[Release notes] Vanha Rauma 4.4.0.64

Many thanks to you our active contributors for your feedback and proposals.

Special thanks to Kees van Niftrik for allowing us to use his beautiful photo of old Rauma at the OS update page in Settings.

Table of content

Table of content

Update version history

  • 2022-03-17: OS version 4.4.0.58 was released to Early Access subscribers as an over-the-air update. No support for Xperia 10 III, yet.
  • 2022-03-29: OS version 4.4.0.58 was released to all users as an over-the-air update. No support for Xperia 10 III, yet.
  • 2022-05-18: OS version 4.4.0.64 was released to all users as an over-the-air update. Support for Xperia 10 III added.

Size of update

The download size of the update depends on the device type and on the OS version currently in the device. Some typical values are below:

  • Jolla C from 4.3.0 to 4.4.0: about 480 MB
  • Xperia X from 4.3.0 to 4.4.0: about 450 MB
  • Xperia XA2 from 4.3.0 to 4.4.0: about 450 MB
  • Xperia 10 from 4.3.0 to 4.4.0: about 780 MB
  • Xperia 10 II from 4.3.0 to 4.4.0: about xxx MB

Stop release

Yes, 4.4.0 is a stop release.

– Is 4.4.0 also a stop release?
– Yes. We will switch the rpm compression from xz to zstd on 4.5.0. As the prerequisite, we have enabled zstd in deltarpm and related tools in the 4.4.0 release.

So far, all Sailfish 4 releases have been stop releases. Because of this, if there is a reason to “reset” an Xperia device, please do not do it with “device reset” but, instead, re-install Sailfish - see the comparison.

Jolla Blog

The blogs about Vanha Rauma and Meet the Xperia 10 III with Sailfish OS.

Device models supported by Sailfish X

The supported Sailfish X devices are listed in this article.

Sailfish OS is now available for Xperia 10 III starting from 4.4.0.64.

The instructions for installing Sailfish OS to Sony Xperia X, Xperia XA2, Xperia 10, Xperia 10 II (mark 2), Xperia 10 III (mark 3) devices are here - covering Windows, Linux, and macOS computers.

Read this, please, to learn about the Sailfish X licence.

Release Highlights

The list below contains examples of new features (and some bug fixes) added to Sailfish OS, compared to the previous public release 4.3.0. The release notes of 4.3.0 can be found here.

3rd party APIs

  • The new MPRIS API is allowed in the Harbour
  • Harbour FAQ updated to cover changes caused by sandboxing.

Accounts

  • Manual and periodic sync of Exchange accounts fixed

Ambiences

  • Ambience sorting in Top menu and Ambience settings page issues fixed (regression from 4.1.0)

Android App Support (Xperia XA2, 10, 10 II, 10 III)

  • Android app launcher fixed: Slack (and other similar apps) work now. The issue concerned apps that use the same activity for both launching and for file type handling
  • Settings > Android App Support improved: service status is reported and service control was clarified. API version is shown, too.
  • Tapping the banner “SIM card changed” does not bring up Android settings anymore
  • Video & audio calls with Telegram, Whatsapp and Threema apps (at least) work via WiFi now.
  • App Support 10 base was updated to r62 security patch level

Bluetooth

  • Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing via NFC enabled and deployed. Tapping on NFC-capable Bluetooth devices such as speakers should initiate a connection to it, creating a pairing if one doesn’t yet exist. Although the pairing functionality is useful, connecting to an already paired device is used more often. Enable in “Settings > NFC”.

Browser

  • Browser engine upgraded from version ESR60 to ESR78, providing performance improvements, compatibility and security fixes
  • Captive portal HTTPS URLs are no more replaced with a fallback (as that failed to work sometimes)
  • Several fixes for WebRTC
  • Allow clearing browser history for specified period (24h, a week, 4 weeks)
  • Close button (for closing the current tab) brought back to the toolbar
  • Permission to use Camera explicitly stated
  • Sharing a website link from Browser to Whatsapp fixed

