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Launch of the Opera Mini app for iPhone

After three weeks of waiting to see if Apple would approve the app, the Opera Mini app was finally released and quickly sailed to the top of the iPhone app download chart, surpassing one million downloads within hours of its release. Due to its strict guidelines on app approval and Apple’s interest in using its own built-in browser, Mobile Safari, many questioned whether Opera Mini would be available. After a lengthy approval process, it has finally been approved, so now, for the first time, Apple is facing browser competition on the iPhone.

A long-standing developer in the Internet browser market, Opera has a very small share of the traditional browser market. However, in the emerging world of mobile browsers, the story is different, with Opera Mini being the most popular browser. With the huge iPhone market now available to them and no competition other than Mobile Safari, Opera’s dominance in this market has the potential to skyrocket.

A key reason for Opera’s success so far is its speed. Typically browsing around three times faster than the competition, Opera handles this advantage by processing the data on Opera’s own servers and sending the compressed data to the phone, unlike other browsers which use the phone to receive and calculate all the data. . The difference when using a dedicated wireless network is not that great, but when using 2G or 3G networks, the improvement is considerable. The fact that the phone receives less data also reduces the impact for those who pay Internet roaming charges.

Opera submitted the app for approval to Apple in mid-March and it took three weeks to get approved. Meanwhile, there was much debate on the blog network and in the media about whether the app would be approved in light of its threat to Safari’s monopoly in the iPhone browser market. In the past, Apple used a clause in its terms and conditions prohibiting apps that “duplicate existing functionality” as a basis for rejecting apps, and many believed that Opera Mini would not be allowed on this basis.

An aggressive publicity campaign by Opera, including issuing press releases to coincide with the filing of the application and placing a prominent timer on its website to watch how long the approval took.
The process would make sure all eyes were on Apple, which could have helped the process.

Another hurdle is that Apple doesn’t allow third-party apps to run their own Javascript and rendering processes on the iPhone. As Opera’s servers handle this side of things rather than the phone itself, it can’t be turned down on this ground; this is the main obstacle for other competitors like Firefox and the main reason why they won’t follow Opera on the iPhone anytime soon. .

For now Opera has won the battle but not the war. There is a long way to go to reach Safari’s established user base. There are also privacy concerns about how Opera handles user data on its own servers and the possibility of advertising in the future.

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