Jolla Sailfish is a small smartphone: 131×68 mm, with a thickness of only 9.9 mm and a weight of 149 grams. The screen is an impressive 4.5 “, 16 GB internal memory, MicroSD slot, a processor Qualcomm dual-core 1.4 GHz connectivity with GSM / 3G / 4G LTE. On the surface it would seem a traditional smartphone, but is actually the Jolla Sailfish OS that makes a big difference.
Jolla accepts unfortunately only one SIM so, you cannot install Whatsapp for Dual Sim, but provides a great reliability with about 10 hours on 3G. The battery can also be replaced without loss of data (if you make the replacement in less than 120 seconds).
Using Whatsapp on your Jolla Sailfish
The phone is offered in minimum configuration; is not installed any app, even the basic ones, so as to allow the user to customize the product that suit him/her. Full compatibility with the immense library Android, including WhatsApp (which we will discuss in this article) makes this phone extremely effective. The smartphone-Jolla Sailfish is designed so that it can be used with one hand. The sensitivity of the screen to the touch is outstanding and, in some cases, even excessive. Jolla ensures that the operating system updates will always be available, overcoming the problems of incompatibility typical of many versions of Android.
Is Whatsapp fully compatible with Jolla Sailfish?
Android applications run directly on Sailfish OS without modification as stated by the Finnish company that created the Jolla Sailfish. For example, the popular apps like Instagram, WhatsApp and Spotify work directly on Sailfish OS. Also, the Chinese WeChat, which has over 400 million users, runs on Sailfish OS, ” said the CEO Tomi Pienimäki. It is unclear at the moment how it was implemented throughout. It is believed that Jolla has adapted the technology Android Compatibility Layer OpenMobile World Wide, already used in the past by HP webOS and demonstrated on Tizen. However the reality is that, in the past, many people had some trouble installing the official version of WhatsApp for Android on their Jolla Sailfish smartphones. This was then solved by installing a hacked/modified version of WhatsApp, called Mitakuuluu. Unfortunately, after a few months Facebook banned several users of Mitakuuluu, as some users explained on this post. So, yes, if today you still have troubles installing Whatsapp for Android on your Jolla you can try Mitakuuluu (at your own risk of being banned), by following this great tutorial pulished on Linuxg.net.
However, to ensure its maximum compatibily, the new version of the operating system released by Jolla can be fully installed on Android smartphones. Supported models at present are few, but many others will come in the future. Jolla has indeed recently announced that the mobile operating system Sailfish OS has reached the 1.0 release and is now ready for distribution worldwide. Jolla has also announced the availability of “Sailfish OS” as downloadable software on devices based on Android OS.
The operating system Jolla is a kind of mix between Android, the old Symbian and MeeGo. It offers many useful and interesting features that allow users to fully customize their own smartphones, but definitely is still a young OS and needs to be perfected. To facilitate its popularity, however, developers have permission to natively support Android applications: buying a smartphone Jolla, in fact, users can download and install all applications originally developed for Android, including those available in APK format and, obviously also Whatsapp !
By upgrading to version 1.0, those who want to try the new operating system Jolla Sailfish OS 1.0 does not necessarily have to buy a smartphone Jolla, but can use their own Android device to download, install and test it. This is the official Press Release issued by the owner of the company on the new Jolla Sailfish OS 1.0 compatibility with Android:
“We are very pleased to make this announcement. We have worked hard in close contact with our community of users to make simple and distinctive user experience smartphone Jolla and Sailfish OS. We believe that Jolla is currently a very good solution for all smartphone users.
Of course we do not stop and will continue to provide monthly software updates to devices using Jolla and Sailfish OS, ” said Marc Dillon, co-founder and COO Jolla.
“Users are now able to install their favorite Android app store, and choose from hundreds of thousands of applications available. In addition, the community of Sailfish OS, active and passionate, has already developed the main native applications for social media including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Foursquare, “ added the Finnish CEO Tomi Pienimäki.
So let’s just hope that the full compatibility between Whatsapp and Jolla Sailfish will continue… forever !