Calendar

  • Importing multiple instances of the same calendar event fixed. [Thank you Damien]
  • Recurrent event exceptions are now synced to Exchange server.
  • Fixed some issues with multiple-day all-day events
  • Calendar alarms should fire according to the current timezone now
  • Show email address of event organizer if no name exists
  • Exchange issue “Scheduled Time One Hour Later Than Set” fixed
  • Exchange sync after “disabling EAS calendar and enabling again” fixed
  • Exchange issue “Single day all day events shown as two days” fixed
  • Exchange: downloading single part attachments (e.g., from Mailfence server) fixed

Camera

  • Camera app gained simple color filters (not enabled on old devices like Jolla C and Jolla Tablet)
  • You can enable the color filters from the camera settings
  • Filters include Greyscale, Sepia, Posterise, Whiteboard and Blackboard
  • Vertical flick down opens additional camera settings (and no longer switches between camera and video modes)
  • Ambience grid removed from Sailfish Camera options
  • Using flash for video fixed - it used to hang up the camera app in some cases. In 4.4.0, the flash torch is never turned on when starting the camera app in video mode. If the video torch was on in the video mode before the user changes to the image mode and then back to the video mode, the flash torch is not enabled. The torch remains on when changing cameras in the video mode as long as the selected camera has flash support.

Clock

  • Clock alarms should fire according to the current timezone now

Connectivity

  • Support of cellular network 3GPP TS 24.301 in dual network mode (IPV4 & IPv6) fixed. One of the fixes of 4.3.0 broke mobile data connections in some networks if option “Dual” was chosen for “Protocol” in Settings > System > Mobile network > Data access point.
  • Connection dialogue of hidden WLAN networks is more robust now

Device managment (MDM)

  • Device management policies related to sandboxed apps now work again

Email

  • Signing with gpg fixed [thanks Damien]
  • Invalid notifications eliminated when opening 2nd or further attachments

Gallery

  • Date scrollbar introduced to Gallery albums, scroll photos and videos by month and year
  • Scrollbar is also available for the photo and video pickers used by 3rd party and platform apps, e.g. when selecting email attachments
  • Launching Gallery app to play video lacked playback controls, now fixed

Haptics

  • Vibrator is played again for incoming SMS

Home screen

  • Require explicit action to permanently hide sticky app grid hint

Languages and keyboard

  • Latvian language and keyboard added

Location (GNSS)

  • Calculation of the location accuracy improved. Thanks go to MichaĹ‚ Szczepaniak. Excellent contribution.

Media indexing

  • Indexing of renamed files fixed. Tracker updated to v. 3.2.

Messages

  • Sharing of Notes and Browser links with Messages app implemented
  • Saving pictures to Gallery from MMS messages fixed
  • New message page opening transition fixed
  • Opening Messages app from an external app to send SMS now allowed without the recipient
  • Fixed some issues that used to prevent sending MMS
  • Vibrator is played again for incoming SMS

Middleware

  • A number of core packages upgraded

Multimedia

  • The new MPRIS API is allowed in the Harbour, making it easier for 3rd party apps to integrate with the OS media playback controls
  • Volume control staying in media control if the playback was paused while on home screen fixed
  • Silent ringtone toggle displaying the wrong state after ambience change on Top menu fixed

NFC

  • Setting to allow Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing added

People

  • Activity section added back to contact cards shown on People, Email and Calendar apps, making access to call history possible

Phone

  • Clicking voicemail notification works now again, i.e. makes a call to the saved voicemail number
  • Dialer breakage when typing long phone number fixed
  • Making phone calls ensured also when memory (RAM) has run out
  • Basic version of Advanced Mobile Location (AML) support has been implemented for emergency calls made in Europe. This feature works in the context of emergency calls only. It sends the phone location to the emergency services according to the AML specification. AML uses SMS data messages to inform emergency services. The SMS message is sent as soon as the emergency call has been answered. These messages are not charged (this is in line with emergency calls). AML is not visible to you at the phone user interface.

