I'm back in the boat

In mid-2014 I first heard about Jolla and Sailfish OS and immediately bought a Jolla 1; wrote apps; participated in the IGG campaign for Jolla Tablet; bought the TOHKBD2; applied for (and got) Jolla C.

Sounds like the beginning of a good story doesn’t it?

Well, by the beginning of 2017 I had sold everything (except the tablet, we all know what happened to that one).

So what happened?? I was a happy Sailfish user, but Jolla’s false promises disappointed me.

Yet, despite all that, I still think about Sailfish OS to this day. I think it’s because, despite some proprietary components, the ecosystem around Sailfish OS is ultimately open source. And that’s what interests me. It also got a fresh update which solves some of the problems that where there 5 years ago.

Nowadays, thanks to the community , Sailfish OS can be installed on many devices, even if with some less components, but I’m looking for that complete experience and so I asked on the forum if there was someone willing to sell his Xperia device with or without the license… and I got one for free. Better still, in exchange for some apps!

To decide which applications to create, I therefore took a look at that ecosystem. I started with the apps I use daily on Android and looked for the Sailfish OS alternative (spoiler: I’m impressed, good job guys!).

I am writing them all here because I am sure it will be useful to someone else:

AntennaPod (podcast app) -> PodQast

Ariane (gemini protocol browser)

AsteroidOS (AsteroidOS sync) -> Starfish

Connectbot (ssh client) -> built-in (Terminal)

Conversation (xmpp client) -> built-in (Messaging)

Davx5 (caldav/cardav) -> built-in (Account)

DroidShows (TV series) -> SeriesFinale

Element (Matrix client) -> Determinant

Endoscope (camera stream)

Fedilab (Mastodon client) -> Tooter

ForkHub (GitHub client) -> SailHub

FOSS Browser -> built-in (Browser)

FreeOTP -> SailOTP

Glider (hacker news reader) -> SailHN

K-9 Mail -> built-in (Mail)

KDE Connect (KDE sync) -> SailfishConnect

Keepassx (password manager) -> ownKeepass

Labcoat (GitLab client)

Lemmur (Lemmy client)

MasterPassword (password manager) -> MPW

MuPDF (PDF reader) -> built-in (Documents)

Newpipe (YouTube client) -> YTPlayer

Nextcloud (Nextcloud files) -> GhostCloud

Notes (Nextcloud notes) -> Nextcloud Notes

OCReader (Nextcloud RSS) -> Fuoten

OsmAnd~ (Maps) -> PureMaps

Printing (built-in) -> SeaPrint

QuickDic (dictionary) -> SailyDict

RedMoon (screen color temperature) -> Tint Overlay

RedReader (Reddit client) -> Quickddit

Signal -> Whisperfish

Syncthing (files sync) -> there’s the binary, no UI

Transdroid (Trasmission client) -> Clutch

Vinyl (music player) -> built-in (Mediaplayer)

VLC (NFS streaming) -> videoPlayer

WireGuard (VPN) -> there’s the binary, no UI

YetAnotherCallBlocker (call blocker) -> Phonehook

So, to me it looks like almost everything is there, except:

a gemini protocol browser

a client for GitLab

a client for Lemmy

a UI for Syncthing

a UI for Wireguard

I’ve already started to write a UI for Syncthing, then maybe I could write the browser for the gemini protocol or rather the GitLab client?

Please consider a donation if you would like to support me (mention your favourite project!).

Many many thanks to Jörg who sent me his Sony Xperia 10 Plus! I hope I don’t disappoint him!