Back in February, Jolla teased its plans to offer a Sailfish launcher for Android to allow those users to try out the Sailfish UI that’s used on its MeeGo-based smartphone. Fast-forward to today and Jolla says that the launcher is nearly ready to go.
Jolla has announced that it plans to kick off alpha testing for its “Jolla Launcher” next week. Like other launcher apps for Android, Jolla Launcher will work on top of Android OS, giving users the chance to try out the Sailfish UI while remaining on Android.
Since it’s still in alpha, Jolla is asking that members of its community submit an email to sign up for testing. The requirements for testing the Jolla Launcher include: a Nexus 4, Nexus 5 or some other device with Android 4.3 or later; a Google account; and a willingness to give feedback during testing.
Jolla originally launched its Sailfish OS smartphone in Finland last November, and while it’s still working to expand the device’s availability, the Jolla phone is currently only available to ship to the European Union, Aland Islands, Finland, Norway and Switzerland. This Jolla Launcher will allow many more folks to get a taste of Sailfish while waiting for the Jolla phone to be released to more countries.
While we wait for the alpha test of the Jolla Launcher to kick off, you can check out our review of the Jolla phone down below to get an idea of exactly what Sailfish is like.