Opera's Minimalist Mobile Browser Gets a Design Overhaul

Opera today is releasing a substantial update to its two-and-a-half-year-old Opera Touch mobile browsing app.

opera mobile browser 2021 update
Now titled simply "Opera," the revamped version features a "neater and flatter design" that aims to reflect its lightweight underpinnings and its status as a minimalist app that promises users a fast and secure browsing experience.

The revamp of the user interface in Opera also unveils a neater and flatter design that gives the browser a more refined appearance than before. The new-look replaces the diagonal background pattern, initially introduced into Opera Touch, with flat surfaces and removing shadows on bubbles and other elements.

New icons have been added in the bottom bar and the floating Fast Action button, which users can touch to access a radial menu and swipe through several one-handed actions with their thumb.

The browser also includes a feature called Flow that uses a QR code to securely link the iOS app with the Mac, allowing users to share links, notes, images, files, and other information over a secure and private connection, no logins required.

In addition, Opera comes with a built-in Ethereum wallet, built-in ad blocking, and protection against disguised online cryptocurrency mining, or "cryptojacking".

Opera says its iOS user base increased by over 65% in the 12 months to February, and believes that the growth has been partly thanks to Apple's decision to let users choose a default browser in iOS 14.

Opera is available for iPhone and iPad in several languages and can be downloaded directly from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With Rear Camera Bar Allegedly Shown in Leaked Photo

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model. The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...

Top Rated Comments

Unggoy Murderer Avatar
50 months ago
Wouldn't touch Opera with a barge-pole since it was sold to a shady Chinese equity firm a few years back.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unggoy Murderer Avatar
50 months ago

They still have to obey EU law and EU privacy making it far less of a data harvester than one of those American companies that collect everything about you.
... a company that also has to obey EU legislation. Doesn't mean I'd trust either of them with my data.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Westwood_1 Avatar
50 months ago
The marriage between the Chinese government and Chinese tech companies is a terrible thing. I have no trust in Opera to abide by EU regulations, simply because I think Opera has an even more demanding governmental interest at home.

It's a shame, too. Opera had some unique features (built-in VPN, mouse gestures, data-saving mode, built-in adblocker) that I really liked.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unggoy Murderer Avatar
50 months ago

Opera is as much to do with China as any other company with outside investors. It is still developed in the EU and still has to abide by EU law which is much stricter than the USA... the USA has almost no protections and this is why you have Facebook and Google knowing everything about you.
With respect, I don't think you understand how the EU's legislation / directives (particularly around the GDPR) work.

What the GDPR sets out is at a high level the following:
[LIST=1]
* There must be informed consent to subject data collection / processing
* When data is stored on a data subject, it must be in accordance with the directive, and local laws / customs (in the UK for example, it's implemented in law under the Data Protection Act 2018)
* Data subject has right to request data access, edits, deletions, in a timely, fair manner.
* Lots more around data transmission, retention periods, encryption at rest, etc.

With that in mind, there is absolutely nothing wrong (lawfully) with Google, Facebook and the like collecting all and anything about you as long as they are in accordance with the GDPR. Nothing in the GDPR says that these companies can't mine the living daylights out of your data after you've consented. It does not mean that your data will be treated with respect, or any morals.

Facebook and Google have far more to lose if they don't play ball around the GDPR (and rightly so), however Chinese firms - can and have - effectively ignored it, just like all other laws and regulations (especially around copyrights, designs and patents).

(In addition, don't confuse EU law with regulations, directives, and decisions. The GDPR is a directive, not law.)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macsareveryinteresting Avatar
50 months ago

Which browser to use: Chrome or Opera? :rolleyes:
Chrome big time. Like I’m going to trust China.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ruka.snow Avatar
50 months ago

... a company that also has to obey EU legislation. Doesn't mean I'd trust either of them with my data.
If you can't trust a EU company that has absolutely no interest in collecting your personal data and spying on you I have no idea who you would trust. I could understand if it we were talking about Google or Facebook, but this is Opera. EU companies have very strict data collecting policies and if you were worried you could do a subject access request and data deletion request that would cost them a significant amount of money if they failed to comply. Opera are also not allowed to transfer data to China, but can transfer it to the USA(where it could become unsafe). As long as they are not transferring your data to the USA I wouldn't be worried in the slightest.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)