[Strategies] Bringing more sailors to SFOS

General
#41

I acknowledge the fact that there are bugs in SFOS and that Jolla could improve this and that. But the point of this topic is not to tell Jolla what to do but rather to see what us, sailors, can do to make SFOS more popular.

Bringing more companies/users to adopt SFOS will bring more money to Jolla, that can invest it (how ever they want, but also in recruiting devs for bug fix).

I keep talking about SFOS and Jolla but, I think, the same thing could be applied to Aurora OS and Rostelecom for the Russian speaking sailors. If a Russian bank could create an app on Aurora it would be a huge step on my opinion (maybe they already have and I’m not aware).

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#42

There is one, of course, courtesy of VTB Bank

bank01
bank01720×1280 252 KB

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#43

I got it very well.

My strategy proposal remains: quality, quality, quality !! Offering an unfinished and buggy OS is not a good idea. I don’t recommend this to my friends. An exciting interface is not enough, at least the basics have to work without any problems. Operating systems are not radically new software and are always compared with those of other companies.

If I buy a car and only get the car with 2 wheels, would I recommend it to other drivers? No! I hate to say it, but look at Apple. Bugs will be fixed in a few days. Would i recommend it? Yes! Customer satisfaction is important to Apple, regardless of whether you think Apple is good or bad.

So Jolla, surprise your customers with quality. Quality gets around and sells much better.

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#44

I’m sure Jolla would love nothing more than to fix all bugs asap, but unless you know something I don’t, I don’t think they have even a fraction of the amount of money or developers that Google or Apple have at their disposal.

By the way, I wouldn’t call something simple like the text selection mechanisms in either Android or iOS to be anything close to ‘finished’ or ‘not buggy’. It’s been working superbly in Sailfish from the very beginning. Why don’t Google and Apple step up their game?

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#45

I would recommend a car only from/with 5 wheels. :star_struck:
Better with 6. :wink:

#46

History shows, that new Sailfish OS releases are available after every 4-6 months. Sure it brings some or a lot of discomfort if bugs are fixed in such a long timeframe.

But I see the missing of security updates even bigger problem. There should be a public-facing site like https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/ where for every package you could see its status (like https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/source-package/openssl). I hope that there is at least internal tracking for this.

And security releases of packages should be available between major Sailfish OS releases. After all, Sailfish OS uses typical Linux packaging and granular releases from security repos are everyday life there.

Yes, it means changes for the release process (and why not incorporate volunteer manpower for doing this), but it ill be worth in the long run. I will be just one important brick in the wall of promoting Sailfish as safe, secure and private mobile os.

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#47

I agree, even after all these years, and various improvements, text selection on the iPhone is utterly horrible and I don’t remember Android being much better.

So in the spirit of this thread: what are the things that Sailfish does better than anything? In other words: what are things you would show to others?

I’ll start by saying the app cards (though I might slightly prefer the original swipe version of the quick actions).

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#48

@unmaintained Thanks for the information ! It’s an official app ? (because I don’t see it on their website - https://www.vtb.com/o-banke/bank-vtb/ - bottom right)

@4carlos I again agree with you that quality is important but that’s not something that us, users, can influence on, except by making ticket reports. I seek to develop here an user based strategy to make SFOS more famous so we can have more native apps. And as @nthn said, you can’t compare Jolla with two companies that have enough money to buy a country and are 7 years older than Jolla.

@jemmjemm by being opensource the volunteer manpower is already existent. On the promoting side, and this is only my opinion, I hardly see how companies would be attracted to this. I don’t see people when they switch to Debian asking where is the tracker website.

@Setok The spirit of this thread is not to say what’s good or not about SFOS nor what Jolla can/should or shouldn’t do. It’s just how us, sailors, users of SFOS, can promote SFOS out-there so more companies create apps for SFOS. Like the examples I gave on my first message : What would you to motivate a company to develop an app on Sailfish OS ?

