New Jolla Phone and new users - how to make life easy for daily users?

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My personal self reference documentation for the J2. This can be very useful for new users as well. I tried to bundle the information that is scattered all over the place. My goal is to use as many native apps as possible. Priority of stores: Jolla Store, Chum, Storeman, WepApps, F-Droid, Aurora. I chose AAS + microg + F-Droid + Aurora + AAS Bluetooth (you can choose these options during the setup procedure after the first start of your device). This guide uses an ssh terminal a lot for convenience and speed. The different steps are more or less in the order of priority. But that’s subjective. Thanks to everyone on the forum and elsewhere for providing the help I needed to write this guide.

  1. Connect to your WLAN / log in to your Jolla account

  2. The initial setup offers the installation of AAS, microg, f-droid, Bluetooth-AAS support. Choose whatever you need.

  3. Check for system updates: Settings > Sailfish 0S updates. Download and install, if available.

  4. Let’s set things up to install stores and apps:
    a) Settings > System > Untrusted software > Allow untrusted software
    b) Settings > System > Developer tools. Tick “Developer mode” and “Remote connection” (for ssh). Create a password for ssh access.
    c) To use ssh over WLAN, a static IP-address is the best option: Settings > System > WLAN > long press on your active connection > Details > Edit (Top pulley)> deactivate “Auto-retrieve Ip address” and adapt. I had to add a secondary dns server (eg 1.1.1.1), the rest was correct.

  5. Install chum. Enter the browser on your phone and got to: SailfishOS:Chum GUI Installer — SailfishOS:Chum, a Sailfish OS software repository by the community
    Download “sailfishos-chum-gui-installer-noarch.rpm”. At the top of your screen, a notification will appear. Click on it and install chum.

  6. Go to a computer, open your terminal and ssh into your phone: ssh defaultuser@YOURIP

  7. Update:
    devel-su pkcon refresh

  8. Install a few tools for later:
    devel-su pkcon install wget zypper nano

  9. Let’s install storeman ( Storeman Installer | OpenRepos.net — Community Repository System ). You can use the same method as in 5. I prefer the terminal. If zypper complains about packages that haven’t been signed, choose “i” to ignore.
    cd Downloads
    wget https://openrepos.net/sites/default/files/packages/5928/harbour-storeman-installer-2.3.0-release10.noarch.rpm
    devel-su zypper in harbour-storeman-installer-2.3.0-release10.noarch.rpm

  10. Optional: Install an alternative native browser: “Angelfish” (August 2026: search the forum for updates: How is Angelfish currently? ):
    devel-su ssu ar ‘piggz-qt6-apps’ ‘https://repo.sailfishos.org/obs/home:/piggz:/qt6apps/sailfish_5.1_aarch64/’
    devel-su ssu ar ‘piggz-qt6sb2’ ‘https://repo.sailfishos.org/obs/home:/piggz:/qt6sb2/sailfish_51_aarch64/’
    devel-su zypper refresh
    cd ~/Downloads
    wget https://repo.sailfishos.org/obs/sailfishos:/chum/5.0_aarch64/aarch64/qt-runner-0.4.6-1.9.1.bso.aarch64.rpm
    wget https://repo.sailfishos.org/obs/sailfishos:/chum/5.0_i486/noarch/qt-runner-qt6-0.4.6-1.9.1.bso.noarch.rpm
    devel-su zypper in ~/Downloads/qt-runner-0.4.6-1.9.1.bso.aarch64.rpm
    devel-su zypper in ~/Downloads/qt-runner-qt6-0.4.6-1.9.1.bso.noarch.rpm
    devel-su zypper in angelfish

    Optional: For dark style in Angelfish:
    cd ~/Downloads
    wget https://github.com/KDE/qqc2-breeze-style/blob/master/style/BreezeDark.colors
    mv BreezeDark.colors kdeglobals
    cp kdeglobals ~/.config

    On your phone: Open QT Runner > default settings > Override DPI (± 300). Start Angelfish.

    Or install “Atlantic Browser” (Better system integration):
    devel-su ssu ar https://sailfish.openrepos.net/mrbn100ful/personal/main openrepos-mrbn100ful
    devel-su zypper in atlantic-browser

  11. Stock Browser tweaks:
    A) Bigger font size. In your browser (address bar):
    about:config > layout.css.devPixelsPerPx > 3 > accept
    B) Adblocking in Browser:
    about:config > network.trr.default_provider_uri > replace DNS with https://dns.adguard-dns.com/dns-query > accept
    about:config > network.trr.mode > 3 > accept

  12. System wide Adblocking:
    devel-su pkcon install hosts-block

  13. Optional: Create WebApps: As an example, a WebApp for Youtube:
    A) Create an app from the Sailfish-Browser (go to website > options > Add to app grid)
    B) Get an icon from the web (I did it on my desktop computer) and download it to Downloads.
    C) Create a folder on your phone:
    mkdir ~/Downloads/Icons
    D) Copy the icon to your phone:
    scp youtube.png defaultuser@YOURIP:~/Downloads/Icons
    E) We have to adapt the .desktop:
    nano ~/.local/share/applications/sailfish-browser-YouTube-0.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=YouTube
Icon=~/Downloads/Icons/youtube.png
URL=https://m.youtube.com/
Exec=qt-runner angelfish-webapp sailfish-browser-YouTube-0.desktop
Comment=YouTube
X-Nemo-Single-Instance=no

