Jolla Angry Birds Stella Launcher: wait what [answered]

asked 2014-10-17 10:27:19 +0200

DaTa

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updated 2014-11-02 18:29:59 +0200

molan

9968 ●99 ●137 ●145

I was wondering what Jolla is doing. After Younited failure (Android app before the promised native one), the update schedule [whole and complete] failure, the communication permanent failure and all the possibly forgiveable other ones, what is next? They give us (tatatataaaaaaaaa !) another Android launcher! But wait, what about the Rovio TOH they talked about in the early days of the Jolla, when they needed to sell as many phones as possible before people realize how they work?

Another interesting question to ask is: Is this why the September update will be released in November or December?

This is now too much. I believed in a company that was Unlike, that was Truly Open, I believed their promises during the promotion campaign for the first launch. And finally, it appears that this company is worse than the other giants. They never kept their promises, never communicate nor apologize of any sort. They don't even read any thread here I think. Nothing better than any giant.

I already hear the answers: "Yeah, but they are not forced to give quasi-monthly update, it's better than anything you could find in another current big company". Well, I agree on everything but one point: "they are not forced". Yes, they are. According to me, selling something that is not what you say it is is not that much close to legality. Thus they are forced to give updates as soon as possible for people not to sue them for false advertisement (I recall you the time we had to wait for 4G support, while on their website everything was advertised as if the phone was completely usable, with 4G support. Still now, Wifi is a complete mess and 4G randomly disables itself and you need a reboot to make it work again).

Jolla, you disappointed me. Greatly. It's sad you promised things that you knew you would not give, or give in a modified way. A barely usable phone is not what I wanted after almost a year. And another android launcher neither...

Keep us... updated ;)

Ending talking to a wall.

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The question has been closed for the following reason "the question is answered, an answer was accepted" by eric
close date 2014-10-23 09:19:52.218778

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you do realize Rovio is losing money, right? :)

hehe.

droll ( 2014-10-17 10:50:07 +0200 )edit

Jolla and Rovio should also have released an Angry Birds Stella ambience for Jolla.

Valker ( 2014-10-17 11:37:31 +0200 )edit

The should not. They must release it for Jolla. I hope they are not giving a higher priority to Android users compared to the Jolla users (including me and all of the "First Ones").

lupastro ( 2014-10-17 12:00:17 +0200 )edit

I completely agree. The communication has failed very badly.

skvark ( 2014-10-17 12:29:46 +0200 )edit

Never underestimate the wisdom of a management board in pure panic ... ;-)

Fun aside; I am also frustrated with the overall situation. I can just speculate that the situation (gain market share, conquer new markets, supporting and developing a os and hardware, ...) causes a priority list which is 'unlike' to our (customers) priorities. Maybe some key developers did not return from the summer break and now the scrum circle is a mess... Who knows. However, I hope they will be able to continue their work on Sailfish OS. Good luck!

Chan ( 2014-10-17 12:32:51 +0200 )edit

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answered 2014-10-17 14:16:43 +0200

cybette

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https://cybette.github.io...

Hi @DaTa, thanks for your comments and I hope I can address some of your concerns.

I was wondering what Jolla is doing.

We are working on a lot of things: Sailfish OS, SW updates, future products, developer support, business partnerships, and more - all of which are important to sustain us so that we can continue serving you, our supporters and customers.

they needed to sell as many phones as possible before people realize how they work?

Yes, we need to sell as many phones as possible, and in order to do that, we need to expand our reach and visibility to as many people as possible, so they can learn about Jolla and the Sailfish OS experience. Our partnership with Rovio is one of the ways we are achieving that. Will you help us spread the word too?

Another interesting question to ask is: Is this why the September update will be released in November or December?

We have said this before, and I will say it again here: we strive for regular releases with an approximate monthly frequency, which may not correspond to calendar months. We will be releasing "Update 9" soon, not "September update".

They never kept their promises, never communicate nor apologize of any sort.

I'm sorry you feel this way, I'll admit there is still room for improvement for us. We can certainly communicate more and we have every intention to do so. Lack of resources is not an excuse, we just have to prioritize better.

They don't even read any thread here I think.

We do read, many of us in Jolla are on here, reading and replying. I wouldn't be replying here if I didn't read ;) Personally, as I'm also taking care of responding in 6-8 other channels (not counting emails), usually I let the other experts respond here. We do take the thoughtful and constructive feedback and suggestions from here (and there are many, including yours) and we do our best to act on them / implement them.

We can also have more Jolla Sailors going through TJC full time to answer and respond to everything, and take time away from SW and product development. However I don't think that is a good move. Would you agree?

A barely usable phone is not what I wanted after almost a year.

I use my Jolla as my main (and only) phone, and I push it to the limit. It's not perfect, but it works very well for me. But don't take my word for it, I think this applies to many others (who don't work for Jolla). However, I realize too that Jolla is not for everybody, and if you feel this way, thanks for considering us nonetheless and I hope you find a device that meets your needs better.

Keep us... updated ;)

We plan to :)

Ending talking to a wall.

I'm not a wall.

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I'm not a wall.

This, cybette, is why we love you. (And I don't mean the fact that you're not a wall. ;) ...)

ossi1967 ( 2014-10-17 14:23:54 +0200 )edit

We have said this before, and I will say it again here: we strive for regular releases with an approximate monthly frequency, which may not correspond to calendar months. We will be releasing "Update 9" soon, not "September update".

