Opera Mini now the number one free download in all 22 App Stores
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted April 14th 2010 2:30PM
posted April 14th 2010 2:30PM
Update: 1 Million downloads in 1 day, ta da!
[Thanks, Atesh]
posted April 14th 2010 2:30PM
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Yay Opera Mini
@N900
now opera needs to make their desktop version way faster/better than safari's desktop version.
@N900
Yeah now opera gets to see all those suckers browsing habits. Maybe passwords too? I'm not sure. But minimally they get to analyze or look at what sites millions of users go to .. I am sure that's worth a lot of money .. if not to advertisers and URL hijackers but also for blackmail.
@N900 It'll be updated once in a blue moon if it receives as much (as little) attention as the android opera mini does.
@JS Ameego, I use Mini on the 5800, and I buy stuff, even log in to Engadget to comment. I've yet to be hacked.
@boom roasted
"now opera needs to make their desktop version way faster/better than safari's desktop version."
They do?
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9156878/Opera_10.5_grabs_browser_speed_crown
@JS Opera, and the opera mini servers are based in Norway, a country with one of the strongest privacy protection laws in the world.
I'm pretty sure they would risk an immensely successful business scheme on illegal activities. They analyse anonymous data - that is to say, the browsing habits of a lot of people, not individuals - and are paid lots by the sites they promote through their browser, and that's it.
@strawe Yeah, but that IS Android. :D
With that much penetration I'm sure the iPhone app will have to priority.
Not a fan of OM's page rendering and zooming though, as fast as it is.
@boom roasted
Woah... have you ever used opera on the desktop. Its a way faster browser. Combined with awesome features like opera link (syncs your desktop history and bookmarks with your mobile bookmarks) and opera unite (creates your computer into a server so you have access to your home computer files wherever you need) then you have no idea what you are talking about. As for speed here is a experiment I did.
I tested the java script speeds on a bunch of different web browsers. I used sun spider. So the results are in:(RESULTS (means and 95% confidence intervals) Opera: Total: 595.4ms +/- 8.6% Chrome: Total: 884.4ms +/-28.2% Safari: Total: 1048.4ms +/- 13.7% IE 8: Total: 9554.0ms +/- 2.4% Firefox: Total: 1578.8ms +/- 5.5%
If you want to run the tests yourself to see if it duplicates then go right ahead. just google sun spider and run the test
@N900
I don't get it. Every iPhone fanboy has told me over the past 3 years that the browsing experience on an iPhone is the best ever. Now, people are flocking in droves to get a browser that has been available on WinMo for years.
@JS... Jeeze, paranoid much? I don't get why people worry so much about this sort of thing.
@ssgadget Well 2 features that those people would love the most are Find in Page, Speed Dial bookmarks, and the Tab management. Besides, competition is good; it might up the ante on Mobile Safari's next revision.
@N900
Wow, put together in a chart like that, it must be overwhelming for Steve!
@bjsguess
Browsing on the iPhone/iTouch are AMAZING compared to some of the 'smart' phones out there (looking at you, LG Vue, and shaking my head). However, there are many frustrations that come with safari mini, such as - can't search in page, can't scroll down to a page fast enough (ever tried reading long forum topics, e.g. Fark, where you accidentally click on the top bar and you're transported to the top?). At least Opera can search.
Yay Opera, yay choice.
@bjsguess
I downloaded it, tried it, and went back to safari. It's a good first try but not that good of a browser yet. Besides, I realized there's an app for almost all the websites I go to, including engadget. Overall, needs more polish...but I like the direction it's going in.
@N900 too bad Stevie wont learn from this
@bjsguess And Opera Mini (iPhone/Android/...) is not as good as Opera Mobile on WinMo ;)
Can't wait iPhone users discover Skyfire-like mobile experience (yeh, that's Flash 10 + Silverlight 2 + Windows Media + QuickTime+...).
(I'm not using Skyfire since I've got my Android phone last June and I missed it)
@N900
Yay Opera Mini?
Why cheer for Opera?
I downloaded, saw how slow it was, and deleted it.
@bjsguess
"I don't get it. Every iPhone fanboy has told me over the past 3 years that the browsing experience on an iPhone is the best ever. Now, people are flocking in droves to get a browser that has been available on WinMo for years."
Let me explain you: I'm an iPhone fanboy. I've downloaded Opera because I'm full of curiosity for everything. I've tried it. It sucks currently. I've removed it and will keep using Safari. If a new version is released, I may try it again.
@whiskers Yeah, and I've been able to do all those things mobile Safari cant' do on my feature phone (using Opera Mini) for quite a while... Page search, scrolling to the bottom in seconds, etc. The fact that you can do that on a $20 feature phone and not the iPhone is absurd.
I don't fault Apple for not including those options if it doesn't fit their design philosophy... I fault them for not giving consumers a choice (until now) and/or not updating and iterating often enough to catch up w/end users.
BTW, using a separate app to peruse the content of every site you visit as part of a daily routine seems absurd to me... And I can't imagine that really fits Apple's grand design either. Just saying, I don't think that's a valid defense.
@gpmoo7
I really do miss having Skyfire as well when I had it on my HTC TouchPro, But I guess Dolphin Browser will have to do with my Nexus. At least Dolphin browser has gestures.
