“We are releasing Opera Touch just in time with Apple’s new iPhone XS, XS Max and XR because we believe that our browser is the perfect one to make these new devices really shine,” said Maciej Kocemba, Opera Touch Product Manager. “Today’s new phones have big, beautiful displays, but conventional browsers are yet to adapt to this development. Our product is aimed at people who want to fully appreciate their iPhones.”
According to data from StatCounter, 95 percent of iOS users in the US currently stick to their device’s default browser, Safari.
“We’ve witnessed this situation before with a web browser reaching a dominant market position. This slows its progress. We want to encourage iPhone users to try something new: a carefully designed browser that gives them a better web experience on their beautiful phones,” said Kocemba.
Opera Touch (Android version) won the Red Dot Communication Design Award 2018 for its unique user interface, which solves some of the current finger-gymnastics smartphone users struggle with in their everyday lives.
The new iPhone XS Max has nearly twice the display size of the original iPhone that premiered in 2007.
“This shift in size calls for big changes in browser design. With Opera Touch we made it faster and easier to browse the web when on the go. This is especially useful when you’re using a smartphone with a large display”, said Kocemba.
To prove our point, we have prepared a side-by-side comparison of how users go about their daily tasks such as performing a web search in Opera Touch and Safari.
Opera Touch is packed with features and design solutions that make using the browser a pleasant and efficient experience.
- Fast access to search: the browser starts directly in search mode so you can find things faster
- Designed for one-handed, easy web browsing with key browser elements at the bottom
- End-to-end encrypted Flow connects multiple devices and sends images, notes, links and videos between them
- Instant Search with text and, QR/barcode search features
- Access to tabs from the Opera desktop browser on the iPhone browsers home screen
- The browser adapts to you: Your top sites will automatically be added to the browser’s home screen
- Built-in ad blocker with cryptojacking protection
With Opera Touch, Opera wants to provide people with an exquisite browsing experience fit for the cutting-edge hardware Apple delivers and to give an impulse for change to the mobile browsing world.
Opera Touch vs. Safari: a side-by side comparison of the key UI elements
Looking at the image attached you will notice that, the home screen in Opera Touch looks more modern. It not only dynamically adapts to your browsing patterns, displaying your favorite websites but also displays the last tabs from your computer browser.
The Fast Action Button in Opera Touch (pictured in the middle) gives you access to your most recent websites, making it very easy to multitask and switch between them. This is unlike in a traditionally tab view, that simply lists tabs sorted by the date they were created.
The device on the right shows Flow, Opera’s stream of things you can save for later and share across your devices. You can add links, notes, images and videos to Flow, which makes it a more versatile solution, fit for modern browsing patterns.