Shocker: Apple Approves Opera Mini for iPhone

By Jane McEntegart
published

Well, this is a nice surprise.

Those of you with iPhones will know that Apple sometimes rejects useful applications because they perform (or out perform) a similar feature or application offered by Apple on the iPhone. When Opera submitted the Opera Mini iPhone application, the company recognized the fact that Apple had yet to let a third party browser on the iPhone with a timer. Today, Apple approved the application and right now, it's available for download via the App Store.

So what's different about Opera Mini and how does it compare to Safari? Opera says that due to server-side rendering, Opera Mini compresses data by up to 90 percent before sending it to the phone, resulting in rapid page loading with less data transferred. This is something the folks with capped data plans, especially when roaming, will appreciate. It also means if you're on EDGE or your 3G is really weak, then you'll get a better browsing experience with Opera Mini.

Screenshots of the app running on an iPhone 2G below.

Image 1 of 2
Image 1 of 2

Check out the video below for a demonstration of how much faster Opera Mini is compared to Safari when the user is on a 2G EDGE connection.

Jane McEntegart
32 Comments Comment from the forums
  • tayb
    Tried it out yesterday on my iPod Touch. It sucks. The page caching might be useful if I was on Edge but I don't notice any speed improvements over wi-fi. The menu is clumsy, red, and wastes way too much screen real estate but by far the worst thing about Opera Mini is how it renders pages. You have to zoom in to be able to read anything. Going to a news site such as Digg is readable on Safari without zooming in and completely incomprehensible on Opera.

    I was actually looking forward to this release but I already deleted it. The whole tabbed browsing and fast Edge page loads is nice but irrelevant for me and it most definitely doesn't overcome all the negatives. They should have spent more time before releasing this.
    Reply
  • now that's a surprise!
    Reply
  • touchdowntexas13
    Downloading for Ipod Touch...

    This is something I would like to see more of. It's kind of sad that there are SO many apps out there, but up until recently there really has only been one browser to use. I hope Apple loosens their grip and allows more of this stuff to happen. I also hope they don't remove Opera from the app store after they find out a lot of people are downloading it...
    Reply
  • zoemayne
    now chrome and firefox should do so

    maybe they approved it cause it sucks so much and the fools who are cheap enough to be on an edge network wont be smart enough to download this app.
    Reply
  • Hilarion
    taybTried it out yesterday on my iPod Touch. It sucks. The page caching might be useful if I was on Edge but I don't notice any speed improvements over wi-fi. The menu is clumsy, red, and wastes way too much screen real estate but by far the worst thing about Opera Mini is how it renders pages. You have to zoom in to be able to read anything. Going to a news site such as Digg is readable on Safari without zooming in and completely incomprehensible on Opera. I was actually looking forward to this release but I already deleted it. The whole tabbed browsing and fast Edge page loads is nice but irrelevant for me and it most definitely doesn't overcome all the negatives. They should have spent more time before releasing this.I would say that the only reason they approved it then, was to make their own browser look so good that Opera mini would be rejected by the Apple Almighty Sheeple vindicating Apple Almighty's so-called "wisdom" about what to approve.
    Reply
  • i recall MS recently lost an anti-monopoly law suit with regards bundling web browsers with OS.....
    Reply
  • babybeluga
    This is probably a stunt to piss google off some more.
    Reply
  • counselmancl
    The IPod is filled with the blood of the innocent.
    Reply
  • digiex
    Clue: EU anti-trust law suit.
    Reply
  • gm0n3y
    taybby far the worst thing about Opera Mini is how it renders pages
    Yeah, this pretty much makes it useless unless the site has a good mobile version. It only lets you view the whole page or zoom in fully, no intermediate zoom. Very iritating.

    I actually like the way they've done tabs, and it does seem quite a bit faster to me. If they can fix the zooming / font rendering, I'll definitely start using it.
    Reply