Opera mini released for iPhone

[996GT2]

Typing this post from it right now...Opera is quite a bit faster than Safari at rendering pages.

In-page search is nice, as is the full screen view option.

Best of all, it's free in the app store right now so go get it and try it out

 

[zerocool84]

Opera mini does a ton of compression to load pages faster and it's a hell of a lot faster than pretty much all mobile browsers out there. Not the cleanest rendering but fast.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

Honestly, I'm not impressed. With all the build-up and the count up timer waiting for Apple's approval, it's not very good.

It only has one thing going for it - it's fast.

The scrolling is terrible, you can never scroll in a straight line down if you're reading a column of text. The scroll response feels weird in comparison to safari and other iPhone apps.

The zoom sucks. There are two zooms, out and in. Nothing in between, no variable pinch zooming, not really any pinch zooming at all (you DO pinch to zoom in and out, but it's not pinch zooming, a pinch is just the gesture used to trigger it to zoom to its one setting. It's stupid.)

You could probably decide I'm being too critical, but the experience of using it isn't very good. That's the whole reason I got an iPhone. I wouldn't have blamed Apple for denying it, but then I wouldn't understand why it was denied if I never had a chance to use it

It will be on my phone only to be used when I have a weak cell signal.

 

[dwell]

No pinch zoom = fail. Just happy it got approved so the whiners didn't have another thing to complain about Apple for (even though 99% of them don't have an iPhone).

 

[Qbah]

It sucks imo - the zoom is terrible. Pinch to zoom my ass - there are just two settings - zoomed in or not and you can't read sh!t while zoomed out (just lines for text). Pages get a lot of rendering errors and the scrolling feels weird too, very imprecise. No thanks. The only thing is that it loads stuff faster. Which is nice but the other issues are really show stoppers for me.

Btw. how do you select remember me on ATF in Opera Mini? I'm trying really hard to select it and it just doesn't register the "tick"... I managed to select it the first time (no issues then), but I put a wrong password and now it doesn't let me click it with my finger (nothing happens). Doesn't matter I guess, since I won't be using it.

No wonder it was approved - Safari Mobile is better

 

[dguy6789]

No pinch zoom = fail. Just happy it got approved so the whiners didn't have another thing to complain about Apple for (even though 99% of them don't have an iPhone).

You realize that the complaints are exactly why they don't have an iPhone right?

 

[jalaram]

No wonder it was approved - Safari Mobile is better

I know. I was quite surprised at how bad I found it. Engadget is raving over it, but the first thing I noticed is how I couldn't read anything at normal resolution.

I think it will eventually be better at rendering and the zoom options, so I'm still very happy at it getting approved. Plus, having it link with Opera link is a nice plus.

 

[dguy6789]

I didn't like Opera Mini either. As mentioned earlier in the thread, it looks horrible, the actual browsing experience is horrible. The only thing it does is load pages quicker. That said, I'm pleasantly surprised that Apple actually approved it.

 

[rudeguy]

This is my default browser. It for sure took some getting used to, but I HATE any other browser now (even Dolphin with pinch zoom). What the hell are you guys zooming in on? Page load time is much more important than being able to zoom in on Mickey Mouse's tattoo.

 

[cw42]

Like others have said from what I saw when i played with it: scrolling sucks, zoom sucks.

 

[jalaram]

This is my default browser. It for sure took some getting used to, but I HATE any other browser now (even Dolphin with pinch zoom). What the hell are you guys zooming in on? Page load time is much more important than being able to zoom in on Mickey Mouse's tattoo.

I just want to be able to read the text on a page without zooming in. True, I only want to zoom in for a better view of certain pics, but the text shouldn't look like scribbles.

 

[Deeko]

Never understood the fanfare over Opera Mini. Sure, its fast, but its generally ugly and doesn't work all that cleanly. Opera Mobile is a generally superior product.

 

[rudeguy]

I just want to be able to read the text on a page without zooming in. True, I only want to zoom in for a better view of certain pics, but the text shouldn't look like scribbles.

you just tap once to zoom in to read text. It irked me badly when I first used it but now I don't mind

 

[dwell]

You realize that the complaints are exactly why they don't have an iPhone right?

I bet Apple is really hurting that a few thousand hippie-ass open-source whiners don't buy iPhones, considering they are at a 85M+ install base with iPhone and iPod Touch :awe:

 

[dguy6789]

I bet Apple is really hurting that a few thousand hippie-ass open-source whiners don't buy iPhones, considering they are at a 85M+ install base with iPhone and iPod Touch :awe:

What does that have to do with anything? You were trying to somehow dismiss the problems with the Iphone and now you change the subject to money.

