Technology

One of the pillar technologies used by the Sailfish OS is the Qt application framework, an incredibly powerful cross-platform set of libraries for writing complex, user centric applications. The Qt framework gives the Sailfish OS a powerful user experience design language known as QML.

The QML language and features give Sailfish OS the ability to provide a rich set of UI elements, to create animated, touch-enabled UIs and lightweight applications.

Jolla has developed a signature UI style using this and created building blocks for you to build your own applications with custom components named Sailfish Silica.

Native

For the best user experience and seamless native performance, applications built with Sailfish Silica Qt Quick components will be able to harness the full power of the devices running Sailfish OS.

Android runtime

Sailfish OS includes the capability to run Android™ applications through a third party solution. It is based on open source Android libraries, ensuring performance comparable to the native environment.

With Sailfish using Qt5 and Wayland technology, existing hardware adaptations made for Android can be leveraged, significantly easing the hardware adaptation work required to support the Sailfish OS.

HTML5

Web development tools like HTML, JavaScript and CSS can be used to utilize HTML5 on the Sailfish OS. We are investigating Cordova Qt and compatibility with Firefox OS APIs for this purpose.

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.