A new era for Sailfish OS
The next chapter of Sailfish OS has arrived. Sailfish OS 5.0 is now rolling out to all supported devices, marking a major milestone with more than 300 improvements of various size & like, over 200 bug fixes, the release of Sailfish Core for the new Jolla Mind2 Personal AI Assistant and more!
Sailfish 5 deployment started in October 2024 with the Jolla C2 Community Phone. With continuous refinements and community collaboration, we are now bringing this update to all supported devices. This release is also the first major release from the new new Jolla, setting the direction for the future of Sailfish OS.
From Sailfish 4.6 to Sailfish 5
It has been while from the previous major Sailfish OS release. The rollout of Sailfish 4.6 started with the first Community Beta (CBeta) release in April 2024, from which it was rolled out for all supported devices during summer 2024. In Sailfish 4.6 we pushed out eventually four public release updates for all the supported devices. All Sailfish OS release notes can be found here. The Sailfish 4 series naming was based on Finnish Unesco world heritage list and the last release 4.6 was called Sauna, something also designated on the Unesco heritage list. Sauna is something that we enjoy very much here in Finland. Tampere is nowadays made known as the Sauna Capital of the world. One of the famous Finnish saunas is actually here at Tampere – it’s called Rajaportti and it’s the oldest public sauna in Finland still in use.
Source: Rajaportti Gallery
That brings us to Tampere and Tampella, the first Sailfish 5 release, and the next naming scheme which is Tampere based. The Sailfish 5 roll out was started with first release for the Jolla C2 back in October 2024 after which we have been maturizing core features and ironing out many critical issues also together with you, the Sailfish Community. Along the way we have also created adaptation and baseline for the Jolla Mind2 – including the first Sailfish Core release. Both Jolla C2 and Jolla Mind2 will drive the roadmap for the Sailfish 5 – together with you. A few years ago we polled our major releases vs updates and result was pretty clear – this year we’ll continue on the same track and target to release 2 major releases and few minor update releases. So far in Sailfish 5, we have done four update releases since October (this upcoming being the 5th) that have been mainly targeted for C2 and the development of Jolla Mind2, and now we are rolling the Sailfish 5 to all supported devices.
What’s new in Sailfish OS 5.0
- Sailfish Browser engine updated to Gecko ESR91, with work ongoing towards ESR102.
- Android AppSupport upgraded to Android 13 (API level 33) for better app compatibility – first made available in C2 and later to other devices with migration from AppSupport 11 targeted for a future release.
- microG 0.3.6 enablers added, improving opt-in support for Android apps dependent on Google services.
- WireGuard VPN support added.
- New landscape mode for home view, events view, alarm view, and lock screen, with better support for notches and rounded corners.
- Call blocking capability added, allowing selected incoming calls to be blocked.
- Support for Jolla C2 and Jolla Mind2 built into the system, shaping the roadmap for future Sailfish development.
Back to the naming, the first Sailfish 5 release is called Tampella. It’s an old factory area across the river to our Tampere office. Since Sailfish 4.6 the release contains close to 300 varying size improvements, modifications, changes and features, and over 200 bug fixes.
Photo copyright Karri Huhtanen
How to update?
Sailfish OS 5.0.0.61 is now public and being rolled out to all supported devices.
Go to Settings > Sailfish OS Updates on your device to install Sailfish OS 5.0. Make sure you have a stable internet connection and sufficient battery life before updating.
📌 Join the discussion and read more about the release highlights from the Sailfish OS forum. Complete Release Notes you can find here.
A huge thank you to our Sailfish Community — your contributions and feedback help shape the future of Sailfish OS. Now, let’s all enjoy the Sailfish OS 5.0 Tampella, and keep reclaiming our smartphones and data back to whom it belongs to – yourself!
