whatsapp, skype, car2go/lients for other carsharing services, banking apps, streaming apps like deezer/spotify/sky2go etc.) are ported to SfOS and I think that can't be long any more since I saw a video of an official spotify client (in beta stadium) a couple of years ago which was almost ready to be released!

inte ( 2019-08-15 13:58:51 +0200 )edit
8

answered 2019-11-15 22:31:36 +0200

electristan gravatar image

updated 2019-11-17 13:26:54 +0200

[Community Build] Sailfish OS 3.1 for Fxtec Pro1

update posted on the fxtec board. First version up for flashing as first batch of phones will arrive with people next week

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Great work, exciting new phone. Hope they can get the hardware working fully. More power to them!

bongo ( 2019-11-18 00:32:36 +0200 )edit
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Asked: 2019-06-23 22:01:21 +0200

Seen: 5,419 times

Last updated: Nov 17 '19