Back in September, Opera Software released its Coast WebKit-based browser for the iPad and now the company is debuting a new version of the browser designed for Apple's iPhones.

Like the iPad version of the app, Opera Coast for iPhone has been optimized for the touchscreen. Initiating a search is as simple as pulling down on the home screen, which brings up an input interface with an icon-based autofill that allows users to tap the site they want to visit.

opera1

Made for thumbs: The iPhone was made for having all screen real estate within a thumb's reach, and Opera Coast takes this idea one step further. Gestures take care of practically all of the navigation needs, with the rest handled by a bare minimum of conveniently placed buttons. Two, to be exact.

Websites are displayed full screen, and swipe gestures let users navigate between pages. There's a small toolbar on the bottom that brings up a visual grid of saved websites, which can be altered with a simple tap and drag gesture. Users can have multiple screens of saved websites, providing easy access to all favorite sites, and search is enhanced with related words and suggestions.

opera2
The app also recommends popular websites to visit in a "Stuff we like" section, and provides a sharing tool to send links via iMessage, email, or social networks like Facebook and Twitter. An info tool also provides safety information, letting a user know whether a website is secure. While there is a lot of competition in the browser space, with Safari and Google Chrome readily available, Opera Coast is well worth checking out for its unique touch-focused interface.

Opera Coast for the iPhone will be available today as a free download.

The iPad version of the app is also available as a free download. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

wikiverse Avatar
144 months ago
Without data compression (that makes browsing on EDGE tolerable... And saves $), this is the most pointless Opera product - quite literally, ever.

Protip, Opera team. Stick to your roots. Do what you do well, and enhance that.

No company should ever 'stick to their roots'. It didn't work for blackberry, or Nokia, or Atari, or Kodak.

Apple ignored this advice and made the iPod. Clearly 'adapt or die', or 'innovate' would be much better corporate advice.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Megakazbek Avatar
144 months ago
I'm curious: why does Opera exist? What do they get out of producing a web browser that virtually no one uses? They don't charge for it, and they can't use it to exert control on web standards using it... So why bother?
Several million users is not "no one"
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kfury77 Avatar
144 months ago
I'm curious: why does Opera exist? What do they get out of producing a web browser that virtually no one uses? They don't charge for it, and they can't use it to exert control on web standards using it... So why bother?

Approx 1.3% of traffic is from Opera browsers, when you think of the massive scale of all of the traffic globally - then even just 1% is a large portion. They generate revenue from the built-in search panel.

----------

The article should state that this is now a Universal app - there aren't separate versions for iPad and iPhone
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KSean Avatar
144 months ago
I'm curious: why does Opera exist? What do they get out of producing a web browser that virtually no one uses? They don't charge for it, and they can't use it to exert control on web standards using it... So why bother?
They license their browser tech to third party companies, and I assume that's where the bulk of their money comes from. Opera is used in Nintendo consoles, some smart televisions, Adobe's Creative Suite etc.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
APlotdevice Avatar
144 months ago
They license their browser tech to third party companies, and I assume that's where the bulk of their money comes from. Opera is used in Nintendo consoles, some smart televisions, Adobe's Creative Suite etc.
Opera was used in Nintendo consoles. It isn't in their current systems. And, from what I can tell, Adobe ceased to use it after CS4.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Renzatic Avatar
143 months ago
They almost went bankrupt in the late 90s because:
- many of their devices were ahead of time;
- they had very poor marketing/advertising;
- they were too afraid to go "mainstream".

Nope. Apple in the 90's just kinda blew. It wasn't because they were ahead of their time. The Macs back then weren't any better than PCs as far as build quality and components go. Nor were they afraid to go mainstream. Hell, they tried going as mainstream as Windows by licensing out their OS.

...but when you make most of your profit on hardware, you don't give away your trump card that draws people to the hardware in the first place. They learned their lesson on that the hard way.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...