I’m sure there are quite a few more Belgian Sailfish OS users here on the forum! I think we should maybe have a meet-up, not unlike the French speaking one in Lyon some weeks ago, to chat and get to know some people.
I can probably find some space at the VUB in Etterbeek if we don’t end up being a full aula.
So, fellow Belgians, to kick off this topic:
What’s your Sailfish experience? (I’m almost with The First Ones)
What’s your provider? Any bad experiences with them? (Mobile Vikings, damnit no 5G)
I ran a 1st gen Jolla Phone for a few years, but started to have touchscreen issues (IIRC) and switched to an employer-provided Android, now pre-ordered a J2
Proximus (through employer)
I’ll probably use Whisperfish a lot
French/Wallonia, but working in Brussels area and speak Dutch/English (Professional working proficiency as they say…)
I’ve been using SFOS on an Xperia 10iii for a bit more than half a year.
Mobile Vikings (no 5G)
No real “Belgian app”. Most important apps in that order: Angelfish, Sailtrix (as a Whatsapp-bridge), Whisperfish, Forum Viewer, Tooter ß
German speaking region: “Ostbelgien”. So I speak German, English and French fluently and I understand Luxemburgian and Flemish (when it’s written).
Like the Idea, but I am just a simple longtime user
I started with Jolla 1 until the screen became unusable
Then a short stint on android work phone, didn’t like it.
Then came a XA2 which I used until I broke the screen after dropping it.
Then came my first XZ2 compact, wich I love dearly (so tiny :D). Currently on my second one, and have a spare one waiting just in case.
I am in batch one for the Jolla 2.
Mobile vikings, no complaints but I do not have a 5G phone yet,
BeRail and whisperfish are the only Belgian-related apps I have used but not regularly.
Dutch, located on the border between West and East Flanders
I had a used JP1, Intex Aquafish transformed to a JC, Xperia X, Xperia XA2, Xperia 10 II and an Xperia 10 III. Ordered the JP2. My provider is edpnet. 5g but no voLTE. Most used Belgian-related app unfortunately android apps: 4411, DeLijn, Itsme, banking apps … . Nederlands is mijn moedertaal. Antwerpen.
I’ve got ny C2 since december 24. I’m still trying to get the best of my phone. I prefer natives app. SailfishOS is new for me, it feels alternative. I was interested to drop Andro** phone platform. I had a Samsung J6 from 2015.
Proximus. Sometimes phone calls are not entering or I am not able to call, but I had that sometimes with my Android too, so not sure this is related to Sailfish, VoLTE is enabled
Android: Bolero, itsme, Bancontact Pay, Aldi app, would love to have KBC mobile // native: are there Belgian specific native apps?
Learned about Jolla right when the original phone launched, I think I ordered one maybe a month or two afterwards. Used it until it was no longer supported, then moved over to Xperia 10 II and recently to C2. Eagerly awaiting the new phone this summer! I also have the Tablet, which I really enjoyed using until it became too unstable and the battery started swelling. At FOSDEM Jolla had a stand with a tablet running Sailfish and it felt like seeing an old friend - Sailfish suits tablets very well. I also got a second hand C and Xperia X to play around with, but never used them as my real phone.
Edpnet, never really had any issues but recently they started using the Citymesh network instead of Orange (?) and I feel like reception has gotten a lot worse - there’s a lot of places where mobile data doesn’t seem to do anything and people complain they can’t understand what I’m saying half of the time.
Are you also experiencing less than stellar connectivity with the new SIM card?
Either way, good to know 5G is working on 5G-capable devices, and good to know (but not great) that VoLTE isn’t working for you either. I’d hoped it would work automatically, but alas.
Hi there, could someone shed some light on the usability of Itsme (or alternatively the new MyGov app) and the KBC banking app? One of you reported on Reddit that Itsme is currently broken.
I’ve ordered the J2 (I’m in batch #3) and this will be my first ever Sailfish device. I could make do without a functioning banking app, I guess, but without Itsme/MyGov is going to be difficult.
I have to say I never tried Itsme without microg - I’ve had microg installed before I started to install other android apps. But (with microg) it has always worked for me, it never gave me any trouble. I cannot talk about KBC app, it’s not my bank. All my bankapps also work. Crelan, vdk, triodos and bancontact pay.
Hello from Bruxelles, I’m a future user (ordered a Jolla 2 phone from the first batch)…for a newcomer like me this kind of exchange would for sure be a great help
That Reddit thread has a few nice answers on the working of Itsme, looks like it actually does work. I use it all the time, but I don’t have a camera (Xperia 10 IV…), so can’t vouch for the QR codes. Neither can I vouch for the setup, because that changed several times and I’ve had it for years now.
… I should open my mouth as a Belgium academic in security and privacy and contact them, but I’m a bit hesitant to contact BOSA… They might actually be obliged from Europe for all I know.
From what I understand the app works but there is a Sailfish OS issue where the camera (for the QR code) doesn’t focus properly. So it might take a while to get Itsme to recognize a QR code.
I want to look into the legal side of public services relying on a connection with Google or Apple. That can’t be compliant with EU competition law.
This is absolutely an critic/important/interesting question.
The fact that one user can be forced to tie a contract (as we do by accepting when we install/initialize Android/Ios) with a third company to be able to use services from a first company.
I really can’t understand if and how this can be legal.
It could perhaps help a lot to walk towards some freedom if someone with good legal skills would investigate this question. Maybe @Steve_Everett, also?
Before I investigate this further (lawyer), could someone point me in the right direction on what the involvement of Google or Apple is supposed to accomplish? As far as I know, it serves as a certification that the user is deploying the authentic, unchanged version of Itsme, correct?
Is there an alternative for this in the open source world?
One could imagine the government allowing the user to accept the risk (self certification) but that seems hardly sufficient because it has consequences for the party receiving your identity, who has to be able to trust in the fact that it’s really you.
To back to the original point, if anyone has used Itsme with the QR-code function, I’d still be interested in hearing whether this functions properly or there really is an issue on the SailfishOS side.
