Android apps will be compatible with Sailfish OS says Jolla




Finnish smartphone maker Jolla has now announced that its newly minted Sailfish operating system will be compatible with both Android apps as well as hardware. This basically means that anyone picking up a Jolla phone will be able to load and use Android applications.

This is a significant move on the company’s part as earlier adopters of the brand new OS will have a much larger app library to work with. The lack of compatible apps was one of the main problems that early Windows Phone users had to face.

The company has said that it is planning to “co-operate with leading global app stores to ensure users can seamlessly download Android apps just as they would do on any Android device.” The list of compatible apps comes with some popular ones like Instagram, WhatsApp and Spotify, according to the company’s CEO Tomi Pienimäki.

The first Jolla smartphone

Jolla's Sailfish OS will come with Android app compatibility...


Convenience of the consumer aside, this move will also help the Finnish company woo more manufacturers as the new OS will most likely run on phones and tablets designed for Android with little or no modification. The company’s official statement clearly states that it is already negotiating with several major Asian vendors. From what is known so far, the company is pushing for Sailfish in China, so ZTE and Huawei could feature on the potential manufacturer list.

While this seems to be great news for the new OS, it is still unclear as to how the company is going to make this happen. Google’s system requirements for its apps clearly states that “Phones and tablets running other operating systems are not supported for downloading Android apps.” Whether the Finnish company is planning to strike a deal with Amazon, some other third-party app store or is trying to wrestle a deal out of Google itself is still unknown.

Jolla’s new smartphones have been making a lot of news lately. First announced back in May, the company recently saw a successful pre-order campaign, with the first batch of its smartphones successfully being sold out. The company, at the time, had said that there would be a second batch up for grabs soon, and it looks like it will be opening up the orders soon.

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