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Dear all,

I have an issue with the amount of hurdles that a potential customer encounters when attempting to become a SF user, and I hope through this post to show Jolla something needs to be done in the future.

For years now I've been a fan of Sailfish, which looks totally amazing. The first SFOS device I saw was a Jolla 1 from a friend of a friend of mine. I was immediately convinced. I then tried to buy one, but of course the limited batch was sold out already. Then when Aquafish came with the Intex (Jolla C), I tried to buy it but of course it is only sold in India. I kept following all the news and finally Sailfish X came out. SF X being finally available I bought a simlock-free Xperia through an independent vendor. I even asked specifically if the phone was never sim-locked and specified that the bootloader should be unlockable. Vendor told me this was the case. Now it turns out that my phone is not simlocked but the bootloader is not unlockable. It was already hard to find a vendor in the Netherlands that sold this (by now quite old) mid-range device without a simlock, and I'm no longer confident in my ability to find one that has an unlockable bootloader.

I am highly annoyed by Sony which claims that openness is important to them while they're practically the only manufacturer that makes it impossible to unlock the bootloader on most of their devices. I am also frustrated that I cannot support Jolla by buying, using and promoting their product, for the third time. Although I understand that the Sony Open Devices program has its advantages, it is absolutely essential that Jolla picks a device next that is widely available for potential new customers. How are they ever going to grow and survive in this tough smartphone market if wannabe customers cannot buy an officially supported phone? The bar is set way too high in my opinion. Having to void the warranty of the phone to install the OS is tough but unavoidable, releasing the official image when the supported device is almost off the market already is inconvenient but excusable given the small size of their team, and charging 50 euros for it is even more of a tough sell but also justifiable. However, not knowing if you can install it on the phone before you receive the phone is a total no go! I hereby call for the Jolla team to pick a different manufacturer for their next device, one that does not permanently prevent a big share of their customers to unlock the bootloader and basically gives them the finger when the customer requests an unlockable bootloader for the device that they own!

Happy Sailing for you lucky bastards that have a SF-device, for me that will probably take a couple more years now :(

Dear all,

I have an issue with the amount of hurdles that a potential customer encounters when attempting to become a SF user, and I hope through this post to show Jolla something needs to be done in the future.

For years now I've been a fan of Sailfish, which looks totally amazing. The first SFOS device I saw was a Jolla 1 from a friend of a friend of mine. I was immediately convinced. I then tried to buy one, but of course the limited batch was sold out already. Then when Aquafish came with the Intex (Jolla C), I tried to buy it but of course it is only sold in India. I kept following all the news and finally Sailfish X came out. SF X being finally available I bought a simlock-free Xperia through an independent vendor. I even asked specifically if the phone was never sim-locked and specified that the bootloader should be unlockable. Vendor told me this was the case. Now it turns out that my phone is not simlocked but the bootloader is not unlockable. It was already hard to find a vendor in the Netherlands that sold this (by now quite old) mid-range device without a simlock, and I'm no longer confident in my ability to find one that has an unlockable bootloader.

I am highly annoyed by Sony which claims that openness is important to them while they're practically the only manufacturer that makes it impossible to unlock the bootloader on most of their devices. I am also frustrated that I cannot support Jolla by buying, using and promoting their product, for the third time. Although I understand that the Sony Open Devices program has its advantages, it is absolutely essential that Jolla picks a device next that is widely available for potential new customers. How are they ever going to grow and survive in this tough smartphone market if wannabe customers cannot buy an officially supported phone? The bar is set way too high in my opinion. Having to void the warranty of the phone to install the OS is tough but unavoidable, releasing the official image when the supported device is almost off the market already is inconvenient but excusable given the small size of their team, and charging 50 euros for it is even more of a tough sell but also justifiable. However, not knowing if you can install it on the phone before you receive the phone is a total no go! I hereby call for the Jolla team to pick a different manufacturer for their next device, one that does not permanently prevent a big share of their customers to unlock the bootloader and basically gives them the finger when the customer requests an unlockable bootloader for the device that they own!

Happy Sailing for you lucky bastards that have a SF-device, for me that will probably take a couple more years now :(