Sandboxing (app isolation)

  • Sandboxing of all apps is enabled by default on Sailfish OS
  • Several small issues related to sandboxing fixed
  • Settings was changed to show permissions also for apps sandboxed with the default profile
  • More information here

Security

  • Vulnerabilities fixed:
    • connman v. 1.32+git180.1: CVE-2022-23096, CVE-2022-23097, CVE-2022-23098
    • curl v. 7.81.0: CVE-2021-22946,CVE-2021-22947
    • ffmpeg v. 4.4.1: CVE-2020-20445 CVE-2020-20446 CVE-2020-20453 CVE-2020-21041 CVE-2020-22015 CVE-2020-22016 CVE-2020-22017 CVE-2020-22019 CVE-2020-22020 CVE-2020-22021 CVE-2020-22022 CVE-2020-22023 CVE-2020-22025 CVE-2020-22026 CVE-2020-22027 CVE-2020-22028 CVE-2020-22029 CVE-2020-22030 CVE-2020-22031 CVE-2020-22032 CVE-2020-22033 CVE-2020-22034 CVE-2020-22035 CVE-2020-22036 CVE-2020-22037 CVE-2020-22049 CVE-2020-22054 CVE-2020-35965 CVE-2021-38114 CVE-2021-38171 CVE-2021-38291
    • giflib v. 5.2.1: CVE-2019-15133,CVE-2020-23922
    • glibc v. 2.30: CVE-2022-23218
    • iptables v. 1.8.7: CVE-2019-11360
    • libsolv v. 0.7.20: CVE-2021-33928,CVE-2021-33929,CVE-2021-33930,CVE-2021-33938
    • libxkbcommon v. 1.3.1: CVE-2018-15853, CVE-2018-15857, CVE-2018-15858, CVE-2018-15859, CVE-2018-15861, CVE-2018-15862, CVE-2018-15863, CVE-2018-15864
    • libxslt v. 1.1.34: CVE-2019-13117,CVE-2019-13118,CVE-2019-18197
    • nss v. 3.73.1+git1: CVE-2021-43527
    • openssh v. 8.8p1: CVE-2021-41617, CVE-2021-28041, CVE-2020-15778, CVE-2020-14145, CVE-2020-12062, CVE-2019-16905, CVE-2016-20012
    • p11-kit v. 0.23.22: CVE-2020-29361, CVE-2020-29362, CVE-2020-29363
    • polkit v. 0.105+git8: CVE-2021-4034 (PwnKit)
    • python3-imaging v. 9.0.0: CVE-2022-22815, CVE-2022-22816, CVE-2022-22817
    • python3-lxml v. 4.6.5+git1: CVE-2021-43818
    • sqlite v. 3.37.2: CVE-2021-36690
    • wpa_supplicant v. 2.9: CVE-2021-0326, CVE-2021-27803
    • xulrunner v. 78.15.1: CVE-2021-38500, CVE-2021-38496

SIM

  • SIM toolkit now appears more reliably on App Grid when SIM services are detected

Sharing

  • Sharing of Notes and Browser links with Messages app implemented
  • Sharing dialogue launch time improved

Storage

  • Fixed SD card mount status in settings storage page after failed unmount
  • Configuration of external disks improved. This makes devices using UFS storage work better.

Time and date

  • Handling of the timezones of Ireland fixed

USB

  • Support for detecting YubiKey authentication over USB devices added, no feature support on the Sailfish OS currently though.

WLAN

  • Captive portal HTTPS URLs are no more replaced with a fallback (as that failed to work sometimes)
  • Handling of the passphrase dialogue after dismissing it on hidden WLANs is fixed

Sailfish OS 4.4.0.64 highlights

Phone

  • VoLTE enablers integrated for Xperia 10 III. It is disabled by default, but you can enabled it by following the instructions on the forum
  • Tapping “Missed call” notification opens the Phone app

Browser

  • Drop radio and checkbox max size restriction removed
  • Browser crash after playing videos fixed

Sailfish Utils

  • Add a Restart Fingerprint button - as discussed in the forum, this sometimes helps to get back the fingerprint reader to recognise the owner again.

Permissions

  • Allow Location to access sensors to make compass work

Location

  • Mozilla Location database offline data updated to 2022-03-22

Localisation

  • Fixed remaining Latvian plural cases
  • Took in community’s completed translations for French, Hungarian, and Spanish

Device specific improvements

Xperia 10 III

  • Support added

Xperia 10 II

  • Kernel of Xperia 10 II updated to 4.14.253
  • Configurations of xq-au51 (Xperia 10 II single SIM) fixed
  • Better out-of-memory handling when lauching Android apps

Xperia X

  • Turning Bluetooth on/off on Xperia X fixed

Jolla Tablet

  • Video playback in Gallery fixed

Sailfish OS Forum: issues reported by the community fixed in this update

Technical changes

API/Package changes

Changelog

The detailed changelog is here

Updating your device

Your device must be connected to the Internet and signed into your Jolla account. If your Jolla account is registered for Early Access releases you should receive an OS update notification when an update is available. If you have decided not to take the Early Access registration then you will get the OS update typically one week later.

