Opera Mini gets the green light for iPhone, iPod touch

[Matthew DeCarlo]

In its second press release today, Opera announced that its mobile browser has been approved by Apple. Opera Mini reportedly has some 50 million users worldwide, and that number can only stand to grow if the browser is available to iPhone and iPod touch owners. The program should appear in the App Store as a free download within 24 hours, but as of writing, it wasn't listed.

In addition to having more features, Opera Mini is said to be much faster thanks to compression technology. In the above demonstration, Opera Mini loaded five pages in the time Safari loaded one. That boost in speed is most noticeable on slower networks, but since it compresses data by up to 90%, it could save users money, especially when it comes to roaming charges.

Once Opera Mini is available, do you plan to switch from Safari?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/38558-opera-mini-gets-the-green-light-for-iphone-ipod-touch.html

 

[Julio Franco]

I expect to at least give it a try. My first gen iPhone doesn't exactly fly when browsing the Web and it gets much worse when switching pages. I can only hope Opera Mini is not as buggy on the iPhone platform as it is on the Blackberry.

 

[Guest]

Sounds worth trying for the compression speed benefits... even though I'd normally steer clear from a company that has been quite vocal (read: whiney) about including its browser with Windows, which I think is absurd... but that's a whole 'nother topic.

 

[KG363]

Finally, some competition for iphone browsers

 

[Guest]

Apparently is becoming available going east. I have had it in uk for a while so it should be in us soon. It's very fast for me compared to safari however all other apps still open in safari which is a bit annoying but expected. Anyway it's worth the wait.

 

[Misch868]

i love opera mini on my blackberry (MUCH faster than blackberry's default browser....) and i'll definitely be giving it a try on my ipod touch

 

[whiteandnerdy]

definitely switching. hope it loads pdfs faster

 

[Julio Franco]

It is available now, going to give it a try.

 

[Guest]

Definatly faster than safari. About 10x faster in my opinion. I only use wifi to keep my monthly bill down. I have an account on techspot but i was to.... Excited to log in... Get this app.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

I've toyed with it for about 20 minutes and I'd say there's definitely a noticeable speed boost -- enough to kick Safari off the dock.

 

[theoscentral]

Most of my sites don't load correctly.

 

[Guest]

Sure I'm switching, Safari is slow and buggy.

 

[Julio Franco]

Definitely feels faster and somewhat straightforward in that sense, but the experience doesn't seem to be as seamless as with Safari. Glad to have a working alternative for sure either way.

 

[compdata]

Definitely will be testing it, and if it runs faster and smoother (as most people say) then it will certainly replace safari.

 

[slh28]

There is a god! Websites such techspot and sports sites load at wi-fi speeds over 3g. Only thing missing is the pinch/pull zoom.

 

[yukka]

No pinch/pull zoom? I have used Opera on Windows Mobile and the pinch/pull zoom was what always had me wishing I had an iPhone. Ill give it a go but its a shame if apple have patented that feature.

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately, I cannot get it to load....just hangs with loading icon spinning in top left corner. I tried twice and the first time all my apps crashed until I did a sync. Second time, it did not affect my other apps but still would not load.

Itouch 3.1.3

 

[tengeta]

I don't use Opera on my computers, but I'll gladly give the mobile a shot given Safari's notorious hack-ability.

 

[Guest]

It's ridiculously fast. Amazing!!!

S