Opera and Opera Mini for Android get some neat new features with the latest update, adding a few treats that have been in beta so far.
The Opera browser for Android, for instance, now offers a useful video compression tool to shrink the size of online videos, along with a new option for installable web apps. Opera Mini, meanwhile, finally gets a new tabbed browsing experience.
One of the biggest and most important promises Opera made from the very beginning was to help users save data when browsing on mobile, and so far it has made notable efforts toward this endeavor. The latest updates mark further steps in this direction.
The video compression feature aims to help users save data by reducing the size of online videos. This way, the videos will consume less data and work better even on poorer connections. To enable this feature, simply access the Settings menu and select Data Savings. You'll see Video Compression and a box next to it - tick that box and you're good to go.
"Opera will do all the rest. You'll use less data and spend less time waiting for that darned buffering wheel," Opera notes in a new announcement on its official blog.
Other improvements with the latest version of Opera for Android include more advanced settings, giving users greater control over their browser experience. Opera further notes that it fixed a number of bugs and tweaked some things under the hood to ensure a fast and smooth experience.
As a reminder, Opera users on Android can also add websites to their home screen, treating them as installable apps for easy access.
"This gives you extra-fast access to your favourite places on the web without using any extra data," Opera points out.
To benefit from this app-like experience for websites, simply visit the respective website in the browser and tap the "add to home screen" button to create a shortcut.
When it comes to Opera Mini for Android, the company refreshed the tabbed browsing experience to deliver an improved performance. New tabs can now open in the background so you can switch to them whenever you want, and you can switch between all open tabs quickly and easily. Opera Mini also gets a tweak for its download manager, now offering notifications when a file download is complete.
Both Opera Browser and Opera Mini updates are now available for download from Google Play.
