Opera Mini Is Most Downloaded Mobile App
The Opera Mini application is now considered not only the world's most popular mobile browser, but also the world's most downloaded app. According to independent applications marketplace GetJar, the browser has been downloaded more than 25 million times from its store. "The fact that Opera Mini is the most downloaded app on an open app store like GetJar makes us proud," said Opera's Chief Strategy Officer Rolf Assev. "It proves that our vision of providing a browser that works on almost all phones will give millions a better way to access the Web."
According to StatCounter, Opera currently holds a 25% share of the mobile browser market, with the iPhone's Safari browser hot on its heels. GetJar credits much of Opera's success to the fact that the app is being downloaded across Java, Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile platforms. Given the limited capabilities of many of the current mobile browsers, a good portion of these downloads can be attributed to the quest for a better experience. And while Opera is clearly winning, we're not sure it'll be in the lead for long.
Recently, Mozilla released Fennec 3, the third beta version of the company's open-source touch mobile browser. In January 2008, ReadWriteWeb compared Opera Mini to the promises of the much anticipated Firefox mobile browser. A year later, Mozilla fans are still waiting and Opera Mini users continue to enjoy synced bookmarks and notes, skinning features, relatively fast downloads and increased video capabilities. From more than 1500 votes within the GetJar community, Opera Mini 4.2 has earned an 8.1 out of 10 user rating. But it will be interesting to see if die-hard Mozilla fans will sing the praises of Fennec.
To read GetJar's Opera Mini reviews or to download the app, visit the community's browser page. Or if you've got a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet and would like to test Fennec, download it here.
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Interesting. Any info as to how soon they plan to make the announcement? I certainly downlioad this opera mini for the reason that this delivers a fast, impressivelu advanced user0friendly experincing with this upgrade through using only my moile. Keypad hot keys speed up zooming and scrolling. The browser comes with a familiar mouse. You can create your own search shortcuts, synchronize your bookmarks with your other Opera browsers, and alternate between rendering views. And in addition, mobile browsing can be a drag if you are not confident of the actual browser you are using. And while many of us have our preferences on whether to use Opera, Safari or UCWEB, add a new browser on your possible browsing software preference with the launch of GO. I agree that the cost (whether in ads or auto financing.) has limited the size of Opera’s user base. Making it both ad-free and price-free would guarantee an increased user base. But I can’t figure out what the revenue source would be.
I can attest to opera and how great it works. I've been using it for some time browsing in coffee shops on my Apple Buddy. Great system very solid and light.
Actually, it's a misrepresented graph. "iTouch" is referring to the iPod Touch, which is also the mobile version of Safari. iPhone + iTouch == Safari ahead by a nice margin.
Posted by: nadreck.criticalgames.com
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August 24, 2009 11:18 PM
"And while Opera is clearly winning, we're not sure it'll be in the lead for long."
Uh, how is Fennec going to touch Opera Mini exactly? Fennec will only work on very few extremely high-end phones. Opera Mini runs on just about any phone.
Again, how is Fennec going to take the lead from Opera exactly?
@nadreck.criticalgames.com
Actually, the graph leaves out Opera for all sorts of devices like Archos, Nintendo, Sony, etc. for some reason. So the "iTouch" should be left out as well since it isn't really a mobile phone. That, or Opera on all those other devices should be added up as well.
Operamini so good quality of rendering web pages, compatibilty with almost all the devices available in market and thats too for free. How could other mobile browser had competed!!
@hithere (#6)
You'll note that the Sony PSP is also included in the graph. It's one of the problems I have with this statistic/graph: what exactly is it reporting? Sometimes it lists devices (iPhone, iTouch, Sony PSP, Blackberry, Android, Nokia), other times it lists browsers (Opera, OpenWave, Netfront).
Given that, my suspicion is that it's pulling the statistics from user agent data. If that's the case, then it could be argued that the "Opera" data point IS including all those other devices.
Posted by: nadreck.criticalgames.com
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August 25, 2009 11:38 AM
Did some more number crunching, pulled StatCounter's CSV file with a more complete breakdown, and also looked up their methodology in their FAQ. So:
1) Yes, it's based on user agent information. As near as can be told, all Opera devices are listed as "Opera", without delineation for device, or whether it's Opera, Opera Mini, or Opera Mobile. This combined amount is 25.37%.
2) iPhone and iTouch are both the same version of Safari, but report as different devices in the UA string, which is why they get listed separately. Between iPhone and iTouch, Safari has 34.2%.
3) Because I was curious, I also looked up rendering engines across the reported browsers. Nearly 56% are using WebKit (and will be growing, as the next version of OpenWave will be switching from NetFront to Webkit), Opera has 25.37%, NetFront has nearly 8%, Blackberry has 8.43%, and "other" (Gecko, proprietary, IE) makes up the remaining ~2%.
4) Completely unrelated, but StatCounter misreports OmniWeb as a mobile browser.
Posted by: nadreck.criticalgames.com
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August 25, 2009 12:18 PM
I'm currently trying to think where threaded comments fit in the roadmap right now, but it is something that is definitely planned. We're not going to say people *have* to use threaded comments, but the system shouldn't restrict people who want to have that option. Plus for larger conversations I think threaded comments make everything easier to follow.
hopefully they will figure out a way to get flash working on the iphone - not sure if that can be done with Opera Mini - I like to watch my insanity workout vids
hopefully they will figure out a way to get flash working on the iphone - not sure if that can be done with Opera Mini - I like to watch my insanity workout vids
I love Opera Mini but can't even view my own Campervan Hire Australia site bring on Chrome mini I say.