3 ms·

I've had a Jolla phone for most of 2014 and I can say I'm not happy with it. What drew me to it was the open source OS but it's very immature and needs a lot o

I've had a Jolla phone for most of 2014 and I can say I'm not happy with it. What drew me to it was the open source OS but it's very immature and needs a lot of work. It also needs a lot of new adopters to improve its ecosystem of apps. The android compatibility is shaky at best and ruins the entire user interface experience of the sailfish OS. The whole phone does not feel robust, not at all like the OnePlus for example which is my currently active phone, or the iPhone 4 that I previously used. All this makes me very reluctant to purchase a Jolla tablet.

denegen 12y ago
I'm still using the Jolla phone and I think it's ok and it's getting better. Compared to Android phones its user interface is cleaner and doesn't come with preinstalled apps that I don't use.
- ganzuul 12y ago
  Regarding preinstalled apps: My Nexus 7 did a lot of outright bitching when I first got it. I even had a bit of black tape over the front-facing camera for a while since Google's Byzantine privacy practices had made me genuinely not trust the device. My Jolla is the opposite from this. On my Jolla, I am root.
  - gman99 12y ago
    > a bit of black tape over the front-facing camera for a while since Google's Byzantine privacy practices had made me genuinely not trust the device. I genuinely don't get this. You don't trust the OS not to spy on you, so you covered the camera? Fine. But if you don't trust the OS, how do you stop it from, say, uploading everything you type to Google? OK, perhaps you have a highly restrictive firewall, or only use it offline (reading ebooks?) But in that case, what's the point of the black tape over the camera? It now has no way of contacting the mothership; all you've done is restrict your ability to take pictures. Surely the better idea would be to compile an AOSP build for the N7 (or maybe just get CyanogenMod if you're less paranoid?) and you basically have a tablet which you completely control without buying a Jolla (with an equivalent app ecosystem and less bugs)? Note that there are definitely reasons to get a Jolla phone; for example the fact that AOSP on the N7 is unsupported by google -- just saying I don't fully understand the tape on the camera when you don't trust the OS. (maybe it was just a figure of speech; in which case, ignore me -- it didn't come across that way in your comment)
    - ganzuul 12y ago
      It's basic OpSec. You disable the services you don't need. You always build security in layers. Some devices, e.g. a Dell All-in-one PC, come with a little latch that you can pull in front of the forward-facing camera. It's often not just the mothership that is the target of these measures. It could even be family who misguidedly install spyware.
      - gman99 12y ago
        >It could even be family who misguidedly install spyware. That's an application installed by the user; But this won't protect you against the core OS (the Dell's with a camera shutter is not meant to protect you against Microsoft). Your original comment seemed to indicate it's was Google's privacy policies you were protecting yourself against. And Google supplies the OS -- most of which is open source. Comparing the open-ness of the SW, both of them are equally open or closed. The Sailfish UI is closed source (but you get something close using Mer) -- As for android, just GApps is closed (which, I would argue, is better than the Sailfish situation) So, if you are motivated to not use android due to paranoia; my recommendation is to run a AOSP build with F-Droid as an app store. There are many reasons to use a Jolla phone. Privacy alone is not a reason to switch ecosystems (as I said earlier: there are other, more compelling reasons). And of course, you need the black tape covering your camera on both the Android and the Jolla (which was your original statement I disagreed with :)
shaneqful 12y ago
Do you still use it on a regular basis. I got mine on the first day it released and admittedly back then there were some issues e.g. lack of 4g and some software instability but it has gotten better and more stable with every update. I obviously stuck with it where you decided not too and I can understand why but I would urge you to give it a second chance.

denegen 12y ago

I'm still using the Jolla phone and I think it's ok and it's getting better. Compared to Android phones its user interface is cleaner and doesn't come with preinstalled apps that I don't use.

ganzuul 12y ago
Regarding preinstalled apps: My Nexus 7 did a lot of outright bitching when I first got it. I even had a bit of black tape over the front-facing camera for a while since Google's Byzantine privacy practices had made me genuinely not trust the device. My Jolla is the opposite from this. On my Jolla, I am root.
- gman99 12y ago
  > a bit of black tape over the front-facing camera for a while since Google's Byzantine privacy practices had made me genuinely not trust the device. I genuinely don't get this. You don't trust the OS not to spy on you, so you covered the camera? Fine. But if you don't trust the OS, how do you stop it from, say, uploading everything you type to Google? OK, perhaps you have a highly restrictive firewall, or only use it offline (reading ebooks?) But in that case, what's the point of the black tape over the camera? It now has no way of contacting the mothership; all you've done is restrict your ability to take pictures. Surely the better idea would be to compile an AOSP build for the N7 (or maybe just get CyanogenMod if you're less paranoid?) and you basically have a tablet which you completely control without buying a Jolla (with an equivalent app ecosystem and less bugs)? Note that there are definitely reasons to get a Jolla phone; for example the fact that AOSP on the N7 is unsupported by google -- just saying I don't fully understand the tape on the camera when you don't trust the OS. (maybe it was just a figure of speech; in which case, ignore me -- it didn't come across that way in your comment)
  - ganzuul 12y ago
    It's basic OpSec. You disable the services you don't need. You always build security in layers. Some devices, e.g. a Dell All-in-one PC, come with a little latch that you can pull in front of the forward-facing camera. It's often not just the mothership that is the target of these measures. It could even be family who misguidedly install spyware.
    - gman99 12y ago
      >It could even be family who misguidedly install spyware. That's an application installed by the user; But this won't protect you against the core OS (the Dell's with a camera shutter is not meant to protect you against Microsoft). Your original comment seemed to indicate it's was Google's privacy policies you were protecting yourself against. And Google supplies the OS -- most of which is open source. Comparing the open-ness of the SW, both of them are equally open or closed. The Sailfish UI is closed source (but you get something close using Mer) -- As for android, just GApps is closed (which, I would argue, is better than the Sailfish situation) So, if you are motivated to not use android due to paranoia; my recommendation is to run a AOSP build with F-Droid as an app store. There are many reasons to use a Jolla phone. Privacy alone is not a reason to switch ecosystems (as I said earlier: there are other, more compelling reasons). And of course, you need the black tape covering your camera on both the Android and the Jolla (which was your original statement I disagreed with :)

shaneqful 12y ago

Do you still use it on a regular basis. I got mine on the first day it released and admittedly back then there were some issues e.g. lack of 4g and some software instability but it has gotten better and more stable with every update. I obviously stuck with it where you decided not too and I can understand why but I would urge you to give it a second chance.