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24

Why do you use jolla phone and not something else? [not relevant]

asked 2015-06-01 17:51:02 +0300

petRUShka gravatar image

I've just bought Jolla phone and I have had no chance to form my own Jolla user experience. I want help of community with it.

So my question is following. What is so unique in Jolla Phone (and in your day-to-day Jolla experience) that you are ready to tolerate day by day:

  • Outdated hardware
  • Immature (and sometimes buggy) basic software like browser, sms manager, mail client and etc.
  • Pretty average battery life for smartphone
  • Lack of native apps and therefore native experience
  • Lack of open-source components with accompanying troubles like absence of downloadable firmware images and etc
  • Lack of great features like Swype Keyboard and others
  • etc...

There is an essential list above. And I want to know what is achievable on Jolla Phone and isn't in any other phone so you stay with Jolla? Why exactly are you using Jolla instead of using some Android smartphone (for example some smartphone or firmware with improved privacy and secure) If you are so heavily using android apps? What will you miss in case of using Android/iOS phone?

From your answers I want to create my own style of using Jolla and I want to truly love this smartphone.

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The question has been closed for the following reason "question is not relevant or outdated" by BonoNL
close date 2019-09-03 23:13:23.267660

Comments

30

Freedom of choice, the only commercial account needed is Jolla's and that only if you want to upgrade the device software, does not come pre-filled with chunk (android feels like a handheld marketplace in the first second), liberty to live google, apple free. Even with the changes in 2.0 I guess it is the most sophisticated UI I have seen on touch devices so far. If you are only having a smartphone to be cool and have all social apps there can be, Jolla is probably not for you yet.

chemist ( 2015-06-01 17:59:54 +0300 )edit

@chemist, there are some google free version of Android like Replicant (they tell it is 100% Free Software). And as I know jolla phone firmware isn't 100% Free Software.

I'm not trying to offence anyone. I'm trying to find the seeds of true.

petRUShka ( 2015-06-01 18:07:21 +0300 )edit
4

From my android and iOS experiences I can only say that as long as I am not forced to use either one of them I won't - I will get rid of my android tablet as soon as I can (counting the days) as not even the most non-googleized android is still just android... I am not all about 100% free or open software as I know that one has to make a living, and to enlighten you about SFOS, most core OS parts are open-source (Mer).

chemist ( 2015-06-01 18:26:00 +0300 )edit
1

@petRUShka - Why did you buy a Jolla?

Spam Hunter ( 2015-06-01 18:44:26 +0300 )edit
13

@Markkyboy, I did buy Jolla for several reasons. I had nokia n810 tablet and saw n900 phone. I hoped that Jolla Phone is a mature n900 (it actually isn't). Also I'm using linux at my home pc and want to have same freedom on my phone. Also I'm fan of Open Source and of privacy and security. And at least I just wanted to try something new. My previous android phone was quite ok. And I see that in many ways Jolla is loosing to Android. And it is ok for now. But I believe that there is a reason (killer feature or set of them) why people use jolla and I want to find it.

petRUShka ( 2015-06-01 18:57:08 +0300 )edit

32 Answers

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43

answered 2015-06-01 20:35:41 +0300

g7 gravatar image

SailfishOS is a standard GNU/Linux distribution

It shares a lot with what I run in my own computer (DBus, systemd, pulseaudio, bluez, soon connman and wayland) and that's certainly an advantage as I know them and do (almost) whatever I want.
It also has a decent package management system, unlike the other leading mobile operating systems.

User Interface

I used webOS for three years before landing in the Jolla camp. webOS was multitasking-centered too and gesture reliant like Sailfish is. And I liked every bit of it (except for the fact that when I bought my pre3, the OS was already dead). The phone is something I use daily and it must be comfortable to use. I don't care about the display resolution, nor about the mid-range hardware (even if they could have shipped it with a bit more of RAM...). Sailfish IMHO is comfortable to use, even if it of course has its rough edges.

Both iOS and Android feel clunky to me.

The device is not locked

It's important that something I carry daily will do what I want it to do. And this doesn't come out of paranoia, but purely from a convenience point of view. If there is something I don't like in the UI, I want to be able to modify it. Yes, the UI of SailfishOS is closed-source, but many parts of it are still "exposed" to the user and are modificable.