@N900 it wasn't that great. The UI needs refining & I didn't notice as drastic of a speed difference as people had claimed. It also made me realize how little I actually use the browser in the 1st place. I really don't care how fast my Wikipedia loads in terms of microseconds.
@whiskers What is an iTouch?
@N900
umm no, not yay. Boo is closer. It's slower, sends your data to the other side of the planet and back, can't run in the background (yet) and is crap in Acid and HTML5 tests next to Safari.
Fail.
http://www.aeromental.net/2010/04/13/iphone-opera-mini-vs-safari-acid3-and-html-5-test/
@bjsguess I downloaded it because it is free. But I still prefer safari.
@Missing Matter
oh, i guess i just havent used opera in ages. thanks hah
@majorcovert Try XScope. It's a lot faster than Dolphin, and likely as fast as the default browser for pinch zooming. I'd say it's actually faster than default for rendering, plus it has nice tab support, searching, copy/paste, and a 1 hand "pinch zoom" that's actually much better than multitouch pinch zooming, because you can do it easily while holding the phone like you regularly would.
It's kind of ugly, but it's got skins and I'd argue it's actually the best mobile web browser available on any platform. Kind of amusing that the best browser is a free download for Android. :)
@bjsguess Right well I downloaded it tried it and said nice features but I will stick with safari. Just because people are downloading it does not mean they will continue to use it.
@bjsguess It's because every Win-Mo and BB fanboy always brings up Opera Mini as the response. So, the iPhone owners jump on Opera to see what the hoo-haa is about, but soon realise that Safari is STILL the best mobile browser out there(for now).
@bjsguess Now we need better media player app!
@N900 I only see 10 in the pic!
@bjsguess People are finally realizing that "desktop-like" does not necessarily mean "better". Mobile Safari did a remarkable job at presenting you websites as close to their desktop versions as possible on the small iPhone screen. This is very impressive at first, but it's far from ideal from a usability standpoint (lot's of pinching and side-scrolling).
Opera has been working for years on optimizing their small screen rendering engine. While it makes an effort to preserve as much of the original desktop layout of the web page as possible, its main priority is small screen usability (all text is formatted in columns, images are resized accordingly, etc...).
This new rendering paradigm might-on the surface-look like a downgrade for old iPhone users, but I personally think that it gets you to the information you are looking for a lot faster. You can deliciously pinch and zoom and slide and sweep and scroll all day long on an iPad that's sitting on your lap, but on my phone, I'm more likely to be holding it one hand, and my #1 priority is finding what I'm looking for as quick as possible, so I can shove it back in my pocket and I can go back to what I was doing before.
@N900 I tried it and it's overrated. It's fast at loading some sites but so slow to start up. Not 100% convinced that it's better than safari. But having the option is good.
@boom roasted I think Opera should think long and hard about the market (mobile or desktop) in which they are more likely to achieve a respectable market share. Opera mini 5 kicks ass.
@tmurph
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
The duke has also switched over to Opera, after I had kicked that alien-scum Firefox back into space.
This shall stay, untill IE9 comes out with its babetastic engine and it's balls of steel which equal my own.
@bjsguess
Not on a capacative touchscreen, bro.
@grahamj your stupid this is not even a full browser hints opera mini it has no html5 support but it you wanna compare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpTCS3g-cBY
@bjsguess I downloaded it just to try, doesn't men I've dumped safari on my iPhone
@slick612nkz: "I realized there's an app for almost all the websites I go to, including engadget."
yeah, THAT'S convenient. /s
If all sites would just spend the resources on making proper mobile versions, then apps wouldn't be necessary...
@boom roasted yep, the screenshot above just proves it. I guess it makes sense, because opera is now called as the fastest browser -- http://j.mp/opera-desktops-fastest-browser Perhaps, same on mobile now...
@FrancisL4D
No, I would still use an app to access them. It's called Reeder. RSS feeds are still the best way to keep up with sites like tech blogs and I have no need to use the browser for that.
@Missing Matter
nah opera mini kicks ass, but the desktop version ain't that great. those scores are if you use turbo browsing - it loads pages wayyyyyyy faster because it doesn't give you half of the conten.
@bjsguess And, if you read through our comments, those of us who actually own iPhones STILL agree that safari is the best.
Go ahead and click on the minus button... You know you want to.
@JS Turn off Opera Turbo mode and it doesnt go thru the opera servers and anyway it only compresses incoming data so outgoing passwords and such shouldnt go thru their servers tho i might be wrong there.
@boom roasted
Um, it already is.
@JS (Cough cough) paranoid!
@N900 Yes, yes. Now, not trying to be a hater or anything, but going with the story: If Steve Jobs doesn't get the hint that users WANT choice, then he's simply the blindest dude I read about.
@JS Which modern tech company doesnt track users viewing habits.. Xerox maybe???...
@boom roasted why? is safari faster than opera on the mac? i can't comment on that. however, virtually no PC users that i know use safari. a bit slower or not, i don't think opera has to worry about losing PC users to safari at all.
@bjsguess
Really? This is what the WinMo version of Opera is like? Bleech!
I deleted it nearly as fast as I downloaded it. I wonder if I am alone.
Sure, I am all for a nice robust alternative browser on Steve's device. I just don't think the current version of Opera is such a thing. I would really love to be wrong though...