Start the update from “Settings > Sailfish OS updates”. Avoid running updates on the command line, please.

We warmly recommend making some 3-4 GB of free space to the internal storage of your device ( /home ) before starting the update. Processing an OS update of almost 1 GB requires a good amount of work area. Move your pictures and videos to the SD card (or to your PC or cloud service).

This is the usual drill before attempting to update your devices:

Take a backup of your data before attempting to update your device and save the backup to an SD card or to some other off-device location (PC, your cloud service). Note that videos and images are not included in cloud-based backups. Do not reboot the device while the update is in progress. Do keep the phone connected to a battery charger during the whole process. The device screen may blank out during the update process; you may waken the display by a short press on the power key to monitor the progress.

For detailed instructions on updating software, read our help article in Zendesk.

NOTE 1:

Sailfish OS does not support downgrading. Never try to downgrade the OS as this would break your device.

NOTE 2:

After downloading an update and selecting “Install” in the pulley menu, the device runs a restart first. In the case of a device with the user-space encrypted, you will need to type the security code before the actual installation can start.

Notification concerning apps from Open Repos

The apps below have been reported to cause problems when installing the previous OS updates. We recommend that you uninstall them before proceeding to the OS update. At least, read the recent comments on those apps.

  • GetiPlay has caused problems to some users - see this post.
  • If you’ve previously installed the RIME input engine from Open Repos, please remove both that and its version of libyaml-cpp before upgrading, as the latter will cause the upgrade to fail
  • If you use Privoxy, be sure to disable it before downloading the update, especially if you have configured the https-inspection. The latest update is from September. There is no information about compatibility with Sailfish OS. See autho’s instructions.
  • If you use Aliendalvik Control, see the author’s instructions. There is no confirmation if this app is compatible with Sailfish OS 4.n. Also, there is no 64-bit version.
  • If you use Storeman please read the author’s instructions at Storeman Installer. Compatible with OS 4.2.0 but not yet confirmed to work with 4.3.0. You will probably need to uninstall your existing Storeman and then install it using the new “Storeman Installer” app. Also, see this post.
  • If you use Phonehook be careful. The latest update (32-bit) is from October 2020. The 64-bit version (Xperia 10 II) was published in May 2021.
  • If you use OKBoard (a.k.a. Magic Keyboard) , update it first to version 0.6.34 which has the fix for “Installation not complete” error. Also, read the author’s advice, please.

About SD cards

Read about encrypted SD cards here
  • Encrypted cards must be unlocked by the user to make them available for Sailfish applications.
  • Non-encrypted cards are mounted automatically when the device is turned on.
  • Encrypted cards can be formatted only when they are locked. Formatting removes the encryption in this case (the card becomes unencrypted and unmounted). You can then format it again with the option to encrypt if needed.

Location service

Some instructions for location service

Support for MLS offline data is available as installable apps in Jolla Store (see below). Install the data app of your area to make the phone get the location coordinates faster.

Apps:

  • Positioning - Australia
  • Positioning - Eastern Europe
  • Positioning - India
  • Positioning - Northern Europe
  • Positioning - Southern Europe
  • Positioning - Western Europe

Recommended location settings on the phone:

  • Settings > System > Location > Custom settings: ON
  • Settings > System > Location > Select custom settings:
  • GPS positioning: ON
  • Offline position lock: ON
  • Online position lock: OFF

About sandboxing

What is default sandboxing?

Default sandboxing is enabled. This means that if some application is not sandboxing aware, i.e. it doesn’t define any permissions, then a group of default permissions will apply.

This may break some apps at the OpenRepos store although we have tried our best to make this non-disruptive for apps that follow the Harbour rules.

