We already know that the Jolla Tablet will be powered by Sailfish OS 2.0, the next major version of Jolla’s MeeGo-based operating system. However, the first Jolla Tablet orders aren’t expected to begin shipping until the end of October. If you’ve got a Jolla smartphone, though, you can try out Sailfish OS 2.0 right now.
Jolla today released Sailfish OS 2.0 to its early access user group, allowing Jolla phone owners to try the update right now. As you might expect from a 2.0 update, this new version of Salifish includes a long list of improvements. For example, Sailfish OS 2.0 refreshes the software’s home screen to be a carousel that’ll let you swipe between your Home and Events pages, and the Events page now includes a redesigned weather widget. You can also access your App Grid from anywhere in the OS, even from within another app, by swiping up from the bottom edge of your device’s screen.
Here’s a list of the goodies that are included in Sailfish OS 2.0:
New User Interface:
- Home is now a carousel. Swipe to cycle between Home and Events
- App Grid can be accessed from anywhere in the OS (even from inside an app) by swiping up from the bottom edge
- Swipe down from the top edge of the screen to open Top menu with lock action and ambiences. The currently active ambience is marked with an indicator. You can change it to close apps directly with one top swipe.
- Tutorial app has been updated to introduce the new navigation of the user interface
- Refreshed visual style in Home, buttons, pulley menus, time picker, volume bar and remorse timer
- Refreshed layouts for Calendar, Jolla Store, Clock, Email and Camera apps
- Refreshed active App Covers for Gallery, Jolla Store, Settings, Notes and Camera apps
Events:
- Events is now richer and configurable via Settings > System > Events
- Notifications in the Events are now shown by grouping them based on type
- New gesture option enables quick Events view access with a left swipe, activate it in Settings > System > Gestures
- New Calendar widget displays your upcoming events directly in the Events view
- Redesigned Weather widget shows five-day forecast information – tap on the widget to view it and remember to set your location in the Weather app
- Jolla Tablet: now you can pick your favorite settings shortcuts to be shown in the Events view
- Jolla Tablet: perform your favorite actions directly from the Events view. E.g. connecting to internet, search the web, find your location, take a photo, make a note or add a reminder
Camera:
- Records video clips in H.264 format now
Android apps:
- Android apps now use the “Chat” system tone for notifications, and alert with vibration and notification LED
- Android app notifications now wake up the display
Other improvements/features:
- Jolla Tablet: three finger volume control gesture enabled – hold three fingers on the screen and slide one of the fingers to adjust volume
- Support for US English language in the OS
- Support for Lohit Devanagari font (Indian fonts)
- New ambiences based on the selections from the Jolla ambience photo campaign with Jolla tones set as default actions
- Notes can now be shared as text files
- Media controls on lock screen for native Media app
Jolla is also teasing the next major Sailfish OS update, which it says will “complete the transition to Sailfish OS 2.0.” Some of the tweaks that’ll be included in that update include like shortcuts that’ll let you perform actions directly from the Events screen, a new Settings app layout, and Feeds support in the Events page.
If you’ve got a Jolla smartphone, you can find the changelog, list of known issues, usability changes, and instructions for upgrading right here.