On Sunday, Opera officially launched the Opera Max beta, a free and easy-to-use app that, according to the company, will save users data when using installed apps such as Vine, Google Chrome, Instagram and more.
"Opera Max uses a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, to measure all the data usage on your phone," reads the company's blog. "Once Opera Max savings is enabled, all non-encrypted data requests are sent through our compression servers that optimize video, images, and websites to use less data. We only measure how much data you use and how much data you've saved."
The overall data savings will depend on the applications in use and the type of content that is accessed. Users will see data savings from HTTP non-encrypted apps. Opera Max does not work with applications that use HTTPS encryption (like Facebook) or other protocols.
Back in December, Opera began a limited beta using customers with Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" devices in the United States. Then on Tuesday the company began taking pre-registrations for the United States and Western Europe. For now, Eastern Europe will not be able to test Opera Max.
"We've always compressed data, on desktop and mobile browsers," reads the company's blog. "We started in 2005; and, today, we're happy to extend our data-saving ideas beyond browsers to help you save on all your phone's apps, too."
"We want to make sure our servers have enough capacity for all of you, so access to our beta will be given out on a first-come first-served basis," the blog continues. "If you are one of the early US beta testers (and have already installed Opera Max), you do not need to join the queue. We'll auto-update you."
To get into the Opera Max beta, first download and install the app from Google Play here. Once the app is up and running, users will be placed in line (similar to how BBM launched). The team says that they will unlock the app as soon as they know the servers can handle the load. Users will start to see their progress in the queue shortly, and they'll be saving data in no time, the blog concludes.
For more information about Opera Max, head here.