Q: Can I can set it up to only jail e.g. browser and email and unjail everything else e.g. voice-call UI etc, right?
A: The problem at the moment is that we wrote the Exec lines in desktop files in a way that doesn’t take into account running the apps without sandboxing so it’s not working for Jolla apps.

Otherwise just adding that opt-out would work. Lately, we have added ways to sandbox apps that don’t use special Exec line so that 3rd party apps can be sandboxed a little bit easier (and in a backwards-compatible way)

Known issues - generic

  • Bluetooth devices are not supported by Android App Support with the exception of speakers.

  • Flashing Sailfish X might fail (often caused by issues with USB ports). Please read this article.

  • Manual Android app installation from the terminal or file managers is currently not working on the Android 4.4 version of aliendalvik on SailfishOS 4.4. To solve this, disable sandboxing for this handler by editing the file /usr/share/applications/apkd-mime-handler.desktop and adding the following to the end of the file

    [X-Sailjail]
    Disabled
    

    This doesn’t affect installing Android apps from the Jolla store, nor other Android stores.

Known issues to Android App Support 10 - Xperia 10 II, Xperia 10, and Xperia XA2

  • Sometimes, Android apps may not be able to use Internet connections via a mobile network. If there are connection problems later on (either WLAN or mobile data), stopping and starting the Android service at “Settings > Android App Support” should help. Toggling the connection off and on is another trick to try.

Known issues specific to Xperia 10 III

  • 3rd party caller may hear their own voice echo; use low volume, wired headphones, or loudspeaker as workaround
  • LED indicator colours have a visibly stronger green component
  • Sensors of tele and uwide camera lenses are disabled for now
  • FM radio is not supported

Known issues specific to Xperia 10 II

  • Features not implemented: Factory reset (can be done by reflashing)
  • Top edge swipes in landscape orientation may not work very well
  • The sidetone feature is not perfectly calibrated, and sidetone volume can be a bit high in wired accessories during voice calls
  • Mobile data does not work in 2G and 3G networks on SIM #2.

Known issues specific to Xperia 10

  • Features not implemented: FM radio, double-tap wakeup, support for dual camera, RTC Alarms.
  • Rarely, audio playback and sensors (display rotation) may stop working. If this happens, please restart the device
  • In some cases, the acceptance of the PIN code of a SIM card may take up to 5…20 seconds
  • The phone may not turn off by applying the Power key or the Top Menu. A forced power down goes like this: press both the Volume Up and Power keys down. Keep them down for 20-30 sec until the vibrator plays 3 times - now release the keys
  • Transitions related to network switching 4G > 3G (call begins) and 3G > 4G (call ends) may take time on some networks. Getting the data connection via 4G back might require extra actions in the worst cases. Normally, in most networks, these transitions take a few seconds on Xperia 10.

Known issues specific to Xperia XA2

  • Features not implemented: FM radio, double-tap wakeup, RTC Alarms (XA2 does not power up when alarm time has elapsed )
  • Bluetooth: there are problems in connecting to some peripheral devices
  • With v17B Sony vendor image we observed a decrease in the perceived signal strength of the 5 GHz WLAN access points (investigations ongoing). Version v16 may work better in this respect. Therefore we would not recommend flashing v17B for the time being if you use WLAN networks in the 5 GHz band. You can reflash the vendor image of your choice by following the instructions in here.
  • Some XA2 devices suffer from the loss of audio during voice calls. Reported here.

Known issues specific to Xperia X [ no changes here ]

  • Features not implemented: FM radio, double-tap wakeup, step counter, RTC Alarms
  • Issues with mobile data persist on some SIM cards. Turn the Flight mode on and off to reset the network setup. Reverting the device to Android and re-installing Sailfish X has often helped. See our support article.
  • [camera] Force autofocus mode for photos, and continuous for video. After this, camera focus is still not ideal - as the camera stays out of focus when it starts until you either tap or you try to take a shot - but the pictures seem to be better focused now
  • Bluetooth: problems with some car equipment, some audio devices and computers may appear
  • The loudspeaker volume level cannot be adjusted very high
  • Not all SD cards are recognized and mounted.
  • There is a green stripe on the lower edge of the Camera viewfinder. This does not prevent taking pictures, though.

