Sailfish OS

What hackers pick instead

• AndroidRecommended for openness, sideloading, alternative app stores, customization and fine notification control, but many worry Google is locking it down with developer verification and proprietary services.372recommend
• Apple iOSRecommended for strong security, privacy and years of updates, but critics dislike the iOS 26 Liquid Glass redesign, input lag and bugs, and Apple's restrictions on apps and APIs.308recommend
• LineageOSA free Android distribution that gives old or unsupported phones new life with more control and less Google, though critics cite lagging security patches, unlocked bootloaders and banking-app breakage.186recommend
• /e/OSRecommended as a privacy-focused, de-Googled Android for phones that works well day to day. Most common caveat: app compatibility, especially apps that need Google Play services.89recommend
• Ubuntu TouchPeople recommend its open Linux freedom, root access, clean interface and stable daily use. Common caveat: few apps, and volunteers now maintain it after Canonical defunded it.35recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 209 comments. Each links to the original.

1. I still use Sailfish daily. I have no problem with the UI, but their Firefox is seriously outdated and predictive text for the keyboard is no longer available.

   Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Jolla on track to ship new phone with Sailfish OS, user-replaceable battery”

2. it's kind of backwards, first offering a Gnu/Linux phone, but then a fundmental application like web browser should be run under Android.

   Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

3. SailfishOS is certainly "polished" enough that the circle of people who can use it well (or at least live with it) has expanded

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?”

4. Sailfish OS Android emulation is quite good, good or even the best one I used on the Android emulation front.

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

5. Seems like the perfect balance, live on a parallel reality and just dip into Androidland when you need it to.

   Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Comparing Android Alternatives: Lineage OS, ∕E∕OS, and Graphene OS”

6. The SailFishOS is a delight technically and aesthetically - the business side though needs a major overhaul.

   Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Jolla on track to ship new phone with Sailfish OS, user-replaceable battery”

7. The lack of hardware ports (apart from Jolla's lack of vision) is what is really holding Sailfish OS back.

   Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “I Tried Replacing Android with Linux”

8. the last vestiges of Lipstick (the Sailfish OS UI), which are not released under an open source license

   Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Jolla Phone Pre-Order”

9. Sailfish is actually trying to be a real third option rather than an open source proof of concept

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Android 17 is the first since 3.x to add new APIs without releasing to the AOSP”

10. The Android emulation layer is quite good and it runs on many mass market Xperia phones from Sony

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

11. You do have an alternative to both Google and Apple, which gives you the best of both worlds

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Apple to Soon Take Up to 30% Cut from All Patreon Creators in iOS App”

12. an operating system that doesn't suck when you're also trying to catch up to a major duopoly

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Jolla on track to ship new phone with Sailfish OS, user-replaceable battery”

13. it's usable as a daily driver and, with a critical developer mass, it could get somewhere.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Nokia's 14 Years of Mobile-Phone Supremacy Ended in an Afternoon”

14. there's a third alternative which is neither iOS nor Android - and that's a killer feature

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

15. the new patch isn’t released with kernel support that actually makes the IO work properly

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “GrapheneOS is the only Android OS providing full security patches”

16. it was buttery smooth, even with all its fancy animations and gesture-based navigation

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Jolla Phone Pre-Order”

17. I have been using Xperia 10 III as my main phone for years with Sailfish OS just fine.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

18. Sailfish's UI is WAY ahead of iOS and Android. It's simple, consistent, and intuitive

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Jolla on track to ship new phone with Sailfish OS, user-replaceable battery”

19. It is a Linux-based solution with a good, gesture-based UI with Android emulation.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Jolla Phone Pre-Order”

20. has rough edges (many of the hardware issues should be fixed in the next release)

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Android/Linux Dual Boot”

21. The android support improved a lot such that all the apps I used worked there.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

22. Sailfish is a mature mobile OS, sufficient in many cases to be a daily driver

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

23. Fundamentally, not enough. Linux's default security mechanisms are simply too weak for something as potentially hostile as a mobile device.

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “/e/OS is a complete "deGoogled", mobile ecosystem”

24. They claim full commitment to free software, but their entire internal infrastructure is built entirely on proprietary solutions.

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

25. SailfishOS drastically reduces privacy, security, usability, battery life and app compatibility compared to simply using AOSP

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “How Fairphone built the Fairphone Gen 6+”

26. Not fully open-source though, as far as i understood it some of the important GUI, android compat bits are propreity

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

27. I don't think I can send or receive money to and from my friends or pay my public transport fare from Sailfish.

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Apple to Soon Take Up to 30% Cut from All Patreon Creators in iOS App”

28. SailfishOS has far worse privacy, security, functionality and usability than the Android Open Source Project.

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “GrapheneOS – Break Free from Google and Apple”

29. the second I found out that their entire UI stack is proprietary I lost all interest in that platform

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Jolla on track to ship new phone with Sailfish OS, user-replaceable battery”

30. And way less security, sandboxing is far more limited and the default profile looks pretty much YOLO

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Jolla Phone, Over 13 500 units sold”

31. It has much worse privacy and drastically worse security than the Android Open Source Project

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Motorola GrapheneOS devices will be bootloader unlockable/relockable”

32. The main distinguishing feature is that you generally lack a keyboar / mouse /pointer thing. Hence, the window manager and interaction in general are tuned for touch interactions, single handed use and the like.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

33. judging an OS that has officially supported hardware by an unfinished community port is not something I would call fair or useful

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes”

34. There is also nothing precluding them from dropping Android in the future and putting effort into something like Sailfish OS.

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “How Fairphone built the Fairphone Gen 6+”

35. once the adoption of Sailfish OS picks up and it reaches critical mass, developers will switch to building apps for it

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Apple to Soon Take Up to 30% Cut from All Patreon Creators in iOS App”

36. Part of the fun of using SailfishOS is doing familiar Linux systems managements and general operations the terminal

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Jolla Phone Pre-Order”

37. Out of the box, you on Sailfish you get root support which lets you actually be the device owner.

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux”

38. The form factor and Sailfish are a lot more appealing than 'apps blocked at a system level'.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Commodore Releases Flip Phone”

39. There is history at play here, they are still building forward from the Nokia Linux phones.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Jolla on track to ship new phone with Sailfish OS, user-replaceable battery”

40. I for one is happy that there is at least someone out there not happy with the status quo

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Jolla on track to ship new phone with Sailfish OS, user-replaceable battery”