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Opera Mini

Developer(s)	Opera Software
Initial release	10 August 2005; 19 years ago (2005-08-10)
Written in	C++, Java, Pike
Engine	Presto (using server-side rendering), Blink
Platform	Android, iOS, Tizen, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone 8.1 (and previously supported Bada, BlackBerry OS, Java ME, Symbian-UIQ3, Zeebo)
Included with	Nokia X family, Samsung feature phones, devices by Celkon, Karbonn, Lava, Intex, Fly, Zen, HCL ME, and other manufacturers
Available in	50 languages
Type	Mobile browser
License	Freeware
Website	www.opera.com/mobile/mini

Opera Mini is a web browser designed primarily for mobile phones, smartphones and personal digital assistants. Until version 4 it used the Java ME platform, requiring the mobile device to run Java ME applications. From version 5 it is also available as a native application for Android, iOS, Tizen, Windows10 Mobile and previously supported bada, Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 8.1, BlackBerry. Opera Mini is offered free of charge, supported mainly through deals with mobile operators to have Opera Mini pre-installed in phones, and other sources of revenue such as search advertising deals, licensing and paid bookmarks and Speed Dial placement.

Opera Mini was derived from the Opera web browser for personal computers, which has been publicly available since 1996. Opera Mini began as a pilot project in 2004. After limited releases in Europe, it was officially launched worldwide on 24 January 2006.

Opera Software claims that Opera Mini requests web pages through Opera Software's compression proxy, the compression server process and compress requested web pages by up to 90% before sending them to the mobile phone, speeding up transfer by two to three times and dramatically reducing the amount of data transferred, chargeable on many mobile phone data plans. The pre-processing increases compatibility with web pages not designed for mobile phones. However, interactive sites which depend upon the device processing JavaScript do not work properly.

In July 2012, it was reported that Opera Mini had 168.8 million users as of March 2012. In February 2013, Opera reported 300 million unique Opera Mini active users and 150 billion page views served during that month. This represented an increase of 25 million users from September 2012.

History

Origin

Opera Mini was derived from the Opera web browser for personal computers, which has been publicly available since 1996. Opera Mini was originally intended for use on mobile phones not capable of running a conventional Web browser. It was introduced on 10 August 2005, as a pilot project in cooperation with the Norwegian television station TV 2, and only available to TV 2 customers.

A beta version was made available in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland on 20 October 2005. After the final version was launched in Germany on 10 November 2005, and quietly released to all countries through the Opera Mini website in December, the browser was officially launched worldwide on 24 January 2006.

On 3 May 2006, Opera Mini 2.0 was released. It included new features such as the ability to download files, new custom skins, more search engine options on the built-in search bar, a speed dial option, new search engines, and improved navigation.

On 1 November 2006, Opera Mini 3 beta introduced secure browsing, RSS feeds, photo uploading and content folding into its list of features and capabilities. Content folding works by folding long lists such as navigation bars into a single line that can be expanded as needed. A second beta was released on 22 November, and on 28 November, the final version of Opera Mini 3 was released.

Opera Mini 4

On 7 November 2007, Opera Mini 4 was released. According to Johan Schön, technical lead of Opera Mini development, the entire code was rewritten. Opera Mini 4 includes the ability to view web pages similarly to a desktop based browser by introducing Overview and Zoom functions, and a landscape view setting. In Overview mode, the user can scroll a zoomed-out version of certain web pages. Using a built-in pointer, the user can zoom into a portion of the page to provide a clearer view; this is similar to the functionality of Opera's Nintendo-based web browsers. This version also includes the ability to synchronise with Opera on a personal computer.

Prior to Opera Mini 4, the browser was offered in two editions: Opera Mini Advanced for high-memory MIDP 2 phones, and Opera Mini Basic for low-memory MIDP 1 phones. Opera Mini 4 replaced Opera Mini Advanced. The older Opera Mini 3 Basic was still available for low-memory phones as of 2012.

Originally, Google was the default search engine on Opera Mini. On 8 January 2007, Opera Software and Yahoo! announced a partnership to make Yahoo! search the default instead. On 27 February 2008, Opera Software announced that Google would henceforth be the default search engine for Opera Mini and Opera Mobile.

A version for the Android operating system was announced on 10 April 2008. Rather than port the code to Android, a wrapper was created to translate Java ME API calls to Android API calls.

Opera Mini 5

On 16 August 2009, Opera Software released Opera Mini 5.0 beta, which included tabbed browsing, a password manager, improved touch screen support, and a new interface, with a visual Speed Dial similar to the one introduced by Opera Software in their desktop browser.

The browser's use of compression and encrypted proxy-based technology to reduce traffic and speed page display has the side effect of allowing it to circumvent several approaches to Internet censorship. Since 20 November 2009, there have been reports from Chinese users that when they use Opera Mini, they are redirected to an error page leading them to download Opera Mini China Version. This is almost certainly due to the Chinese government being concerned that users are using Opera Mini to bypass the Great Firewall in China. Opera agreed to route all of their traffic through government servers.

