Jolla Announces Sailfish OS Now Compatible with Android Apps and Hardware

Sailfish OS fans rejoice, as Jolla has just announced that its new ecosystem will be fully compatible with Android applications and hardware.

Those who have already pre-ordered the first smartphone powered by Sailfish OS won’t have to wait to install their favorite apps anymore. According to Jolla, all Android applications will now run directly on Sailfish OS without any modifications. Basically, Sailfish OS users will now be able to take advantage of the Android application ecosystem, which is now available through various app stores globally. Moreover, the Finnish company has promised that it will cooperate with some of the most important app stores to make sure that Sailfish OS users will be able to download Android apps just as they would do on any device powered by Google’s mobile platform. “For example, highly popular apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Spotify run directly on Sailfish OS. Also Chinese WeChat – already with over 400 million users – runs on Sailfish OS,” says Jolla CEO Tomi Pienimäki.

There’s more to it, as Jolla has announced that Sailfish OS now runs on common hardware specifically produced for Android, including smartphones and tablets. This means that vendors that are interested in taking advantage of Sailfish OS offering can now develop phones and tablets based on many different chipset and hardware configurations. “We believe Sailfish with Android compatibility is a highly relevant mobile operating system option for major mobile companies in Europe and in Asia. We are already in discussions with several major Asian vendors regarding this opportunity,” says Tomi Pienimäki.

In the same piece of news, the Finnish handset maker has confirmed that the next batch of Sailfish-powered devices will be opened for pre-order sometime this week. “Due to extremely positive feedback and increased demand in the past weeks, we are offering another pre-order opportunity for our second production batch later this week through jolla.com. This will be targeted to Finnish customers who want to express their passion for the Finnish mobile industry,” Pienimäki concluded.

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Image credits to Jolla

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