This sadly seems to be an example of PR semantics. Update 9 was expected to drop in September. Jolla stated as much on more than one occasion (both prior to the Summer hiatus and in September itself). OK, so it has been delayed. That happens, but to try and imply that it was not intended for September is a little lame. And what DaTa is asking with his question about "November or December" is simply: give us some information. It has gone oddly quiet on the software update front.

I guess 'soon' is better than nothing :-)

strongm ( 2014-10-17 14:36:30 +0200 )edit

@cybette

Regular updates act like drugs on people as it seems. And here is a revenue opportunity for jolla. A rehab center. :P

Oh and can we hazz Angry bird games to the store??

@strongm The info we get from bijjal for the next update is given after a get together the devs have. (if i understand the thing correctly) So until update 9 comes i doubt they discussed update 10.

As it seems the transition to qt5.2 put them a month behind. It can happen. I doubt anyone would like to end up with a buggy phone.

ApB ( 2014-10-17 14:44:07 +0200 )edit

i doubt they discussed update 10.

Er ... who mentioned Update 10?

strongm ( 2014-10-17 14:54:57 +0200 )edit

Sometimes things take longer than a month to build, do we want Jolla to ignore the big ticket items to keep to a monthly schedule or do we want a great OS?

r0kk3rz ( 2014-10-17 15:04:08 +0200 )edit

answered 2014-10-17 13:50:02 +0200

simo

29079 ●345 ●466 ●481

http://reviewjolla.blogsp...

What are they doing? Jolla is a small start up company, taking their first steps in a huge mobile business. With +100 employees they're working with a phone, propably 2nd too, an OS with 8 updates so far, a new brand needed to be regognized, investment issues... A step taken with Rovio towards Android users is, imo, part of a great strategy as they aim to be regognized as top3 OS providers in mobile markets. This is a long journey.

What I do agree with:

Communication must get better
Jolla owners should have option for Angry Birds TOH at some point, and this exclusive ringtone asap
Jolla should't take si many "Android steps" in a row, without sharing some reasons for that with their loyal Sailfish fans

What I disagree with, is that this was definitely not a wrong step to take. Great that a company like Rovio cooperates with a startup like Jolla at this level

Sail On!

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I can't agree that this is "great strategy". They have limited resources in terms of software engineers and artists. The launcher is a major project, and fixes & improvements have been very slow in coming for Sailfish / the Jolla, and things have slowed further recently. The launcher certainly gets them publicity and raises their profile, but are they in any position to capitalise as of now? The phone is likely to be a less than attractive prospect for most interested parties, no fully fledged ports to Android phones yet exist (HADK hasn't been updated recently either), no word of Android compatibility for Sailfish on Android or paid apps in the Jolla store, and no plans to charge for or monetise the Sailfish or 'Stella' Launcher on Android. How much can they gain from this, as opposed to pushing everything into developing Sailfish and facilitating ports to Android phones, so that they can hopefully attract third party OEMs and new carrier partners? Maybe it raises their profile enough for some to prick up their ears, but if they then test Sailfish and find it to be buggy and underwhelming, isn't that a far worse situation to be in? Known, but ruled out? This is particularly bad when 1.08 is arguably the worst update so far, reintroducing the reboot loops for hundreds of users and making the native browser practically unusable (the input loss / crash on menu open are so bad now) ... even if for me it's actually the first viable iteration of the OS - couldn't previously consider connectivity to be in a usable state. Carol Chen then denying that 1.09 was ever the 'September update' when it was referred to as such as far back as July, and trying to offer the caveat that monthly updates don't conform strictly to the calendar seems more than a little facetious ... by my calendar, a whole quarter (3 months) has elapsed since 1.08 was released. I can't say my confidence in Jolla was ever overflowing, but it continues to be eroded ...

midnightoil ( 2014-10-17 22:11:16 +0200 )edit

"September update" was Update 9, which was initially scheduled to be out in September. It has been stated many times before that monthly update interval is not bound to calendar months. It's not just a thing invited to explain this particularly problematic update. Reading these rants, I have however started to question whenever it was a wise move to announce monthly update intervals at all, because every single delay seems to spark such outrage here and on TMO. Sometimes even if the update has been on time. Difficulties in rolling out updates of this magnitude (Qt 5.2 etc) are not at all exceptional, quite the contrary, it would be one of world's greates miracles if there weren't problems. It's 3 months from last update, yes. Because sailors need to have holidays too. If they didn't have those, we would be out of sailors in short while. Main difference here is that you never hear such things from ordinary companies, but now that they are out in the open it's rewarded by complaints of "eroding confidence..." I wouldn't like to interpret it like people don't want any openness even if they claim they want it, but it certainly looks like it sometimes.

MSH ( 2014-10-19 15:06:25 +0200 )edit

Jolla Angry Birds Stella Launcher: wait what [answered]

The question has been closed for the following reason "the question is answered, an answer was accepted" by eric
close date 2014-10-23 09:19:52.218778

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Jolla Angry Birds Stella Launcher: wait what [answered]

The question has been closed for the following reason "the question is answered, an answer was accepted" by eric close date 2014-10-23 09:19:52.218778

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The question has been closed for the following reason "the question is answered, an answer was accepted" by eric
close date 2014-10-23 09:19:52.218778