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#49

One great argument you can use to convince people with memes to use SFOS is by saying that : when you lock your screen while listening to some song on Youtube, the song doesn’t halt.

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#50

I make my own bleeping apps! :slight_smile:

I am by no means as concerned with big-name services shady business pracitices as some people on here seem to be, but i’m also not sure we need quite all of them in our lives either.
If something disruptive comes around that is more inclusive to alternative platforms, i think it is our duty to be there. If i come across an open API, and it is useful to me, i consider making it an app.

Similarly, i don’t evangelize SFOS to friends and colleagues, but if it comes up in conversation, or (more likely) people have issues with their Android stuff, i’ll show why i am perfectly content with SFOS.

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#51

As far as I know It’s official but I think it may be meant to be installed from the Aurora Center.

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#52

That’s great, I can contact my bank and tell them “look ! the second (according to wikipedia) biggest bank in Russia developed an app on SFOS”

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#53

I would like to have the knowledge to develop my own apps (but I lack even the time to learn) and you’re a lucky person not to be attached to the shady companies.

Of course I don’t have a Sailfish tattoo on my butt cheek but whenever some talks about privacy or data protection (or a company) I ask them Have you considered switching to Sailfish OS ?. If I did not need some shady companies apps to keep talking to friends and family Sailfish would be the perfect solution !

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#54

I don’t even need an app - I would be happy if banks would just open their APIs to developers.
And please nobody tell me that’s for security reasons. Why should a properly designed and secured API be in any way or form less secure than an Android app or web page.

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#55

Yea precisely. What are the things about SF that are most worth showing off, being a fan about?

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#56

oh okay my mistake then.
As you pointed out, I think the UI is a perfect argument for Youtubers that review phones. Lately (more like for the past years) Android and iOS phone reviews are pretty much the same "they have X of battery, Y of RAM/CPU, Z of screen size/definition and the OS part is always “it’s running the latest Android which pretty much everyone knows about”.
Contacting Youtubers to tell them hey look you keep talking about stuff that no one can see (the hardware inside the phone) so here is a product you can talk about that has a different user experience albeit Jolla doesn’t have the billions that Apple and Google invest

1 Like
#57

With DSP2, banks are providing an API to access information about accounts. I was curious about my bank and it seems their API wasn’t complicated, but accessing it requires being a company registered with the banking authority in my country. I guess Zaster Banker (the SFOS banking app in Germany) is registered that way.

It might be more easier to get one of those banking aggregator apps to create an SFOS version rather than the individual banks themselves.
On the other hand, as some have stated here, there is security issues such as slow updates to hotfix vulnerabilities, and the outdated libraries (such as QT) which might scare companies to commit resources to develop apps in general, and a banking app in particular, for the OS (and obvisouly the quite small user base).

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#58

I disagree. Quality is not a question of the size of a company. Of course I have an influence on the development. I do not buy defective products and do not recommend them to anyone. Bad quality management has nothing to do with money.

Again, I don’t recommend SFOS to my friends if I know they need a browser, GPS and a working Cal- / CardDav function. Email and calendar are also not very convenient. Over the years, some have chosen LOS again because even basic functions have not worked for months.

Before I think about a strategy for bringing SFOS closer to other people, I first want to have a functioning system.

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#59

Yes I know, the sad thing is how a seemingly open standard deliberately makes it difficult for independent developers and the open source community to access these APIs. It’s obviously only meant for million dollar startups who in-turn will only provide the next Android app that locks your data in.

It’s saddening to see that neither politicians nor the populace seem to have grasped how beneficial (and important) open standards may be, not only in the banking sector.

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#60

That’s one of the reasons I’m not as concerned with SFOS not being available to the general public without first having to buy the right hardware, unlock the boot loader, flash the device, etc.
It kind of acts as a filter to weed out the casual consumers who otherwise could be tempted to try out something different without realizing what they are getting themselves into :smiley:
Still, I find SFOS much easier to use but it may be a bit biased by the fact I never owned an Android phone so I may not be familiar with all the “quirks and features” of this platform.

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