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For those interested: HERE WeGo voice-guidance workaround on Jolla Phone 2026

I have been looking for a good navigation app for my Jolla Phone 2026, ideally something that works out of the box for a regular user.

So far, HERE WeGo seems to be the best option for my needs, but voice guidance was initially unavailable.

After searching the forum and discussing the available options with ChatGPT, I first tried SherpaTTS, as recommended here. Unfortunately, I was unable to download any voices.

I then installed Supertonic TTS from F-Droid. It worked correctly inside its own app, but it did not appear as a selectable text-to-speech engine in the general Android AppSupport settings.

After further searching and testing, I tried a workaround that had already been mentioned on the forum. It worked for me.

Working procedure

  1. Install Supertonic TTS from F-Droid.

  2. Open Supertonic and verify that it can speak correctly inside the app.

  3. Install eSpeak NG temporarily from F-Droid.

  4. Open eSpeak NG once.

  5. Stop Android AppSupport from the Sailfish OS settings.

  6. Perform a complete reboot of the Jolla Phone. Restarting Android AppSupport alone was not enough in my case.

  7. After rebooting, start Android AppSupport again.

  8. Open HERE WeGo.

  9. Go to the voice-guidance settings.

  10. Select Supertonic TTS directly inside HERE WeGo.

After completing these steps, Supertonic TTS became available in HERE WeGo and voice guidance started working correctly.

As already recommended here, it seems that installing and opening eSpeak NG, followed by a full phone reboot, may force Android AppSupport to refresh or rebuild its list of installed TTS engines. This may allow applications such as HERE WeGo to detect engines that were previously invisible.

My current setup

  • HERE WeGo for navigation

  • Supertonic TTS for French voice guidance, although it also supports English and other languages

  • eSpeak NG only as the workaround used to refresh TTS-engine detection

This solution worked on my Jolla Phone 2026, but results may vary depending on the Sailfish OS version and device.

I am still open to suggestions if anyone has found a better navigation app or a cleaner way to make Android TTS engines available. (I have also installed and tried Pure Maps and OMS Scout, but to be honest, they are not practical and not as easy to use as HERE WeGo).

In my opinion, voice guidance should work out of the box. Otherwise, reviewers and Jolla Phone 2026 owners like me will have difficulty recommending the device to regular users, which is unfortunate.

Chris

Steps summarized and edited with the help of ChatGPT.

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