Opera Mini For iPhone kills Safari

India
April 17, 2010 11:53am CST
If you are not already aware, then let me tell you that Opera Mini is available as an alternative web browser on the Apple App. Store. Though there is already much confusion about how this app. got approved, I am here to talk of something else. Approving Opera Mini is one of the worst decision of Apple so far, as I think now people will simply forget the integrated Safari Browser in iPhone and iPod Touch. Opera Mini is much better than Safari in a number of ways. Let me list some of the points here:- *Transitions when rotating are much smoother than Safari *Pages load in less than half the time, and also download much less data. *There are features like Find in Page, Display images or not, etc. *Managing tabs is much more easier, also, tabs can load the webpage in the background unlike Safari which opens the page once you select the tab. *Navigating the web page is smoother. *The visited pages in session are saved in memory so when you hit back, the page loads instantly. *There are transitions and cool effects at every point of time, like while switching pages. *You can integrate any Search engine in it unlike safari which limits itself to Google Search. *It's a free app.!!! So, are you downloading it right now? Regards, AJ-Rox
1 person likes this
8 responses
@megrawab (166)
• Philippines
18 Apr 10
Nice. Opera Mini have always been the best web browser for mobile phones. It offers lots of features that other browsers don't for mobile. There is only one weakness that I see for now, it doesn't play flash files. It doesn't use the built-in flash player for mobile phones. Was it able to play flash files on iPhones?
2 people like this
• India
19 Apr 10
Unfortunately, it's still not able to play flash files on the iPhone. But it's an iPhone problem, as Apple doesn't allow flash in web browsers, saying they take up lot of battery juice. But it can render HTML 5 content, which can also play videos.
@registre (110)
• Philippines
18 Apr 10
I believe that Opera Mini is just an alternative but definitely not a replacement for Safari. When I browse thru 3G or 3.5G it is great to use Opera Mini because the pages totally loads fast as if it is very instantaneous but some websites do not look good because there are many elements missing compared when using the safari. The pages are not so rendered well or correctly compared to mobile safari. When I am using wifi in my home then I better use the Safari because the browsing experience is not so much compromised.
2 people like this
@tonyllenium (6252)
• Italy
18 Apr 10
i think many browsers can kill safari ones!!In realiy safari never liked me as rregards browsers i think even mozilla firefox fennec and the mobile version should be better than safari but i don't know if on macos x is supported this solution anyway i think opera normally is a good choice especially for mobile surfing..
2 people like this
@champan (513)
• Argentina
17 Apr 10
Wow, nice info. I dont have the iphone,yet. But in my phone i have Opera mini. And i like it. But i didnt knew about the differences between them . Good to know! Thanks!
2 people like this
• India
18 Apr 10
You are welcome. Opera is so far the best mobile browser for any platform. Regards, AJ-Rox
• Indonesia
17 Apr 10
Yea, but I've sold my Iphone 3G, I could use the operamini now if it hasn't been sold *hammer* I found Safari is not fast as opera and the control is quite confusing, ie you can't delete the last web page that you've open via safari, or I just don't know how? Anyway, after few years using those kinda battery life eater machine (blackberry, iphone, Xda, etc) I decide just use the old common phone which not makes me bother to find nearby electricity to re-charge it.
2 people like this
• India
18 Apr 10
Too bad. Anyways, the fourth generation iPhone release is just round the corner, and maybe you should wait and buy it. Even I don't have the iPhone yet, I use it on my iPod Touch. Currently I also use the old common phone, and the battery life of it is so amazing, it can give up to 4-5 days of normal usage without running out of juice. I will buy an iPhone in October. Regards, AJ-Rox
@maikeruk (405)
• Germany
18 Apr 10
I had it already, and is super fast and practical compared to the safari. I think is a good alternative. it only bothers that for default actions it opens the safari. i guess is not a bug but a feature that apple use to keep his browser. well I recommend it specially for those who usually end up in a EDGE network
1 person likes this
• India
19 Apr 10
Ya, it's definitely a great alternative, and a better one in my belief. We can't do anything that it opens Safari for default actions, but it's okay since it's just about visiting a page rather than browsing it. Also the bookmark and login info synchronizer is a lot better than doing it for Safari via iTunes. Not only EDGE, even people using WiFi and 3G report that the pages load twice as fast. I think for a device that's marketed as the best internet device, it's a shame.
@maikeruk (405)
• Germany
19 Apr 10
Well as you said is an Internet device but to be honest i feel thst with Safari is the slowest smart phone to browser i ever used. Also they have the súper limitance of been unable to use flash. Btw this post i'm writting is with opera mini in edge mode in the metro from Berlín. Is so cool that now the Internet is available in edge mode.
1 person likes this
• India
20 Apr 10
Well yes. But we began hating Safari once Opera is out. If it wasn't, then we would all be suffering the same, slow browsing fate of ours. Now that I have been using Opera, I have understood that Safari sucks big time. Regards, AJ-Rox
@rosekiss (30414)
• Eugene, Oregon
18 Apr 10
I have an ipod touch, and I did download and install it on there. I haven't sued it yet, but I am sure it is much better than safari, as I never really liked that all that much anyway. The thing of it is, it still won't support flash, since the ipod touch or iphone don't have flash. That is to bad too, as you could do na lot more with flash. Mpw. O jave p[era mobile on my phone, but it doesn't spport flash either. I had to put skyfire on it as it supports total flash. I think with opera that is what is lacking to make it a great browser for anything mobile. Take care, and have a very good day.
• India
19 Apr 10
Thanks for your kind words and sharing your knowledge and experience with us, rosekiss. Another reason why Opera didn't integrate flash in it's browser is that the content comes compressed from the Opera servers rather than the usual site servers that we visit (which is one reason why the pages load faster), and if they did Flash, the Opera servers would be bombarded with lots of heavy content to compress and for a free software, the servers would not be good enough to handle the heat, I guess. But that's just my assumption, no official information attached.
@kaylachan (71762)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
19 Apr 10
That's because Opera mini is open-suource and is compatable across multi-platforms. Its also avaible in android market as well. But, seeing as I don't use the web on my phone, cluttering my phone with pointless applications that eat up battery power and memory is pointless. But, when I had an Android-powered phone I considered it.
1 person likes this
• India
20 Apr 10
Ya, if you don't use the web, then it's probably a waste. But do use it on the Android phone of yours.