Turing Robotic Industries (TRI) sent out an update newsletter to those following the development process of the Turing Phone. In it, the company revealed that they’re dropping Android, and the Turing Phone will instead run Jolla’s Sailfish OS.
TRI says that consumers’ favorite Android apps will still be able to run on the smartphone and can be found through an Android application store. Unfortunately, the vagueness of the information indicated that the Turing Phone won’t have Google’s Play Store, but an “alternative” Android store.
Here’s the full statement from TRI:
“Many of you have asked numerous times through our Facebook fan page as well as emailed us about our OS development. We can now confirm that TRI has chosen to drop Android and use Jolla’s Sailfish OS. Sailfish OS is now running perfectly on the Turing Phone and we have started the final OS software testing phase.”
And here’s what the company said about the Android applications:
“The Turing Phone will still be able to run Android Apps on the Sailfish OS without issue. An Android application store will be available for you to download your favorite apps.”
For those that aren’t familiar with Jolla’s Sailfish OS, it’s basically an improved version of the Linux MeeGo OS, which was developed jointly between Nokia and Intel.
Unfortunately, TRI is being very vague on what this means for the Turing Phone. However, with the dropping of Android, users won’t get to experience the many goodies that come with the latest version of Android, such as Doze, App Permissions, Google Now On Tap, and much more.
It’s also not clear how well TRI will be able to support the platform. For instance, if the company doesn’t do well financially down the line and has to close its doors, users aren’t going to be very happy as far as support for the Turing Phone goes.
This also likely means that users won’t get Google Services on their smartphone, unless a modding community like XDA comes together and creates an Android-based ROM for the smartphone.
Again, the newsletter sent out was vague, which was no doubt on purpose. But one thing’s for sure: TRI is starting to make many of its customers who have already invested in the Turing Phone very unhappy.
You can read the newsletter below.
Dear Turing Fans,
You will be pleased to know that we have ironed out the final development tasks before we deliver the Turing Phone to your hands. We fully expect the Turing Phone to be delivered in the month of April 2016.
Many of you have asked numerous times through our Facebook fan page as well as emailed us about our OS development. We can now confirm that TRI has chosen to drop Android and use Jolla’s Sailfish OS. Sailfish OS is now running perfectly on the Turing Phone and we have started the final OS software testing phase.
Sailfish OS runs exceptionally fast on the Turing. You will not have to worry about performance issues with Turing’s Snapdragon 801 because Sailfish OS has been optimized to run fast on your Turing Phone. The Turing Phone will still be able to run Android Apps on the Sailfish OS without issue. An Android application store will be available for you to download your favorite apps.
The Sailfish OS is an evolved continuation of the Linux MeeGo OS previously developed by an alliance of Nokia and Intel. MeeGo mobile software platform was created through the merging of Moblin and the Maemo OS originally developed by Nokia.
This essentially means you have one of the world’s fastest mobile device running the fastest mobile OS with the capability of running your favorite apps in a secure environment.
TRI will also be hosting its first Turing Developers Conference (TDC) during Q2 2016.
We can’t wait to get the phones out to your hands. Thank you so much for your continued patience and support for the Turing Project.
Turing Phone Team | Turing Robotic Industries
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