Known issues specific to Jolla Tablet [ no changes here ]

  • There is no progress bar during the installation phase of OS upgrades. This makes it difficult to follow if it makes progress or not. However, if there are no problems the device will restart itself in the end - please wait patiently. If you feel that you have waited enough, wait for yet another 20 minutes before you turn off the device to allow some more time for it to complete the job. Interrupting too early may break the tablet.
  • Taking screenshots is broken. Pressing the VOL keys together seems to create an image but it cannot be viewed in Gallery.

Known issues specific to Gemini PDA [ no changes here ]

  • Features not implemented: double-tap wakeup, RTC Alarms
  • Gemini Screenshot Button Fn + X does not work
  • Not possible to answer calls when Gemini is closed with a side button
  • Horizontal screen in Gemini is not supported by all 3rd party apps.

Know issues specific to Jolla C [ no changes here ]

  • If there are issues with the camera of Jolla C, do the following

    /usr/bin/killall minimediaservice

    and then start the camera again.

How did the upgrade go?

  • I had no issues during the upgrade process
  • I had small issues but was able to handle them
  • I got into serious trouble when upgrading my device (please help!)

0 voters

39 Likes

Even though jolla C is not listed in the supported devices update seems available, long live jolla C then

5 Likes

FUCK YEAH new browser engine at last. :smiley:

10 Likes

Xperia 10 II from 4.3.0 to 4.4.0: about xxx MB = my device shows 920MB - really?, holy smokes!!

1 Like

Update on Xperia 10 II went well. It removed Storeman suprisingly.

1 Like

hm, no wpa-EAP (TLS) with EAP Method TLS anymore. The old settings are away and filling a new form does not make “Save” possible event when complete filled.

Oups, refilling works, had set the wrong identity. But the old settings were wiped.

Blog link points to void!

1 Like

Yes, Jolla C is stll supported (also listed now). Jolla Tablet as well. And Gemini.

Something like that.

Yes, not written yet, sorry. I’ll add a comment there.

5 Likes

Update available (180 MB)
So ~900MB for one and only 180MB for the other? Something is terribly off here.

I might be better off using Olf’s sfos-upgrade tool I guess as it always worked like a charm where the Settings/Update failed.

1 Like

At the end of the updating process, I got the message: “Device wasn’t updated, please try again later” (this is from memory and in Danish to English translation). With some apprehension I rebooted and fortunately the message above was just a false alarm as the update to 4.4.0.58 had been completed.

There’s a bit of backwards incompatibility in libnemotransferengine-qt5, apparently. Whisperfish built with the 4.3 4.1 SDK cannot be installed on SailfishOS 4.4:

harbour-whisperfish: nothing provides 'libnemotransferengine-qt5.so.1' needed by the to be installed harbour-whisperfish-0.6.0.beta.7+HEAD.20220315222428.ad314c1-0.sf4.armv7hl (code: 13)

This seems to be true for multiple applications. Is this intentional? If so, are there devices that will stay behind on 4.3? If not, I’ll drop support for 4.3 over the weekend.

3 Likes

Maybe something was amiss after all: The browser won’t start at all …

2 big improvements for me:

  • i can again send and receive MMS
  • i can again use my Bluetooth headsets to make calls - people can hear me and I can hear them! (that was broken since a few releases).

\o/

8 Likes

No alphanumeric passphrase for encrypted home yet? At least I can’t find it in the release notes.
Thank you for your work anyway!

2 Likes

Upgrade on XA2 worked almost flawlessly. However, it hung at the decryption during the first boot after the upgrade until I unplugged the charger

2 Likes

It seems like storeman gets uninstalled, because it requires libsolv0, which doesn’t seem to be provided anymore. FIDO2 authentication in the browser seems to work now via USB, doesn’t seem to work via ssh yet, but that could also just be a bug in the solo key 2.

2 Likes

After the upgrade, I cannot start several native sailfish apps from the desktop icons, e.g. the file browser and gpsinfo.
But I can start them from a shell.

It wasn’t an issue for me (XA2+), however my home partion is not encrypted, only (external) sd-card.

That may be due to sandboxing. I’ll check GPSInfo quite soon, I have a lot of testing to do today :sweat_smile: :partying_face:

7 Likes