Jolla developers announced the release of the new version of the operating system Sailfish 4.0.1, which was the first version of the new 4.x branch. For those unfamiliar with Sailfish, you should know that eThis uses a graph stack based on Wayland and the Qt5 library, the system environment is built on the basis of Mer, which has been in development since April 2019 as part of Sailfish and the Mer Nemo distribution packages.
The user shell, the basic mobile applications, the QML components to build the Silica graphical interface, a layer to launch Android applications, an intelligent text input engine and a data synchronization system are proprietary, but their code was scheduled to open in 2017.
Main new features of Sailfish 4.0.1
In this new version work has been done to modernize the design styleThe design of the tab bar, buttons, status bar, text input fields was redesigned, as well as tools to change the style of the application's background and configure the background blur effect.
It is also mentioned that Android compatibility layer has been updated to the platform Android 9 (previously compatible with Android 8). Expanded support for notifications generated by the Android platform (now shows additional images, actions and text).
The browser updated the engine and in it improvements were made to the interface and the toolbar, redesigned the multimedia stack, added support for managing individual site permissions, implemented a button to save the page in PDF format.
The Navigator has implemented the opening of captive portals to connect to wireless networks in a separate isolated environment. When leaving the accessible area of the network, the page with the captive portal now closes automatically. Redesign of the interface to see the history of visits and bookmarks. Direct access to settings is provided.
For developers, Safemod mode is implementede, which is enabled by starting with the environment variable "EMBED_SAFEMODE = 1 sailfish-browser". Added indicator with information about the type of connection protection.
In network settings "Configuration> WLAN> Advanced" now you can change the hostname.
In addition to the tools that appeared in the last version for the use of the device by multiple users, the new version adds initial support for the creation of accounts and groups through the mechanism of remote management of mobile devices (MDM, Device Management) .
API added to MDM (Device Management) to enable / disable Bluetooth, manage email settings (ActiveSync), manage users, work with the SMS message archive and get information about WLAN networks.
Of the other changes that stand out from this new version:
- Improved lock screen interface and status bar.
- Improved display of notifications and event information in the planner calendar.
- The software for working with the camera has built-in support for recognizing QR codes.
- The design of the mail client has been modernized, the ability to switch to writing a reply from the notification of receiving a message has been added.
- A new block design has been proposed for viewing notifications. Warning about a new firmware version has been changed.
- The address book has been significantly redesigned and the search and linking capabilities of contacts have been expanded.
- Display of additional information about the called number is provided, such as the name of the region and the sign of the free numbers. Added a call muted indicator and ensured the display of an avatar in the missed call notification.
- System components have been updated, including systemd 238, OpenSSL 1.1, and karchive 5.75.0.
- The configurator has been moved to a tab-based interface that separates settings into those related to the system, applications, and user.
- Added the ability to create VPN connections by getting parameters from a file. Added support for connman network configurator.
Get Sailfish 4.0.1
The builds are prepared for Jolla C, Jolla Tablet, Sony Xperia X, Xperia XA2 and Sony Xperia 10 devices, but are provided at the moment only for registered members of the firmware early access program (for all others, access will be open in the days to come).
Set formation for the Jolla 1 smartphone is discontinued after 7 years of support.