Sailfish OS will be 64bit and get support for Android 10 apps

Jolla’s Sailfish OS mobile Linux operating system will be 64bit and will receive support for Android 10 apps on the Sony Xperia 10 II. Those are the highlights of the new 4.1.0 Kvarken release of the OS.

The new release of Sailfish will be the first version of the OS to run 64bit. With the update, Jolla will also immediately phase out the 32-bit system. The new system currently only works on the Sony Xperia 10 II. According to the developers, it was far from necessary to switch to 64bit, even though the community did ask for it. According to them, the switch will make Sailfish OS more future-proof and accessible to smartphones with more memory, and it will bring support for augmented reality and face ID.

In addition to the switch to 64bit, the update brings support for Android 10, which allows apps for that OS version to work with Sailfish OS. The Aptoide Android store will also receive an update to run on Android 10.

In addition, ‘Kvarken’, as the update is called, has a number of new features. For example, offline location data packages can be purchased from the Jolla Store, which improves location determination, and the OS gets a new sound recorder for voice memos and an Open Forti VPN plug-in that allows connection to Fortinet VPNs.

A few minor improvements include the arrival of a desktop site mode, the ability to install new search engines for the browser, and a portrait mode for the extended calculator. In addition, several bugs have been addressed with calendar and contacts syncing and random reboots of the Xperia 10. Signal messaging app is also working again.