I downloaded this app early this morning around 2:00AM. I couldn’t sleep and late nigh re-runs of Chelsea Lately weren’t working like they used to. So I saw that Opera Mini was approved in the iTunes App Store. After all the recent news about Apple and their war with Adobe I thought for sure this would never be let into the App Store. I was wrong.

I can see why Apple had no problem with letting this browser in. It’s not good. I’m sorry. It’s not bad, but in no way am I going to use this over Mobile Safari. I just gagged a little. But yeah, it’s just not there. Now to be fair not all of Opera’s short comings are their fault but it makes the browser less desirable.

So let’s start with the good. It is fast. I think the “fastest browser in the world” is a bit much. It takes it’s sweet time to load up the New York Times, Twitter, and Facebook. However, when after the initial load of the pages the browser navigates back and forward really nicely. The pages are there instantly unlike, Safari which has to refresh every time it pulls up a new page. Another nice feature is the Speed Dial home screen. It’s just visual bookmarks but I like it. The last positive thing Opera has to offer is “tabbed” browsing. So it’s not like Safari where you open a new page and scroll through pages. In Opera, a menu pops up at the bottom and shows you the active tabs and a “+” sign that lets you open another page. It’s a nice to have and works very well.

Tabbed Browsing

Now here’s the bad:

• Does not import bookmarks from Safari.
• Does not support any Google Mobile Web Apps. Screen Shots below.
• Does not have full mobile support for Facebook or Twitter.
• Mult-touch navigation is spotty and hyper accelerated.
• No Flash (had to put that in there).
• This is not Opera’s fault but the fact of the matter is it can never be the phone’s default browser. So all web apps will automatically launch Safari making Opera a nuisance.

In my opinion Opera Mini is just like any other average free browser you can find on the App store. It’s sad but Apple is not going to let anyone be more accessible than their own browser. I can understand that and I will have to live with it. As mentioned above Opera is free on the App store so give it a whirl and let me know what you think. I personally am going to delete it from my phone shortly. Download Opera Mini for iPhone here.

Google Voice Login Screen on Opera

Google Voice Login Screen on Safari