Can Sailfish OS beat Android ?

Sailfish OS (also styled as SailfishOS or abbreviated to SFOS) is a mobile operating system combining the Linux kernel for a particular hardware platform use, the open-source Mer core middleware, a proprietary UI contributed by Jolla, and other third-party components.

Sailfish OS 2.0 vs Android: hardware compatibility

Android is available on all kinds of hardware, of course, and forked versions - that is, versions that are adapted from Android - also power devices such as Amazon’s Fire phone and tablets.

Sailfish is currently available on Jolla’s own phone and tablet, but if you don’t mind replacing Android altogether you can install it on a device such as a Nexus 5 via CyanogenMod: Jolla has a tutorial here. That isn’t recommended if your phone is your everyday device, however: it’s really just for app developers or people who want to test the OS.

Sailfish hardware is likely to be cheap. Jolla’s Tablet will retail at just $299.

Sailfish OS 2.0 vs Android: interface

Whether it’s stock Lollipop or a manufacturer skin such as TouchWiz, we’re all pretty familiar with Android in its various guises. Sailfish does things quite a bit differently.

While the core of Sailfish is based on the open source Mer Project, the interface is Jolla’s own work (and its own intellectual property: the interface isn’t open source). From the beginning it’s been designed with gestures in mind. As Jolla says: “Sailfish OS works with your natural hand movements via gestures.

You don’t have to push tiny buttons or search your way back home – everything is always under your thumb. Sailfish gestures soon become muscle memory and every touch-point a fluid, simple, faster task. It changes the way people interact with their devices.” It’s also quite pretty to look at, and very different to Google’s Material Design.

Sailfish 2.0 vs Android: will it tempt you away from Android?

Right now, Sailfish is a curiosity for mainstream Android users: it’s a lovely-looking thing but installing it on your device will almost certainly make it a little less useful due to incompatibilities and the lack of Google Play Services. But that’s not really what Sailfish is all about: for manufacturers it’s an alternative to Android, a way of distinguishing their devices in markets where Samsung casts a long shadow and of reaching customers who don’t trust Google with the details of their everyday lives. It’s also designed for modular devices - which is probably why YotaPhone likes it - and could be a real rival to Project Ara.

The most interesting thing about Sailfish isn’t the tech, though. It’s the company behind it. It crowdsources its hardware, engages properly with its users and is small enough to make huge changes instantly if that’s what customers want. Google’s had enough trouble persuading Android firms not to mess up the basic interface. If Android is an aircraft carrier Sailfish is a speedboat, and that means things could get very interesting very quickly.

What do you think? Could Sailfish get you hooked, or do you put your trust in Google? Let us know in the comments.