My God, it's full of tabs: Vivaldi's coolest new features shine on phones and cars
- Reference: 1677760213
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/03/02/vivaldi_5_7/
- Source link:
As a power user's tool rather than a populist one, Vivaldi's release schedule is slightly more measured than many rival browsers. The latest release of the company's eponymous browser is version 5.7, while both Firefox and Chrome are somewhere around version 110. The open source Chromium basis of the latter [1]provides the engine inside Vivaldi.
[2]Former Opera boss and Vivaldi [3]CEO Jon von Tetzchner took a break from Mobile World Congress to tell The Reg what's new.
[4]
In this release, the main new [5]shiny is reserved for the mobile version. Currently, this only runs on Android and its relatives. If you are looking for an iOS version, you'll only [6]find a holding page. We suspect that it will follow [7]the end of Apple's WebKit-only policy .
[8]
[9]
The new mobile version does has some nifty new features, though. It's faster, even if you have lots of tabs open – they mention that it works with hundreds of tabs open. The mere thought of that makes The Reg FOSS desk whimper slightly, but this aversion does not apply to other members of his family.
A fun new feature is control of playback of audio and video on background tabs. It suppresses auto-play videos, a welcome touch that's on by default. But it also has an option for the converse: it can keep audio playing even when you switch a tab into the background – or even the whole browser. If you use a website to stream music without a local client app, you will soon find that playback in the background is a premium feature that isn't available to freeloaders. If you put your phone to sleep, or switch apps, the tunes immediately stop. Vivaldi can keep them playing.
[10]
Vivaldi also reminds you to enable synchronization of your data. This extends further than just browser passwords. For instance, it can sync your open tabs from all your devices. The data is encrypted, and as this particular vulture discovered when trying it out, if you forget your passphrase, your data is gone . There are no backdoors or password-recovery processes here.
Vivaldi also supports [11]Android Automotive , which is the special edition of Android that runs on in-car "infotainment" devices. Note that, confusingly, this is a different product from [12]Android Auto , which links an Android phone with a car's "head unit" – the in-car entertainment system – and was [13]announced way back in 2014 .
[14]Vivaldi email client released 7 years after first announcement
[15]Surf the web from your parked Renault: Vivaldi comes to OpenR
[16]Scam, pyramid scheme, environmental disaster: Vivaldi boss shares his thoughts on crypto-coins
[17]Electric fastback fun: Now you can surf the web from the driving seat of your Polestar 2
Oddly for such a web-centric company as Google, Android Automotive doesn't include a web browser. Back in 2021, [18]Vivaldi was the first to do this in the Polestar 2 , and it later [19]also made a deal with Renault . Now it also [20]runs in the Mercedes Benz E-Class.
To be honest, there is less to shout about in the desktop edition of this release. Vivaldi 5.7.2921.60 actually uses the rendering engine from Chromium 110, but that is a [21]minor update. The main desktop 5.7 [22]debuted a couple of weeks ago, with a revamped Window panel, which allows you to navigate through hundreds, or even thousands, of tabs and/or windows in a vertical tree view, alongside and separate from the tab bar at the top. The first [23]comment on the announcement is from a Vivaldi user who had 742 tabs open at that point. It's probably more by now. So this is probably the browser of choice for taboholics.
There are also more keyboard shortcuts, and new facilities in the integrated email client, including the ability to mark folders as read automatically. The company also has a free [24]trial available of a new privacy-centric search engine called Neeva, founded by [25]former Google ad and commerce boss Sridhar Ramaswamy . ®
Get our [26]Tech Resources
[1] https://vivaldi.com/blog/desktop/minor-update-5-7/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2010/01/05/opera_ceo/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2010/03/01/opera_jon_interview/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZADWNv9ad35wozuCpLKSPAAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-on-android-5-7/
[6] https://vivaldi.com/ios/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/07/mozilla_google_apple_webkit/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZADWNv9ad35wozuCpLKSPAAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZADWNv9ad35wozuCpLKSPAAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZADWNv9ad35wozuCpLKSPAAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://source.android.com/docs/devices/automotive/start/what_automotive
[12] https://source.android.com/docs/devices/automotive/start/what_automotive
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2014/06/26/google_promises_android_wrist_car_living_room_and_beyond/?page=2
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/09/vivaldi_mail/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/18/vivaldi_renault/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/14/vivaldi_says_no_to_cryptocurrency/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/22/vivaldi_polestar/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/22/vivaldi_polestar/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/18/vivaldi_renault/
[20] https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-browser-in-mercedes/
[21] https://vivaldi.com/blog/desktop/minor-update-5-7/
[22] https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-5-7-on-desktop/
[23] https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-5-7-on-desktop/#comment-644735
[24] https://vivaldi.com/blog/news/neeva-search-now-available-worldwide-free-premium-offer-for-all-vivaldi-users/
[25] https://www.theregister.com/2016/01/22/google_crushes_malicious_ads/
[26] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I'm still using Vanced so, although Google promised to eventually block Vanced, I don't see the problem. Use Vanced until it stops working and by that time a [useful] replacement will probably show up.
