According to the most recent estimates by the UN, as of March 2018 the world population lies at 7.6 billion. That means of the entire world population, about 13%(1billion) has watched the video of the song Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye (Featuring Kimbra). It’s arguably one of the most popular break-up songs of all time so I’ll assume you’ve heard it before.
If not let me explain what the song is about. Somebody That I Used To Know is about a lover who has broken up with their partner but is failing to come to terms with the fact that there is now zero communication between the two.
Every time I open Opera Mini nowadays this is the feeling I get. We had a great and memorable run and you were there for me when a $1 got me 10MB of data but the Opera Mini I see today is barely recognizable let alone as good as the one I used a few years back. I’m done with Opera Mini, we had some good times but it seems Opera keeps abusing my trust and I’m sick and tired. Opera Mini is just a browser that I used to know…
‘You didn’t have to stoop so low’
Firstly, Opera Mini has become hypocritical. The browser has a preinstalled ad-blocker and this allows you to surf the net free of distracting ads that also usually slow down your phone. The only problem with this is not all ads are blocked. From time to time Opera themselves show full screen ads!
So basically they are saying to us, the users, “I’ll block the ads on all the other sites but in return I’ll also fill your screen with the most intrusive kind of ads.” It’s like making a deal with you-know-who. There is no winner here except for Opera who block ads from other publishers and then plaster video ads and make money off ad-blocking.
To some it may seem like a small issue but these ads are more topical than you would think. Most online publishers make their money through ads, so If Opera decides to block them it would be better if they blocked ads altogether. The current setup they have is a low-blow as essentially they are saying to publishers: “We will take away your revenue method but then use that exact same method to make money, Cheers!”
Opera Mini also has lockscreen ads, and yes, those can disabled but this kind of thinking on Opera’s part shows how they’ve gone from making a browser that was user-focused to a browser that’s now Opera-focused.
‘You treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough…’
Next up on the reasons why Opera Mini will no longer get my attention going forward is because the way webpages load on the browser is….. Honestly it’s hard to describe, you can see for yourself below:
This is not entirely Opera’s fault and is more in-tune with how a site is developed but at the end of the day the browsing experience on Opera Mini is not fulfilling.
It’s not all bad news: Opera is still king of data savings
I mean Opera still has some good benefits and I won’t tell you to continue using it or not. They have a data saving system that has next to no challengers. If data saving is your only priority then Opera Mini is still your best bet.
Anyway, I hadn’t listened to that song in a while… Let me grab some tissues.
17 comments
USED to love it . Left for uc decades ago. It’s now useless
and where are you moving to now?
Google Chrome now, I’m not a big fan of the interface but it works smoothly…
Samsung Internet browser. i can sync bookmarks between my phone and chrome on my pc. also because of Samsung pass, i can log into websites using my fingerprint. And it works just as smooth as chrome.
sidenote does zimra open parcels ie those you purchase from geekbuying etc? like how do they know if they are supposed to charge duty or no?
They open hey kkkkkkk. If you were Zimra, would you not open it?
haha i bought a redmi 5 plus phone on geekbuying,i have already budgeted for the duty and all but this overzealous seller writes me an email saying “i have shipped your product and i have also put a value of $20 and marked it as a gift” so now i’m thinking what are my options
I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE
have never liked opera maybe becoz i know my way around internet better.
Your article, the whole of it, from top to bottom, is also how I feel about Techzim nowadays.
Articles are a minefield of Ads that you have no navigate. Ads shouldn’t annoy the user.
Revelance. The tagline is Technology news Zimbabwe, yet I get sent notifications about Health Alerts and Big Sister Zimbabwe. Are we People Magazine now and not Techzim?
I load a page and the top reads “Server not found”. Uhm…
I want to grab a box of tissues too.
I am looking at your comment now and “smack” in the middle of your comment is an ad for some used bus for sale lolest
Opera Mini hasn’t launched ads for me. Never ever, maybe I use different version.
That aside, you need to understand how Opera Mini works before you blame it for your problems. Depending on the level of bandwidth saving, your browsing experience may deteriorate. Especially on websites that rely heavily on Javascript, like PayNow and their related websites. You are supposed to adjust your data-saving settings accordingly.
You can visit their site and read more on how Opera mini compresses traffic.
That is the thing as a user all i want is to open my browser and browse. I shouldn’t have to visit opera’s site and try to understand them. Once I am doing that it’s clear to me that the experience is not the same anymore
Oh, come on! It’s even explained in the app that extreme data saving mode affects your browsing experience. I said to visit the site to get a better understanding, it’s not necessary as they do give tips in the app. It’s easy to complain when you are being ignorant.
Samsung Internet for me. Clean interface, night mode, fingerprint log in for websites, download manager, and extensions such as ad blocking on mobile.
Opera Mini is now owned by the Chinese. They are venture capitalists, apparently, and they bought the thing from its Norwegian entrepreneurs. I know that you know all the MITM technicalities of browsing through a proxy, whether it compresses stuff or not. But I think you need to appreciate cultural factors, too. Take one: Those adventure capitalists need to recoup their cash outlay. This requires monetization of Opera’s gateways — by bombarding you with ads. Take two: Welcome to the Great Firewall of China! I am afraid you might need some political education to appreciate what has happened to Opera Mini. Even their VPN out of Canada could be hey, hey! Bottom line: it could be time you started paying for your Internet. Everyone who says they’re gonna save you money on the wire, including Google, MS and Samsung, is a jerk.
The fact that I may need some political education to understand what happened to Opera may be true but I need no education to understand that I no longer enjoy using the browser