  1. Add aas-installer-patcher ( AAS Installer Patcher | OpenRepos.net — Community Repository System ) for later (I need this for my banking app to work):
    devel-su ssu ar https://sailfish.openrepos.net/Rikudou_Sennin/personal/main openrepos-Rikudou_Sennin
    devel-su zypper in harbour-aas-installer-patcher

  2. Partnerspace: This is a UI tweak ( Sailfish OS Tips & Tricks | Sailfish OS Documentation ). I use it to open the SFOS-forum-viewer quickly:
    A) Install patchmanager from Storeman
    devel-su zypper in patchmanager
    B) On your Phone:
    Settings > System > Patchmanager > Web Catalog (Top pulley) > Blur Partnerspace Background
    Activate the daemon and then the patch itself
    C) Restart lipstick (this takes a few moments)
    devel-su systemctl --user restart lipstick
    D) Activate partnerspace
    dconf write /desktop/lipstick-jolla-home/partnerspace/applications “[‘/usr/share/applications/harbour-sfos-forum-viewer.desktop’]”

  3. Wireguard VPN: You need config files from your VPN provider. Save them somewhere safe. Then:
    Settings > System > VPN > Add new VPN > Wireguard > Import file. After installation: Long Tap on connection > edit > advanced > Enable IPv6 data leak protection.

  4. Adding accounts (new user / old users: 19):
    Settings > Accounts > Add account

  5. To add your accounts, you need your passwords. If you have a Bitwarden account, install bitsailor from Storeman ( BitSailor | OpenRepos.net — Community Repository System ). Or, if you have followed 14, just do:
    devel-su zypper in harbour-bitsailor

    To log in, you might need your API key: Go to your Bitwarden account in your browser > Settings > Security > Keys > Show API Key. You need client_id and client_secret. Copy the key to bitsailor.

    You might not need api key if you have an account without 2FA or you use authenticator app 2FA.

  6. Backups / Migration (not for new users, obviously)
    A) Basics: If you want to move over from another Sailfish device, copy your backup file to the new phone and import it: Settings > Backup
    Contacts won’t be imported. Put your contacts.vcf in “Downloads”. To import: Settings > Apps > People > From contact file
    Put in your credentials (Passwords) for your accounts: Settings > Accounts
    B) Apps: If you want to move over configuration files, copying the respective files from .conf and .local is worth a try. Example: Angelfish
    ssh into your old phone
    find /home/defaultuser -iname ‘angelfish’ 2>/dev/null
    Result:
    ./.config/angelfishrc
    ./.config/angelfish
    ./.local/share/KDE/angelfish
    ./.local/share/KDE/angelfish/angelfish.sqlite
    ./.local/state/angelfishstaterc
    ./.cache/KDE/angelfish
    So: from your old phone:
    scp ~./.config/angelfishrc defaultuser@IPNEWPHONE:/home/defaultuser/.config
    scp ~./.local/state/angelfishstaterc defaultuser@IPNEWPHONE:/home/defaultuser/.local/state
    scp -r ~./.config/angelfish defaultuser@IPNEWPHONE:/home/defaultuser/.config
    scp -r ~./.local/share/KDE defaultuser@IPNEWPHONE:/home/defaultuser/.local

  7. Asthetics: To enable Dark theme for Android apps:
    Settings > System > Android AppSupport > Tap multiple times on “Android Version” and set the theme to dark in android settings.

  8. Enable Emojis:
    Settings > System > Text input > Keyboards > tap on your language > choose “Emoji” and any other language you need.

  9. Check data settings (APN) settings for your provider on the web and make sure they match with your phone:
    Settings > System > Mobile network > Data access point
    For Mobile Vikings (Belgium) I have to change Authentication to “none”. The rest was ok. In case of mismatches you will encounter connection problems.
    Do the same for mms settings.

  10. Test phone calls, sms, mms, mobile data.

  11. Install apps.
    A) Native apps first. Use the official Jolla Store first, then chum, then Storeman. Webapps are an alternative (see 13). Tipps: List of Android -> Sailfish OS applications - #35 by attah
    B) Android Apps: Use F-droid (FOSS-apps) first, then Aurora.
    C) Install at least a browser from F-Droid (eg. Fennec). The rest is up to you. I always install Droid-ify. It allows you to add repos more easily. Molly (Signal fork) has its own repo, for example.
    D) When setting up Aurora-Store, make sure to grant the permissions and allow Aurora to open play-store links.
    E) To circumvent geoblocking and to install apps from Aurora which are not available in your region, use a VPN to connect to the correct region, search for the app on play store in Fennec (or a different android browser) and open the link with aurora.
    F) My banking app complains about not having been installed by the official Google Play store. There is a solution:
    Stop AAS (Settings > System > Android AppSupport > Stop). Open AAS-Installer-Patcher. Choose your app and change from aurora to google play store.
    G) Installing an .apk works in the same way as explained under point 5.

  12. Go through the other settings and adapt to your needs.

  13. Optional: Adapting keyboard layout. See: Speed up a device by system tweaks in the qml files - #142 by Seven.of.nine

  14. Navigation: Install Pure Maps and OSM Scout Server from chum (Jolla Shop versions are not feature complete, the author also recommends the chum version). Install a TTS (Mimic or Pico TTS) if you need speech. First set up OSM (downloading maps for offline navigation).

    If you need real time traffic data, you have to sign up (credit card needed, but free service) with here, create an API key and put the key in Pure Maps:
    Get started with HERE Traffic API v7

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