If you believe the ratings, Opera is not the world’s most popular browser. However, despite the beauty of Safari and Chrome attempts to be less greedy, she deserves to give her a chance. Technologer Brian Clark once decided on it and ultimately refused favorite browsers. Ain brings the story of a developer who switched from Safari to Opera after several years on iPhone and Mac.
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I managed to use dozens of different email clients, before he settled on the Spark. I tried every known to mankind app for taking notes until I discovered the possibility of Bear. I’m always looking for something new.
However, with the browsers I surprisingly took the time to experiment. I was between Safari and Chrome, usually using the first laptop as Chrome when running forced my MacBook to roar like SpaceX launched a rocket. But Chrome remains a priority for the iMac and Lenovo Yoga. From Firefox I have long abandoned and were happy with the status quo.
And then a strange thing happened. Our editor in chief asked, “are You still using Safari on your iPhone?”.
Have I missed something?! I began to methodically try each available for iOS browser. Some were nothing: Dolphin, Penguin, Opera, Chrome. Others I liked (sorry, Firefox).
After a bit of rushing between Chrome and Opera (mostly because of the Handoff functions of each of them), so I settled on Opera which offers an excellent mobile browsing experience. Then thought: what if I miss opportunities and on the desktop?
Not that it was so: Chrome and Safari combined have given me everything I need. But what if I could get all this with only one browser on all my devices at the same time, forgetting about the need to switch here and there that has become an integral part of my digital life?
In General, I tried. And I can confidently say that Opera is better than Chrome or Safari on iOS or macOS, respectively. But if you take in General and overall, it fits me more than any other browser.
It ceased to be so sophisticated as before, but its charm is impossible to resist. She’s fast, she has a lot of features that reminded me why I needed two browsers before. In Chrome, I liked the extensions — I would like anyone to pump it. And Safari — easy, fast and clean. What can I say, I’m an aesthete.
Opera combines the advantages of both browsers. Her vault was breaking from the extensions, but you can install one that will allow you to use all your favorite extensions from the Chrome. It is as easy, clean and fast, depending on what speedtester you use (but in any case, it will owoseni it fast).
I like many things in Opera on both iOS and macOS. Of course, it’s not perfect. But we’ll get to that later.
Function battery life is very cool. Compress images, block ads and limit the activity of the background tabs — it works on Opera soft and silky. Everything in the compartment makes browsing extremely efficient. It’s fast, although is lagging behind in speed from some other browsers, but the feeling is unnoticed, and what could be more important?
For those I scared with the phrase about reducing the quality of the pictures: don’t worry, it’s easy to turn off.
Battery life on my phone and laptop — the main parameter. On the desktop it probably would lead me into a rage, because the drop in quality is very noticeable and it freaks me out. For me the important delicate balance between performance and aesthetics. I would like to be able to sacrifice something, but I can’t. No, really, what good is a 27-inch screen with 5k resolution, if you have a tight image?
Beyond aesthetics, I would like to mention a few really cool features. Built-in VPN is just stellar, while still free, and I trust him completely. A great option for those who value privacy, but do not want to spend a lot of effort. Paired with HTTPS, you can feel completely safe.
There is something that so pleased me in Safari. I often switch between mobile and desktop screens, and the ability to share links between them without having to rely on AirDrop, which works in 60% of cases — a huge plus.
Opera has a similar function. For this you need to create an account and login on all devices (like in Chrome), then information will sync in the background. That is, if I’m looking for a recipe for lasagna in the office on the iMac, I can start cooking it in the kitchen with the iPad.
And yet there is nothing perfect. IOS Opera intermittently crashes, and sometimes works badly with corners of the screen switching from landscape to landscape mode. And I would like the reader mode, as on Safari, except when the text on the screen nothing more and nothing distracting.
The only problem on macOS is the same as in Chrome, however, is not critical. From time to time on my laptop, there is a small kickstart, but on the rise as Chrome, Opera comes.
With these shortcomings you can live with, and for me Opera is the best choice. It has everything that I like in other popular browsers, despite the fact that there are no new features in it, I can do. It is a great combination of aesthetics and performance on all devices and systems that I use.
For me Opera was worthy to go.