Opera for Android 48 has just been released to the public and it brings some very nice features along, which most users should benefit from. The main highlights of this release include a cookie dialog blocker, better browser start-up options, the availability of home screen browser control shortcuts, and a more convenient way to save your payment information for making purchases online. There are also a few more changes that make webpage readability that bit better.
One of the most notable features in this update is the cookie dialog blocker. A few years ago, the cookie situation got a little bit unbearable after the European Union told websites to inform users that they were being tracked with cookies. While it is nice to be told about the tracking, the dialog popping up on each website you visit gets a bit annoying. The problem was made even worse with GDPR’s introduction when even more sites started nagging users. With the cookie dialog blocker, you’ll no longer have to agree to allow cookies. Be warned though that this could mess up a few websites here and there. You can enable the feature in Settings > Ad blocking.
The next new item is better browser start-up options. Explaining the changes, Opera’s Stefan Stjernelund, said:
“We work hard on streamlining the browser experience for you, but we are all individuals. Most of you appreciate having a new tab open when you return to the browser after some time. For those of you that don’t appreciate this, we’ve added a setting that controls how Opera will reopen active tabs when you continue in the browser. You can also choose to close or preserve your open tabs when you exit the browser.”
For those of you lucky enough to be running Android 7.1 or above, this version of Opera brings new home screen shortcuts that let you quickly access browser controls. To take advantage of this, long press on the Opera icon, you can choose from the following controls: New tab, New private tab, Scan QR, and Search.
Opera now also shows a new dialog asking if you’d like to save your card information right after you make a purchase. While the ability to add payment cards was introduced to the browser in a previous release, this dialog makes adding them more convenient, because you can add it in your stride rather than having to go out of your way to do so.
A few other changes include better page readability by giving you the option to set the text size on non-mobile websites with the ability to wrap the text, you can force enable zoom settings on all web pages, the autofill system gives you more control over your data by adding long press to remove data, and recent search items in the omnibar can now be removed by swiping. Lastly, there’s a new clear data dialog inside the preferences for those want to remove information from the browser.
5 Comments - Add comment