2009–10: A press release announcing that Indonesia's Smart Telecom had chosen Opera Mini for their devices said that Opera Mini was the world's most popular mobile browser, and that Russia and Indonesia were the largest users.

An iPhone version was approved for distribution by the Apple App Store on 13 April 2010.

Most Opera Mini versions use only the Mini server-based compression method, with maximal compression but some issues with interactive applications. Non-Mini versions of Opera for phones and computers originally operated in uncompressed mode; from v10 a selectable server-based Turbo mode (called "off-road" in some versions) was added, similar to Mini mode, but bypassing compression for interactive functionality, at the expense of less extreme data compression. Opera Mini 8 for iPhone, released in 2014, can operate in Mini, Turbo, and uncompressed modes, effectively combining the functionality of the Mobile and Mini versions. Turbo and Mini modes reduce the amount of data transferred, which reduces cost on some phone contracts and increases speed on the slower connections typical of mobile phone networks; with a high-speed connection uncompressed mode, without delays due to diverting through the Opera server, compressing by the server, and expansion by the device, may work faster.

On 3 September 2014, Opera started taking registrations for the beta version of Opera Mini for Windows Phone. Opera Mini was released for Windows Phone six days later, on 9 September 2014, as a public beta. This marked Opera's return to Microsoft's mobile platform since the demise of Windows Mobile.

Functionality

The functionality of Opera Mini mode is somewhat different from that of a conventional Web browser, with the amount of data which has to be transferred much reduced, but with some loss to functionality. Most versions of Opera Mini only work in this mode; however, the Opera Mini 8 program for iOS, but not the BlackBerry/J2ME version, was completely redesigned and can switch between Mini, Turbo, and uncompressed modes, gaining functionality at the cost of lower compression in non-Mini modes.

Unlike straightforward web browsers, Opera Mini fetches all content through a proxy server and reformats web pages into a format more suitable for small screens. A page is compressed, then delivered to the phone in a markup language called OBML (Opera Binary Markup Language), which Opera Mini can interpret. The data compression makes transfer time about two to three times faster, and the pre-processing improves the display of web pages not designed for small screens.

By default, Opera Mini opens one connection to the proxy servers, which it keeps open and re-uses as required. This improves transfer speed and enables the servers to quickly synchronize changes to bookmarks stored in Opera Link.

The Opera Software company maintains over 100 proxy servers to handle Opera Mini traffic. They run Linux and "are massively parallel and massively redundant."

Small-Screen Rendering

For devices with screens 128 pixels wide or smaller, the default rendering mode is Small-Screen Rendering (SSR). In this mode, the page is reformatted into a single vertical column so that it need only be scrolled vertically. Long lists and navigation bars are automatically collapsed (hiding most of the list or bar) by a feature known as "content folding". A plus (+) sign is displayed next to the collapsed content; when clicked, it toggles content folding.

Web developers can turn on SSR on the desktop edition of Opera to see how their websites will be displayed on mobile editions of Opera.

In SSR mode images are scaled down to no more than 70% of the screen size in either direction.

Complex script rendering

Opera Mini can send content in bitmap image form if a font required is not available on the device, which is useful for indic scripts. Hindi and a few other non-Latin character sets are supported.

JavaScript support

When browsing the Web in Opera Mini mode, JavaScript is processed by the proxy server, and is merely rendered on the device. This limits interactivity. Scripts cannot be run in the background on the device. If a script is paused (on the server), the browser must communicate with the server to unpause it. JavaScript will only run for a couple of seconds on the Mini server before pausing, due to resource constraints.

According to the documentation for Opera Mini 4, before the page is sent to the mobile device, its onLoad events are fired and all scripts are allowed a maximum of two seconds to execute. The setInterval and setTimeout functions are disabled, so scripts designed to wait a certain amount of time before executing will not execute at all. After the scripts have finished or the timeout is reached, all scripts are stopped and the page is compressed and sent to the mobile device. Once on the device, only a handful of events are allowed to trigger scripts:

• onUnload: Fires when the user navigates away from a page
• onSubmit: Fires when a form is submitted
• onChange: Fires when the value of an input control is changed
• onClick: Fires when an element is clicked

When one of these events is triggered, sends a request to the proxy server to process the event. The proxy server then executes the JavaScript and returns the revised page to the mobile device.

Pop-ups, if not blocked by the JavaScript restrictions, replace the web page being viewed.

Opera has published Web content authoring guidelines to assist authors.

Opera Mini 8 for iOS can run in Turbo and uncompressed modes, in addition to Mini mode. In Turbo mode, the amount of data transferred is still much reduced by compression, but, unlike Mini mode, JavaScript is not intercepted by the server and works properly.

Features

Scrolling is carried out by using the device's arrow keys, its number keys, or a stylus.

The display may be toggled between portrait and landscape mode by keystrokes, or will switch automatically on phones with orientation sensors. The default orientation can be changed.

The image quality may be set to "Low", "Medium", or "High". Page load times are affected by the chosen image quality setting.

Opera Mini supports only one font, which can be set to "Small", "Medium", "Large", or "Extra large" size. If a web page uses Courier or a generic monospaced font, the one font is still used, but the characters are spaced out so that each character takes up the same amount of space.

