I understand the concern, but I think this is a classic chicken-and-egg problem. A platform does not get a healthy native app ecosystem without users, and users will not come to a platform that lacks essential apps like banking, government, or communication services.
A better AAS does not necessarily weaken Sailfish OS — it can help people stay on Sailfish while the native ecosystem grows. Many users who choose Sailfish are not rejecting native apps; they simply need a practical daily driver. If they cannot use important services, they will leave the platform completely, which helps nobody.
The bigger question is: why would enthusiasts of a platform want to reduce its possibilities? Supporting more use cases, attracting more users, and making the platform viable should be the goal. AppSupport should not replace native development, but it can be a bridge that keeps users in the Sailfish ecosystem and gives Jolla more time and resources to build the native side.
A strong platform should aim for both: better native applications and the best possible compatibility layer. These goals do not have to be enemies.
As you’re saying, we need it for SailfishOS! That would be God’s fist!
Well spoken!
I like to add:
There will be a desire to have native apps in the beautiful Sailfish design so that all the advantages, such as App Covers, can be used properly.
Nobody will easily make something for Linux. For them to make something, they need money, they need advertising, they need to sell their data. Today, if you need an app on the Play Store, in at least 8 out of 10 apps, most features are either paid or the app becomes unusable because of the amount of ads pushed. The remaining 2 are not properly maintained because they cannot make money from them.
Ours is similar. The philosophy of our ecosystem is very strict and disruptive, but nobody is putting their hands on this. Think of it like life: if you don’t suck up to people, nobody likes you. You are forced to do it. Go ahead, try leaving if you dare. This is the same kind of issue.
Edit: This was already the original purpose of Linux, but big companies prevented it from the very beginning. In other words, if you don’t offer developers any benefits or incentives, they won’t even lift a finger for you.
Any alternative depends on a user base which has diverse skill and capacity to sustain itself and grow on its own terms. Banks or other digital infrastructure which dependent on existing duopoly, won’t be persuaded by good arguments. I think change comes from having enough users demanding it. (And not even that is enough)
AAS is a great tool for growing a user base and growing community skills. After there are enough people involved, changes can also be advanced throug legislation. For example, in the framework of digital sovereignty… Or better yet market fairness.
I don’t have an anti-feature request. I guess nativity off apps could be understood as a step towards digital sovereignty, but AAS as a step towards native apps
Yes, we talked about this with htneb the other night as well. I also think that banks won’t develop an app just for 10 people, or that’s what I think. Sami from Lume had mentioned that they would organize meetings and discussions regarding these situations. It’s good that they take these things into consideration, but let’s say we are only around 100,000 people here. Will most banks really bring their apps for us? Will we actually be able to make contactless payments from the phone?
Honestly, forget it. As far as I know, most banks already work with Google anyway. They would probably just kick us aside and say “come back when you’re bigger.”
It was said that there would be meetings and discussions about that. Lume had actually opened a forum topic about this subject, and there were some statements indicating that they would pursue the matter and work on it.
After a few weeks on SFOS, the biggest UX things I miss from IOS are the bottom gesture to quickly switch between recent apps, and checking time and date + notifications from the top menu. Date and notifications take two swipes currently. Also copy+paste is sometimes very tedious. But obviously not everything should be the same and there are many things done better on SFOS.
Isn’t that more of a lack-of-market-share issue? Only recently have some studios even bothered to support Proton.
I’d also argue that making games (or proprietary software in general) for the Linux desktop isn’t that easy right now, mainly because of the ongoing Wayland tech transition, which is painfully slow. Plus, desktop distros in general still break things way too easily.
Yes, it’s getting better with stuff like Flatpaks and immutable distros (which still need work)… but LTS-based distros are still holding things back.
But again this is a Anti-Features-Request thread. We have other threads for simple feebacks and now the conversation is getting way off topic.
Lets come back here to Anti-Features-Request.
I can understand your point here. but some small creators also secure theyr content with drm. And I am happy to support these people with my coffee every month. but I need drm support in my browser to view that content.
I think I can agree with you right up to the point where the phone requires a google account or somehow otherwise calls home to the mothership, gatekeeping for important things we do. I understand that some people want everything to be friction-free.
However, sometimes people can use the friction and grow. I don’t work in IT. I’m not an engineer. Even so, I have programmed an app that AAS couldn’t do — read the battery level on my e-skate. I also began using my rpi-2 to run a nice server for my family chat and also a “find my family” site so I can opt-out of the Apple ecosystem for those. It made me grow as a person.
And sometimes people can become the friction. I’m participating in groups in the community that are organizing to promote open protocols to enhance security for banking and enable tap-to-pay without the American duopoly brokers. Being this squeaky wheel is genuinely good for Europe and good for the future of our tech-centered world.
If Jolla someday can be friction-free for everybody, that’d be a win. But no one will serve that to us on a silver platter. We’re too few to expect Jolla or other businesses to do the work for us. I think we all wish for better, but lamenting on the forum won’t move that needle.