Frankly, I don't care if the User Interface is closed source or not. If it remains hackable like it is now, I'm happy (webOS had a similiar situation too -- the UI was closed source but it was written in HTML and JavaScript, so it was pretty easy to modify. Patchmanager actually use AUSMT to handle patches, which was developed by WebOS-Internals). I actually think that maintaining the UI closed source was the right decision to make and I would have done the same.

The Jolla phone supports Android apps

Unlike the other devices that can run SailfishOS (and have better hardware), the Jolla phone has a big advantage in Alien Dalvik, which works surprisingly well. I actually use it only for some games, but it's a nice thing to have.

There are also other reasons, like the community and the company itself.

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Comments

For a replaceable battery that I cannot buy. I love torturing myself.

Larswad ( 2015-09-30 00:48:15 +0300 )edit
34

answered 2015-06-01 22:24:45 +0300

drcouzelis gravatar image

No ads. Zero. Zip. None. Nada. Not in the OS. Not in any application. Not in any web browser (ad blocking via the hosts file).

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Comments

"via the hosts file" what do you mean exactly?

minojolla ( 2017-12-20 19:57:22 +0300 )edit
29

answered 2015-06-01 18:33:16 +0300

r0kk3rz gravatar image

updated 2015-06-01 18:45:03 +0300

Standard Linux Software

Any CLI software can be compiled for the Jolla Phone, some without too much trouble, sometimes you have to go dependency hunting but its still possible.

For example I have compiled Nginx and RTorrent for use on my phone without hacking around with any code modifications.

App Development Framework

Qt (QML/C++) is better than the Android SDK in my experience, much easier to learn and get something together with. Personally I write things for my own consumption so things like Harbour restrictions don't bother me so much, just limit me from sharing with others through the official channel.

Not sure what you mean by lack of open source components, its all looking quite open to me, systemd, wayland, ofono, connman, dbus, tracker, pulseaudio, gstreamer, bluez are all open source core components of Sailfish OS, not to mention all the mer and nemomobile stuff as well. Sure there are some closed things as well, but the open definitely outweighs the closed at this point.

There are other reasons, mainly focussing on what SailfishOS can become rather than what it is today (or what it was yesterday, things move very quickly here), but those are two main ones that other platforms simply do not offer.

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Comments

Thanks for answer! By the way, how do you use nginx on jolla and why?

petRUShka ( 2015-06-01 19:00:45 +0300 )edit
2

nginx is a lightweight webserver that runs pretty well on the limited resources of the Jolla. So you can use it for any webservery type stuff you might want to do.

for eg. you can use nginx and rtorrent together to have an xmlrpc interface for rtorrent, which you can then plug into a client like transdroid for a fully featured torrent daemon + front end solution. I've been meaning to write a sailfish native front end to replace transdroid.

r0kk3rz ( 2015-06-01 19:43:18 +0300 )edit
28

answered 2015-06-03 00:27:19 +0300

Andy Branson gravatar image

updated 2015-06-03 00:27:48 +0300

Jolla don't want to lock me in, tie down my experience, retain control of my device, or gather my data and usage patterns and mine them for profit and ad targetting. They just want to make a great phone OS that respects the old tradition of purchase where you get to own what you buy. I know there are attempts at free forks of Android, but there is no future in that. Google will re-assimilate those at some point because they utterly control Android.

I don't understand how anyone with any technological foresight would buy anything else. The apathy of people towards the american data hegemony irritates me and makes me fearful of the future.

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Comments

Great comment! Thank you.

molan ( 2015-06-03 09:08:06 +0300 )edit

Wow, i was tempted to hit the "answered" button!

mosen ( 2015-06-03 17:35:06 +0300 )edit
25

answered 2015-06-01 21:41:41 +0300

saja gravatar image

updated 2015-06-02 00:52:13 +0300

First, i want to support jolla since i like the idea of an european, indenendant os. I like the approach jolla is taking. To me it seems, jolla IS different. Open source and listening to / integrating the community. By now, my jolla is not my main device. It is neither versitle nor mature enough by now. But i think, it will envolve.... given the opportunity to do so. This my reason for supporting jolla : I simply hope, it will be an adequate alternative to google and apple. It is not yet to me. But it will never be if it is not supported.