Browsing tools

Opera Mini has a search bar capable of using several pre-configured search engines; the user can add more search engines. The default search engines are Google and Misplaced Pages.

Opera Mini supports shortcut keys, skins, and a web feed aggregator. It can save bookmarks, download files, save web pages for offline reading, and it remembers the user's browsing history.

Since the launch of Opera Mobile Store in March 2011 Speed Dial of Opera Mini displays a shortcut to Opera's own mobile applications store.

Privacy and security

Opera Mini, since 3.0 Advanced, encrypts the connection between the mobile device and the proxy server for privacy and security. The encryption key is obtained on the first start by requesting that the user press random keys a certain number of times. Opera Mini 3.0 Basic does not support encryption. Opera Mini has been criticised because it does not offer true, end-to-end security when visiting encrypted sites such as paypal.com: when visiting an encrypted web page, the Opera Software company's servers decrypt the page, then re-encrypt it themselves, breaking end-to-end security.

This reduces security, and is relevant to applications such as Internet banking.

Standards support

As of version 4, Opera Mini uses the same layout engine that is included in Opera 9.5. Consequently, Opera Mini supports most of the web standards supported in Opera 9.5. However, unlike the desktop edition of Opera, Opera Mini includes no support for Web Forms 2.0. Also, frames are flattened because of client limitations, and dotted and dashed borders are displayed as solid borders due to bandwidth and memory issues. As Opera Mini reformats web pages, it does not pass the Acid2 standards compliance test.

Opera Mini supports bi-directional text, meaning that it can correctly display right-to-left scripts such as Arabic and Hebrew in addition to languages written left-to-right. However, it will not display right-to-left text if the font size is set to small or very small. Indic and Chinese scripts are supported only if an appropriate font is installed on the device as the default system font. Opera Mini does not display text in italic or other formatting besides boldface.

Low-memory device support

For MIDP 1, low-memory devices, the older Opera Mini 3 Basic is still available. Its features include an option to increase the text size, as the default text size is too small for some web sites. Opera Mini 3 Basic uses less advanced compression, does not support full page view, does not include support for favicons, does not scroll as smoothly, does not feature a built-in clock, and does not support encryption. When browsing an encrypted web page with Opera Mini 3 Basic, the page is decrypted before being sent to the mobile phone.

• Opera Mini 3 Basic using the default, "medium" font size
• Opera Mini 3 Basic using the "large" font size

Opera Link

Bookmarks, Speed Dials, and search engines could be backed-up to My Opera until it closed on 3 March 2014, and kept synchronized between different phones or with the Opera browser on computers, using the Opera Link service.

Data centers

Opera Mini relies on data centers processing the Web page before sending it back to the phone in a compressed binary form.

• Data center in Japan
• Data center in USA
• 30 June 2009 – TeliaSonera International Carrier will provide Opera with co-location for establishing a new data center in Poland
• Data center in Iceland

Market adoption

The overall share of the Opera family in the mobile Web browser market was about 26.92% in October 2009. Figures for Opera Mini within this were not available. Most of users come from Indonesia, Russia, China and Brazil. It is also the most popular browser in several countries in Africa.

Network operators

Several mobile network companies pre-install Opera Mini on their mobile phones, including Telenor, AT&T, Vodafone, T-Mobile, KDDI, Omnitel, Pannon GSM, Telefónica Móviles de España and TMN.

Devices

The following devices came pre-installed with Opera Mini as of August 2007. Some listed devices only included Opera Mini when bought from certain network operators.

• Motorola V980, E2, L7, i1
• Nokia Nokia Asha series, 2610, 2700 classic, 2730 classic, 3110 classic, 3120 classic, 3500 classic, 3600, 3600 slide, 3710 fold, 3720 classic, 5000, 5070, 5130, 5230, 5310, 5500 Sport, 5610, 6080, 6085, 6103, 6131, 6233, 6288, 6300, 6303 classic, 6600 slide, 7373, 8800 Arte, Nokia C3, E65, N71, N73, and N95
• Sony Ericsson K310i, K530i, K550, W200i, W205, W760i, W910i, Z530i, Z550i, Z780i
• Samsung X160, E570, E420, F480, X510, X650, E900, E250, U700, ZV60, D900i
• LG K880, KU250, KE970, and KU311
• SAGEM My411x and P9521
• BenQ-Siemens EL71 and EF81
• BenQ E71 fight
• Orange Rio (ZTE-G X991)

While not officially supported on Chrome OS, Vlad Filippov published a guide how to run Opera Mini inside Chromium browser.

See also

• Amazon Silk
• History of web browsers
• List of web browsers
• Opera Mobile
• Opera (web browser)
• MarioNet split web browser
• Teashark
• Thunderhawk

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• "Opera Mini FAQ". Opera Software. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

External links

• Official website

• Opera Software
• Cross-platform software
• Java device platform
• Java platform software
• IOS software
• Web browsers for Android
• Symbian software
• BlackBerry software
• Windows Mobile software
• Mobile web browsers
• Client/server split web browsers
• Zeebo