News
Opera Mini approved by Apple
By Jesse Hollington
Applications Editor, iLounge (Google+)
Published: Monday, April 12, 2010
News Category: Apple, Apps + Games
Opera reports that its alternative mobile browser for the iPhone, Opera Mini, has been approved by Apple. First previewed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, Opera Mini for the iPhone is intended to provide an alternative to the iPhone’s native Safari browser, promising significantly faster browsing speeds due to data compression on Opera’s servers. Opera Mini was submitted to Apple in March amidst much speculation as to whether it would be approved by Apple due to past restrictions placed on third-party browsers and other applications which duplicated existing iPhone functionality or executed third-party code on the device. While Apple has been approving other mobile browsers for the iPhone for over a year, Opera Mini is the first iPhone browser that does not use Apple’s WebKit engine. Opera Mini will be a free download and is expected to be available on the App Store within the next 24 hours.
Update: Opera Mini is now available from the App Store as a free download.
Related Stories
- Pulp adds iCloud sync, new Home Page
- WordPress for iOS adds Push Notifications
- Sony launches Music Unlimited for iOS
- Fruit Ninja adds new features and power-ups
- Apple to sell Nest Learning Thermostat
- Apple tweaks App Store with Editors’ Choice, Free picks
Comments
If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods/iPhones/iPad or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod/iPhone/iPad products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.
Recent News
- Pulp adds iCloud sync, new Home Page
- WordPress for iOS adds Push Notifications
- Sony launches Music Unlimited for iOS
- Apple device poll ends, computing poll begins
- Fruit Ninja adds new features and power-ups
- Apple to sell Nest Learning Thermostat
- Third-gen iPad to launch in Guam, Philippines May 29
- Apple tweaks App Store with Editors’ Choice, Free picks
- Panic releases Diet Coda
- Booq rolls out new Folio for iPad
Recent Reviews
- Pelican i1075 Hardback Case for iPad
- Skinit Skins for iPad (3rd-Generation)
- Spigen SGP Steinheil Ultra Optics Screen Protector for iPad (3rd-Gen)
- ZeroChroma VarioProtect for iPhone 4/4S
- BodyGuardz UltraTough Clear Skins for iPad (3rd-Gen)
- Wrapsol Original + Ultra Hybrid Protective Film for iPad 2/iPad (3rd-Gen)
- iBattz Mojo Removable Power Card Wallet
- dreamGEAR i.Sound Power View Pro S 2.1A Dual Charging Dock
- dreamGEAR i.Sound Universal Power View
- Sena Cases Florence Portfolio for iPad (3rd-Gen)
Recent Articles
- Removing music from iTunes after copying to iPod
- iOS Gems: Farm 123, Facebook Camera, Scribblenauts, Shoot the Zombirds + Virtua Tennis Challenge
- iTunes TV show size totals don’t match actual disk storage
- Consolidating Multiple iTunes Libraries
- Converting Purchased Videos to 1080p HD
- Find My Friends always reports home location
- Creating an iTunes Match library from an external hard drive
- Benefits of keeping apps in iTunes when using iCloud
- Recovering iTunes from an External Hard Drive
- Normalizing volume levels for Voice Memos
1
Its avaliable now…Its very fast…Im using it now…
Posted by micah on April 13, 2010 at 6:17 AM (PDT)
2
My first website to try was iLounge, which didn’t redirect to the mobile site. Not the best start, but it does seem faster than Safari.
Posted by dimmer on April 13, 2010 at 6:56 AM (PDT)
3
Liking the Speed Dial and ability to use tabs…
Posted by Bob Levens in UK on April 13, 2010 at 8:28 AM (PDT)
4
I tried going to the iPhone optimized site for iLounge but it wouldn’t let me. I’m guessing it checks for safari. It would be nice if you guys could update the mobile site to allow users of Opera to browse it.
Posted by Jitaroo on April 13, 2010 at 12:33 PM (PDT)
5
Actually, iPhone-optimized sites, including iLounge, are designed to work specifically with Safari and Webkit and won’t render properly in Opera as it doesn’t support the required Webkit frameworks. This will be true of pretty much any other site that was designed specifically for the iPhone, as opposed to simply using scaled-down HTML (ie, narrower home screens and reduced-size images).
You can set Opera Mini to use Mobile versions of sites in the Settings, but if you go to any iPhone-optimized site in this mode it’s going to look pretty strange since it will try to render the iPhone version, which Opera Mini doesn’t know how to deal with.
This would be the main disadvantage of using an alternative browser not based on Webkit.
Posted by Jesse Hollington in Toronto on April 13, 2010 at 3:59 PM (PDT)
6
For the absolute fastest Opera/iLounge experience over slow connections, you can use our older, less-flashy, device-agnostic mobile site here:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/mobile/
Later this evening, we will add a prominent link to this site on our main page for Opera mini users, as we do for Safari users and the newer, fully-optimized site.
Posted by Jerrod H. in TX on April 13, 2010 at 4:36 PM (PDT)
7
Downloaded Opera and tried it since yesterday and so far I don’t like it. I think Safari is much better but I’m gonna continue trying it out. So far the iLounge forum quick link doesn’t work in Opera. I’m gonna reset my iPhone and try using Opera again.
Posted by Audrey McGirt on April 14, 2010 at 9:50 AM (PDT)