Besides.... it simply is fun playing around with my jolla and seeing the system envolve :-)

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23

answered 2015-06-01 22:08:19 +0300

molan gravatar image

updated 2015-06-11 17:38:40 +0300

  1. Great native apps I would miss on any other system (thanks to all those fantastic developer!). I know the Jolla phone misses a lot of big apps, but thanks to Android support I can still use them if I need to.
  2. Independance and freedom of choice: Jolla doesn't force me to use any (IMO useless services) from Google, Apple or Microsoft. I can choose whatever I want or stay away from that stuff.
  3. I daily use public transportation - to me Sailfish OS is fantastic to read my favourite news, blogs or watch podcasts and online videos (using various lovely Sailfish apps). All this while communicating with people... Multitasking is a great experience (+ quiet battery friendly) and I don't want to switch back to any other system.
  4. User Interface: Part of point 3. I'm someone who easily gets upset and has no patience if a user interface (phones and computers) doesn't react to my inputs the way I want. With Sailfish OS I barely ever have that.
  5. With Jolla I feel that I control the phone and the phone doesn't control me
  6. I actually like that not everything is perfect or finished. I love to observed projects, help out if possible or simply try out stuff in Sailfish OS and learn from it (I have no education in software development)
  7. Non phone stuff like: Great community, observe development of Jolla, supporting people who do something against the typical cooporate crap that I find in all the "Big Players", using a more or less European product and the joy to use something not everyone owns.
  8. And finally...getting into many conversations where people ask me about what a "strange" phone I'm using :-)

Probably there are more points I could mention :-) I agree with your negative points above and don't see the Jolla phone or Sailfish OS as a perfect product at all. There are indeed stuff I wished would be better, but when I look at the pros and cons of my Jolla phone, I'm all pro-Jolla ;-)

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Comments

1

Thanks for answer! You mentioned several great native apps and lovely Sailfish apps. What apps exactly did you mean?

petRUShka ( 2015-06-02 00:17:36 +0300 )edit
5

Thanks for asking! My favourites are:

  • WebPirate (great example of a good Sailfish OS browser, before this one I quiet often opened Android Firefox)
  • Fahrplan
  • Kaktus
  • YTPlayer & LLs vPlayer
  • gPodder
  • SkyFM
  • MeeRun
  • Sidudict
  • Work Hours

Those are apps I use almost daily and I love their simplcity. Plus I couldn't find similar apps for Android (Nexus 4 as a second device) which satisfied me the same way :-)

molan ( 2015-06-02 15:55:54 +0300 )edit
14

answered 2015-06-01 23:40:32 +0300

simo gravatar image

What makes me to be in love: The community, the one-thumb-UI, the speed of development (with quite a small group of great people), the terminal app, the battery life (I'm on 1.0.7, which I've found best for the battery), the plans for opening up, Marc as a person and other "powered people", the Finnish design, ... just to mention a few.

There are flaws too, but you didn't ask for those :) But I wouldn't switch to Android for three main reasons: It feels too commercial, it doesn't even leave my other hand free, and not any single company should have that much of power in the world (via the knowledge of people)

In general, I'm not a type of person who falls in love with a product or goes with the same brand. Actually, I think there are not two devices in my house with the same brand... well, there are two Jolla phones, and our BD and my daughter's phone are both by Samsung. For some reason, Sailfish is the first brand in the world that has managed to cause an emotional relationship to a brand on me. How, I don't know.

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13

answered 2015-06-02 00:57:35 +0300

ron282 gravatar image

First reason was to support former Nokia's employees but now there is only one unique reason: privacy of my personal data. I'm disgusted by policies of the 3 big phone ecosystems. They claim privacy is their concern but they act differently. I'd like Jolla to push further that direction: open & respectful of privacy in accordance with laws.

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10

answered 2015-06-02 11:26:22 +0300

0ida gravatar image

Jolla is not Google/Apple nor based in the US, so there's the probability that they are not raping my privacy while lying to me. Besides this, most of your points are just not very important to me.

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9

answered 2015-06-01 20:41:09 +0300

Macilaci457 gravatar image

updated 2015-06-01 20:42:23 +0300

Look and feel. It is unique in my eye, and when I leave it on a desk at my workplace everyone ask me what it is. So I proudly tell. They use whatever phone they like, various brands, as there is no standard company phone at us, but still they dont know what it is, never heard of it but think it is something they should ask about when they see it. Little things but still counts.

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Same here. And even some hardcore Apple fanbois admitted the Jolla Phone looks gorgeous. =:o) (Of course it does!)

Venty ( 2015-06-05 11:57:04 +0300 )edit

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Asked: 2015-06-01 17:51:02 +0300

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Last updated: Nov 03 '15