Opera has switching over to the open source WebKit engine to power its mobile browser on the Android platform, instead of the Presto engine it is currently using. WebKit is the same engine that powers browsers such as Safari, Chrome and the stock Android browser. While opinions vary, it’s generally regarded as the fastest option around, routinely beating competitors like Mozilla’s Gecko.
The browser is in beta mode, and is now available to Android users via the Google Play Store.
The new browser centres around its homepage which features three columns that you can swipe left and right between. The left most is the familiar history while central is Speed Dial and to the right is Discover.
Speed Dial is a place to store bookmarks to your favourite sites, which are laid out in a grid pattern and can be combined into folders just like apps.
As for Discover, its yet another variation on these news feed apps that present curated content in a stylised column of pictures. It does go a step further than many such offerings though as it also caches the first couple of paragraphs of the article saving having to download the whole lot.
Also key is the new Off-road mode which when engaged, like Opera mini, routes page requests through Opera’s servers where they’re compressed before being delivered to your device.
Other features of the new browser include tabbed browsing, a combined search and address bar and an offline mode for saving whole webpages for reading later.
The download manager can be used to save, rename, start, stop, and resume downloads. The browser’s compatibility is currently listed as “varies with device.” Have you downloaded it yet? Tell us what you think in the comments!
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