Why do you need a browser running in your car?
Everything is a web app these days
You don't _need_ one but it's handy, because the car ui is designed for when you have one hand on the wheel.
Maps.
Parking apps.
Route finders.
Media player.
Internet only radio.
Audiobook websites.
Phone integration, contact and number finding.
etc ad nauseum
"There an app for that", replaced there's a website for that for many people because Apple have a shit browser, but the rest of the word kept making websites with useful functionality that does not require a desktop.
For the same reason you need a barbecue, or a sauna - because you can.
This is the insane mentality of people who just can't leave well alone. A car is a tool to get you from one place to another, not an office or entertainment system replacement. No, I do not want a high-end audio system with a 96" flatscreen to watch films in my car. It's nonsense because the sound of the tires on the road are going to spoil any other experience you care to try. Besides, you're supposed to be driving in a car. You have a bloody smartphone to surf the web with.
Stop putting stuff everwhere you can jack it in just because. A hammer does not need to be "smart".
"This is the insane mentality of people who just can't leave well alone."
Especially touch screens. In cars.
NO.
I want tactical feedback and fixed functions to allow eyes-on-the-road operation, not a video game where I need to devote way too much of my attention just to change the cabin temperature.
I know I'm a bit of a slob in the real world, but 700+ tabs????
I'm in awe of that ... I haven't managed even close to 50 since the demise of the late, great Opera 12 ...
Tabssssss ...
OperaGX , to me at least the spiritual succesor to Opera.
You can ignore all the gaming bits, it actually is a really great browser that does almost everything I need it to do (YMMV)
It's called a challenge.
The audio playback is great...
...YouTube wants you to pay for this privilege....no longer needed.
Well until Google create an "Enhancement" that accidently breaks it.
Ad blocker
I really like the ad blocker, and YouTube is quite a different experience if one comares it on a vanilla Firefox and a vanilla Vivaldi.
Re: Ad blocker
You mean it gets rid of those damn Grammerly adverts? Hooray!
Re: Ad blocker
Ditto for Spotify.
"My God, it's full of stars."
The Reg usually gets these right, but there is no "Oh" in the original quote.
Been using it for months now.
I'm liking it a lot. Also been using Neeva for search, as trying to avoid bias.
If it had some of the additional blocking tools Brave has, it would be my default browser...
Autoplay blocking
If that actually works on any website, that's a winner for me. On Android, neither Chrome nor Firefox's autoplay settings seem to have any kind of effect on most videos, and NoScript would be a PITA to use on a mobile.
Re: Autoplay blocking
I tend to browse a limited selection of sites, but it does seem to work as intended (to the extent that I had to permit auto-play on Twitter, as that's one of the few places that I want videos to)
Bigger numbers != better
-> The latest release of the company's eponymous browser is version 5.7, while both Firefox and Chrome are somewhere around version 110.
When Firefox went down this route it showed how boneheaded it had become. In terms of features, it is about version 7 or 8. Now if somebody farts at Firefox and adds an even more complicated way to hide some settings, that's a new version number. A(nother) thing which annoys me about Firefox is how it makes connections to IPs which have no DNS entries. This is traffic from Firefox, initiated by Firefox. It has not come from me browsing somewhere. Here's some of the latest examples: 34.110.220.139, 172.217.16.227, 54.201.143.187, 172.217.169.78. Has nobody at Firefox heard of DNS? How about putting in some hostnames so I know where this browser is connecting to. It could be part of the update process. It could be anything. Sure, I can waste my time looking these up. But thanks for the lack of user friendliness.
I have tried Vivaldi. It has some good features. I always liked the integration of Netscape Communicator back in the day, with its small toolbar of icons for each program in the suite. Vivaldi doesn't have that, but it does have integrated web, email, and calendar. The left side toolbar is a bit confusing. In comparison Firefox has become a horror show. "It burns", as somebody said to Quatermass. Also, the ability to sync cross platform such things as bookmarks, settings, and notes with encryption is a good thing.
I am a bit surprised that Vivaldi is not more popular than Firefox. It deserves to be.
Re: Bigger numbers != better
I see the Pi-Hole blocking this:
incoming.telemetry.mozilla.org
I was a bit shocked when I saw this yesterday.
TBH I tried Vivaldi on several occasions, but I didn't feel it was right for me at the time. Time to try again!
I tend to use Vivaldi on the desktop when I can, despite my employer's instance on Edge (Ah, the joys of being in charge of the company macOS deployment system and therefore requiring admin rights over my own machine). I also use it at home when I can.
I use Safari on iOS, because it's easy. It's quite functional, and generally works ok. I don't dislike it, but I think if Vivaldi had a decent version on iOS, I'd use that.
With background playback and ad blocking, hopefully, this can serve as something of a replacement for Vanced. Also, hopefully, it's generalist enough to keep the Google lawyers away.