Jolla’s phone isn’t exactly easy to come by, so you probably might be having a hard time getting your hands on one to try out the Sailfish OS. Fret not, the folks at Jolla have now released Sailfish OS for Nexus 4. The official OS image is now available for download, the only caveat is that its compatible with the Nexus 4. It doesn’t support the Nexus 5 or any other Android device at this point in time, so you’ll need a Nexus 4 to try Sailfish OS.
Jolla is a company that mainly consists of former Nokia employees who left the company after it culled MeeGo. Its basically a Linux based operating system with an emphasis on gesture based navigation as well as the ability to run Android and web apps.
Anyone who has ever flashed a custom ROM on Android should be able to follow the instructions to properly install Sailfish OS on Nexus 4. The OS is an early adopter release which includes a watermark, it will be plastered on every screen. A few important features don’t work, such as call audio, which means you can’t use this as a daily driver. SMS can be sent and received normally. Alarms, video playback, camera, sensors and Bluetooth don’t work.
Jolla has listed all of the steps you need to follow in order to install Sailfish OS on Nexus 4 on its official blog.