Jolla has officially revealed who will be powering its mapping software, and surprise surprise the company started by ex-Nokia employees are going to be using the mapping might of its previous employers, Nokia. The company announced that its batch of smartphones running the Sailfish OS will be using the HERE mapping software, although you’re not limited to just HERE — as you’ll also be able to access thousands of other Android applications using the Yandex.Store.
You’ll be forgiven if you don’t know what the Yandex.Store is, neither did we, but apparently it’s a third-party app store that you can download on your Android phone to circumvent the need for Google Play, oh and it’s run by the Russian internet giant Yandex. Of course Jolla’s Sailfish OS won’t be Google-approved, like Amazon’s devices, so it won’t be able to run the Google Play Store, although with over 85,000 apps — it’s not like the Yandex.Store is going to be empty.
If you’re not a big fan of the Yandex.Store then there will likely be a way of installing other app stores, including Google Play — although this will all be unoffical. Of course before we can try such things we’ll need to get our hands on a Jolla smartphone, although the only one currently announced has only been confirmed to be heading to the Finnish carrier DNA.
