My JavaScript book is out! Don't miss the opportunity to upgrade your beginner or average dev skills.

Sunday, February 03, 2013

Opera Mobile Is The Best Browser!

I really do not understand why the Web keeps ignoring this browser which is able to provide the best browsing experience out of old hardware too!
It's not me saying that, there are all test you might want to double check or try by yourself.
  • Opera Mobile VS Chrome mobile, a browser available only in latest hardware, and Safari Mobile for iOS 6, and we all know how good is the hardware here. Here the result, with Opera Mobile scoring more than anything else
  • Hardware Acceleration, something possible on canvas you might want to test in this old prototype of a map, the same I have presented at Front Trends in 2010
  • multi touches, so that an interaction with more modern UI based on gestures could work without problems. Here the tesla experiment

In Android 2.X Too

This is the part I love the most about this browser ... I mean, if you assume you have best hardware ever under the hood it's easy to be cool, right?
I am looking at you Chrome and Safari Mobile, and I am leaving Firefox Mobile outside this challenge since, unfortunately, it never competed against stock browsers, in terms of performance. They are getting better, and have to, with Firefox OS, but in an Android 2.3 ... not sure where they are :(
I have a Galaxy Ace, an Android 2.3 phone, that scores with Opera Mobile 406 plus 12 bonus points.
Basically, if all web apps out there would support Opera Mobile, people should not spend more to update their hardware because there is a browser that is kicking every other browser asses in term of performance!

Symbian Too

Correct, good old NOKIA phones could be up to date without problems simply using Opera Mobile, no need to spend that much to get a Windows Phone there, if the problem is the browser you can have touches and multi touches plus extreme performance boost simply downloading and using by default Opera Mobile: as easy as that!

Definition Of Best Browser

A browser that is able to bring to the user every possible modern feature, without requiring HardWare or Operating Systems updates. This would be, in my opinion, the best browser in the world, the missing piece we all have and somehow keep ignoring, in this web scenario.

Why Is That

I start thinking Opera Mobile team has a really bad marketing support. I cannot believe my stock browser scores 200 against 406 in Opera Mobile and there's no usage percentage in global stats about this browser if not about the Opera Mini version, a completely different beast?
Wha the hell is going on? Why aren't we all developing for this browser too? It's also the easiest to test since available in many platforms ... so, as summary, when I think about any HTML5 product that does not support Opera Mobile is kinda lame, while if it does not support Opera Mobile at its best, using all features that are available, usually twice as those available by default stock browser and in a really performant way, we should rethink our priorities, also because once again, this browsers is available in multiple platform so it should be the preferred target, rather than the least considered one. This usually means profit too so ... I am just saying, and thank you for listening!

12 comments:

Hugh said...

Still no CSS 3D Transforms (which every other browser supports) or IndexedDB.

Andrea Giammarchi said...

IndexedDB is nowhere except FF and IE 10 ... CSS 3D transform aren't used that much on Mobile, are these? Mobile ... here I am talking about Mobile ... !

Anonymous said...

I totally agree, just two years ago I used old Nokia E90, and Opera Mobile was the only browser that allowed me to use modern web without issues.

I heard that Opera Mobile is really big in Asia and Africa, it's no surprise.

Hugh said...

What if they're not used much because browsers didn't support them till now?

Andrea Giammarchi said...

Hugh is like saying nobody supports iOS Safari Mobile ... right? Because of IndexedDB? Who ever cared since WebSQL is there, up and running, without problems?

transform 3d ? for what, HW acceleration hacks? What else? 'cause that ain't needed in Opera Mobile, is already that fast!

harou said...

First of all, basically don't use any other mobile browser than Opera Mobile/Mini.

Only thing I hate about Opera Mobile as developer is terrible support for position: fixed, they should really do something about it.

h43z said...

Opera Mini is a proxy browser. Does this fact deters someone to use it? Just curious. (never had an smartphone)

Andrea Giammarchi said...

Opera Mini is a completely different browser with an incredible market share.

The missing numbers here are about Opera Mobile, not Mini, Mobile!

h43z said...

i know that they are diffrent. nevertheless i'm curious.

Adrien Risser said...

my.opera.com/ODIN/blog/300-million-users-and-move-to-webkit

Andrea,
How does that news make you feel?
No irony intended.

Andrea Giammarchi said...

like I've been one of those few realizing how good was this browser too many times and too much ignored by big audience companies and/or their mobile version.

That is, in few words, a very sad news for the Web.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's sad news.

The sad part is that Opera is a very small compared to Microsoft, Google, Apple and even Mozilla, and can't afford to develop a proprietary rendering engine anymore.

They did great, but lately they spent too much time developing what other already developed, instead of focusing in new features and improvements.

So I welcome Opera's developers in the Webkit project and I can't wait for their innovations. Oh boy!