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Sailfish OS Gains Two-Way Android Compatibility

DeviceGuru writes "Jolla announced (PDF) that its Sailfish OS is now fully compatible with Android, letting the Linux-based mobile OS run Android apps, as well as operate on hardware configured for Android. This makes the MeeGo-based Sailfish OS the first alternative mobile Linux OS to achieve the feat. Jolla also announced that a second batch of pre-orders for its Sailfish-based Jolla phones will open later this week, after having sold out its first batch in August."

6 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Re:no thanks by ChristW · · Score: 3, Informative

    ..or, as mentioned below, http://neo900.org/

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  2. Re:no thanks by EmperorArthur · · Score: 4, Informative

    Google Play Store is just another Android app. The only reason that some Android phones don't have it is because the manufacturers choose not to put it on them, but Play Store is able to run on any phone running Android. Is there any technical reason why you can't install Google Play Store on Sailfish OS?

    No, just legal ones. Though the play store has so many permissions you might as well grant Google, and by extension the NSA, root access when you install the thing.

    Copyright means Google can set whatever terms they want when it comes to companies installing or people using the play store.

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  3. Re:or was Replicant the first OS to do that? by Stormwatch · · Score: 3, Informative

    Replicant is a fork of Android that replaces the proprietary parts with free ones, so that's by design; Sailfish is a different operating system, so it has to use a translation layer.

  4. Re: Shame by RavenLrD20k · · Score: 4, Informative

    Let's see. Buy a $600 phone subsidized down to $100, and pay the carrier for the cheapest plan at about $80/month ($50/mo + federal fees & taxes) for two years. $2020 total cost.

    Now we buy that same phone on Ebay for a steal at $400, and put it on the same carrier, same plan which costs the same because they charge for the subsidy anyway and since the subsidy is not a line item, there's no way for them to reduce the bill (still $80/month) over the same time period of 2 years: $2320 total cost.

    Wow... I saved -$300 by buying the phone outright!...wait.

  5. T-Mobile or MVNO by tepples · · Score: 3, Informative

    since the subsidy is not a line item, there's no way for them to reduce the bill (still $80/month) over the same time period of 2 years

    There are two ways around this: use T-Mobile, which makes the subsidy a line item, or use an MVNO such as Straight Talk or Virgin, which specialize in unsubsidized plans.

  6. Re:no thanks by Madoc · · Score: 3, Informative

    f-droid.org is an alternative to Google Play that's full of open source Android software, pre-built from the source. It's like the debian of the Android world.

    I use it on all of my devices, both those with Google Play and those without.

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