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Opera wants to be like Microsoft Edge and adds its own AI
Every product needs generative language AI on board
It's hard to deny how big AI has become, seemingly overnight. While it has really been around us for a long time, generative AI suddenly blew up as products like ChatGPT (for text) and Stable Diffusion/DALL-E (for images) exploded in popularity. And as with every shiny new thing, of course, everyone wants to be in on it. Opera, one of the biggest browsers out there, is also hopping on the bandwagon, but we can't help but wonder how inspired this is from another browser that also recently made AI its biggest feature.
Opera’s new paid VPN launches in beta, securing your whole Android phone
A new alternative to its free version
Internet browser Opera has offered a built-in VPN on Android since 2019, and now the company is expanding its service with its first device-wide protection for your Android device. This version isn't free, and it's still in beta for now, but it promises to protect your whole Android phone or tablet without the need for downloading any new apps. The service is called Opera VPN Pro, and it's available from today.
Opera is getting really desperate about where you can use its browser
They're talking about the Android version, installed from the Play Store
The people at Opera really want you to use their browser. That's been true for over 25 years, but today they'd really like you to use Opera on Chrome OS. If that seems a bit incongruous — "Isn't the entire operating system the browser?" — what they mean is that the Android version of Opera has been optimized for Chromebooks and other Chrome OS devices. You can install it via the Play Store.
Opera GX lands on Android as a gaudy browser that targets gamers
You know what's a good browser for gamers to use? Your regular browser
Opera has finally brought its GX gaming browser to mobile with the launch of a beta release. While the browser will roll out in a more official manner in a few weeks, if you're eager to take a look, Opera has provided the APK for today's beta launch. Much like the desktop version of the gaming-centric Opera GX browser, the new mobile release offers a homepage dedicated to gaming news and deals.
Opera for Android finally gets casting support, but probably not the way you want it
Hope all of your favorite videos are hosted on Facebook
It's not easy trying to compete with Chrome. Not only is Google's browser the most popular way to access the web worldwide, but it's also included by default on any Android device running the Play Store. Of course, there are plenty of third-party options if you're interested in finding an alternative, complete with improved privacy features and extension support. While Opera's mobile browser isn't the hottest app around these days, it's still getting new functions to help improve the overall experience. With its latest update, users can finally stream videos to any Chromecast device.
Opera Mini is one of the few applications on Android that predate the existence of Android itself. The web browser got its start on Java ME-compatible basic phones, and was later ported to BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Phone, and eventually iOS and Android. Now the app has passed a major milestone on Google's smartphone platform: 500 million installations.
Opera updates its Android app with secure note-taking and an improved cross-device experience
It's kind of like having Pushbullet baked into your browser
Kiwi Browser showed signs of life last week, but it's not the only browser getting some fresh love. In new updates to the desktop and Android clients, Opera is adding a slew of features and improvements, including QR-code syncing and expanded availability of Flow to let users securely message themselves.
The best Android browsers with dark mode
Because the web can be just as bold and beautiful as your dark Android theme
Dark mode was admittedly one of my favorite experimental flags in Chrome for Android. Not only did it force web pages to match my device's dark theme, but it also saved my retinas from catching fire while reading articles at night. So imagine my chagrin when we found out Chrome will be sunsetting dark mode later this year. Luckily, there are other Android browsers in the Play Store that offer their take on dark mode for web content.
Opera Mini gets a facelift with its biggest update in months
It doesn’t look like an app from 2016 anymore
Opera’s browser business may be struggling with heightened competition from the likes of Google Chrome, but that hasn't stopped the company from working on its existing products. The lightweight Opera Mini mobile browser, which once was the market leader, has been waiting for an update for quite a few months now. After a long gap, Opera is finally giving it a big visual overhaul with the app's latest release.
Competing with dominant browsers like Chrome and Firefox, Opera differentiates itself with a bunch of additional features, like a built-in ad blocker and unlimited VPN. With the last major build released in December, the browser got the ability to darken web pages in addition to the app UI. This week Opera's releasing its v56 update, delivering a proper reader mode to help declutter the sites you read, along with a couple other handy features.
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- Opera has posted a response to the report on its investors site, stating it "contains numerous errors":
It's no secret that Opera isn't doing so well in the era of Chrome dominance. According to a report published by Hindenburg Research, the company's losses in browser revenue have apparently led it to create multiple loan apps with short payment windows and interest rates of ~365-876%, which are in violation of new Play Store rules Google enacted last year.
Norwegian software developer Opera is about to roll out version 55 of its web browser for Android with a much-needed and much-welcomed night mode. And, much like Chrome has been working on in an offside flag, Opera will be turning white pages dark and tuning color temperature without going to a full-on color inversion.
Opera has a handful of different browsers for Android, each with a slightly different use case. Opera Touch is an experimental app, with a gesture interface reminiscent of Paranoid Android's "PIE' gestures from back in the day. If you're using the browser on Android 10, you might be happy to know it can now sync with the system theme.
Much like modern cars, web browsers are starting to all look the same. Operas has tried a few experiments lately to stand out from the competition, like making a gaming browser that limits CPU usage and an Android app with gesture navigation. Now the company has finished revamping its main Android browser, adding theme support and... cryptocurrency payments.
Opera's Touch browser, introduced last year, was built around one-handed use, with a circular navigation layout that's supposed to be easy to manipulate with just your thumb. It's a neat idea, but Opera says some users requested a more traditional layout. In its newest release, Opera Touch allows for just that with an optional bottom navigation bar.
Printing webpages and confirmation emails used to be common back in the days, especially to keep a copy of your booking when traveling. However, as mobile devices are much more popular, most people now carry an electronic version of these documents. In the meantime, browsing websites on a phone is also more frequent, but there are times when you need to save a page as a PDF file. Unfortunately, and quite surprisingly, Chrome doesn't allow you to do this natively, but Opera's latest version adds support for it, making it easier to store or share documents.
If you haven't heard about it before, we have a browser extension called Toolbox for Google Play Store, which adds plenty of useful features to the Play Store website. It can automatically look up if an app is available on APKMirror, check for an app testing program (and tell you if you're enrolled), and more. Version 2.5 is now rolling out to Chrome and Firefox, with the Opera release pending approval.
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- Opera's VPN is now officially out of beta and available in v51 of the browser, which you can grab from the Play Store below or APK Mirror.
ISPs are generally not trustworthy, so many internet users have turned to VPNs. Opera used to offer a popular free VPN on Android, but it retired the service last year. Now, the company has announced a new VPN, which is integrated with the Opera browser. It's starting out in the beta version, available to everyone in the Play Store.
For its latest big Android update, Opera is including a key new feature that makes it easier to whitelist websites from the in-built ad blocker. Other enhancements include the addition of Picture-in-Picture video and a new fast-scrolling handle.
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Last week, we covered a new feature for Opera Browser Beta that could block the cookie dialogs that appear on many sites. That feature is now coming to the stable version of the Android app, along with launcher shortcuts, new startup options, and a few other additions.