And while Apple is making a lot of money, it's not exactly something a fanboy on an enthusiast website should brag about when their target market is ignorant people. There isn't really anyone who has a thorough understanding of smartphones that would buy an iPhone today. Is that something to brag about? Buying an Apple product usually means paying more money, getting less features, and getting an Apple logo.

 

[rudeguy]

oh shi.....
/lawnchair

 

[996GT2]

And while Apple is making a lot of money, it's not exactly something a fanboy on an enthusiast website should brag about when their target market is ignorant people. There isn't really anyone who has a thorough understanding of smartphones that would buy an iPhone today. Is that something to brag about? Buying an Apple product usually means paying more money, getting less features, and getting an Apple logo.

I don't think the above is true at all.

You're forgetting the large number of technically savvy iPhone users who jailbreak their phones to run third party apps. Once Jailbroken, the iPhone really delivers...great UI (what Apple is known for) as well as the ability to run a ton of third party apps such as VLC media player, PDAnet (for free tethering of 3G connection)...even Playstation emulators that work quite well on the 3G S.

 

[Deeko]

I've noticed the troll bile getting thicker lately. Feeling refueled by last week's announcement maybe?

 

[dwell]

And while Apple is making a lot of money, it's not exactly something a fanboy on an enthusiast website should brag about when their target market is ignorant people. There isn't really anyone who has a thorough understanding of smartphones that would buy an iPhone today. Is that something to brag about? Buying an Apple product usually means paying more money, getting less features, and getting an Apple logo.

Except "ignorant people" equates to general consumers. General consumers should not give a damn about all this stuff the cyberhippies have been complaining about as long as the end product works to their satisfaction. If the product does not work to their satisfaction, well then, they don't buy the product. Right?

If ANY of the stuff people are complaining about regarding Apple's recent business decisions really mattered, Linux would have easily overtaken Windows in the 90's. Fact is, none of it really matters as long as the end product works. The iPhone is a great product, thus the stellar sales.

 

[dguy6789]

I don't think anyone on this forum is trying to debate whether Apple is making a lot of money or if what they are doing makes business sense or not. They make a ton of money and their marketing is very effective.

We're only talking about the devices, features, and everything else that goes with it.

 

[dwell]

We're only talking about the devices, features, and everything else that goes with it.

That's fine. All I am saying is that if you don't like Apple's business practices or features (or lack thereof) don't buy Apple products. I think they're good enough for 90% of the people out there, but being steeped in geek-culture most of my time, I hear mostly the complaints.

 

[Deeko]

Except "ignorant people" equates to general consumers. General consumers should not give a damn about all this stuff the cyberhippies have been complaining about as long as the end product works to their satisfaction. If the product does not work to their satisfaction, well then, they don't buy the product. Right?

If ANY of the stuff people are complaining about regarding Apple's recent business decisions really mattered, Linux would have easily overtaken Windows in the 90's. Fact is, none of it really matters as long as the end product works. The iPhone is a great product, thus the stellar sales.

Conversely, since you seem to think sales are all that matter (and frankly, to a business, you're right), you must think that Windows and Internet Explorer are the greatest products on the market.

 

[dwell]

Conversely, since you seem to think sales are all that matter (and frankly, to a business, you're right), you must think that Windows and Internet Explorer are the greatest products on the market.

For most businesses, Windows is the right solution thus the high market share. In the consumer space the split is not as dramatic and it has a lot to do with cost. IE is only popular because it's bundled with Windows.

 

[QueBert]

What does that have to do with anything? You were trying to somehow dismiss the problems with the Iphone and now you change the subject to money.

And while Apple is making a lot of money, it's not exactly something a fanboy on an enthusiast website should brag about when their target market is ignorant people. There isn't really anyone who has a thorough understanding of smartphones that would buy an iPhone today. Is that something to brag about? Buying an Apple product usually means paying more money, getting less features, and getting an Apple logo.

Interesting, because I've been on computers since TRS-80's, and I'm definitely a person who does a shit ton of research on anything I buy before I buy it. I bought an iPhone because of the amount of 3rd party apps for it, next to any other phone it was literally like Windows Vs any other OS when it came to how many apps there were. If you want the best selection of apps there's no other phone period. If you don't care about apps you should probably have MAC desktop, as the OS is better than Windows on most levels, it just doesn't have close to the software available for it. The Apple hate here is astounding, really really astounding.

 

[EarthwormJim]

It renders pages fast, but it seems to take forever to just open up the browser compared to safari.

On 3g I don't see any real speed difference.