Opera Mini - Secrets Revealed
It has been Opera's common practice to only include a few new features in the first beta and add more features in the second beta and then also to the final release. It is also quite consistent that they release two betas of a browser before they release the final release. This has been their trend in Opera Mini as well as the Opera desktop browser. With the current Opera Mini 5 beta, I would project this to be the trend as well.
Getting back to the topic, I found some references in the source code of Opera Mini, which could reference to the new features coming in the next beta as well as the final version. So, here are some noteworthy references I found.
- Tools (Could this be a settings page called tools or a menu called tools? Below are the options that come right after tools.)
- always show navbar (You could guess what this means. It's probably an option to always show or hide the navbar - the bar that has back/forward/reload/exit buttons.)
- addressbar progress (This could be an option to show the progress bar in address bar instead of the status bar. This option is already available in Opera desktop browser. So it makes perfect sense to include it in Opera Mini as well.)
- save session (This is yet another feature that's available in Opera desktop browser and with the introduction of tabs in Opera Mini, it's quite likely for them to implement this. I guess it would become a favourite for me.)
- addressbar on page (As of now, as soon as you load a page, the address bar disappears. This option could be to avoid it and always show the address bar.)
- javascript (Could this be an option to enable and disable javascript.)
- TabBar (Well, there already is a tab bar in Opera Mini. So this could be an option to toggle it on/off.)
- passwordmanager (No, there isn't a real password manager in Opera Mini yet. It's just that you can save passwords and clear saved passwords. You cannot actually manage passwords as you cannot delete individual passwords. So this could be the solution invented.)
- inline (It's probably the option to toggle the inline text editing capability.)
- bream virtual keyboard (Could someone have a thought about what this could be?)
The below are probably the different internal pages of Opera Mini:
- t_bookmarks (The bookmarks page.)
- t_history (The history page.)
- t_savedpage (The saved pages page.)
- t_downloadmanager (Download Manager page?)
- t_settings (The Settings page.)
- pa_findinpage (Find in page. It's not a page actually. Note the "pa_" in front.)
- t_help (The help page.)
- t_exit (The exit page. Probably a page asking if you really want to exit, when you press the exit button.)
- t_extensions (Are they going to implement extentions or probably plugins?)
There is an option under advanced settings, called zoom and the values are 60%, 80%, 100%, 120%, 140%, 160% and 200%. This could mean that the infamous page zoom feature in Opera desktop is finally coming to Opera Mini. There are also options for plugins (perhaps a toggle to turn on/off plugins) and an option named turbo and Use Turbo Mode as a child option.
There are also references which say "net,org,com". These are TLDs that are commonly used. There are further more references to "userTLDs" and "uk, il, nz, za, co.". This could mean that users would be given the option to save their own TLDs in the next releases of Opera Mini.
Well, that's probably too much I have spit out. Now this is the end of it. Keep waiting for there features to emerge in the upcoming beta 2 and the final version of Opera Mini 5.
Posted by Ameer at Tuesday, September 22, 2009 6 Comments Links to this post
Labels: Crap
Opera Mini 5 beta - First Impressions.
Opera Mini beta has arrived and I have been using it for a couple of days. Here are the things that I liked and disliked.
Likes:
- New sleek ui (The new ui is simply great except that the scaling seems a little larger. I hope Opera Mini folks will fine tune it before the final release.)
- Tabs (This has been the feature that I have been eagerly waiting for long. Tabs are implemented quite magnificiently and Opera Mini has made me say wow again.)
- Copy and paste (This has also been a feature I have long awaited.)
- Speed dial (The speed dial looks more like a speed dial now and it rhymes well with a phone's keypad, thus serving more of its purpose well as the name.)
- Inline text editing (This is a feature that I almost new they would implement, after the auto-complete address bar in Opera Mini 4.2)
- Faster than 4.2 (Opera Mini 5 is indeed faster than its predecessor, despite some ramblings by users that its not. This is my observation and the results of my tests so far.)
- Password manager (or the so called wand in Opera's terms. I have never liked saving passwords anywhere I use a browser. Not at home, not in office, and not even in the portable browsers in my pen drive. But Opera Mini 5 has really changed my habits. I am starting to love the convenience of not having to type my username and password again and again.)
Dislikes:
- Download, Opera Link and feeds are disabled in beta. Will be added later. I could acess feeds by typing feed:list in address bar. I indeed have it as my 5th speed dial now. Also I am having the impression that they are going to implement a better download manager and not just the download page, when the final version comes out. Also I guess that more will be added to Opera Link. Could be searches and wand.
- Saved pages from 4.2 are not supported in 5. This is something that I really hate. Now I am not going to port the over 200 saved pages from Opera Mini 4.2 to 5. Instead I would have to keep a copy of 4.2 (perhaps renamed), until someone finds a solution (either Opera Mini folks make saved pages from 4.2 compatible with 5 or someone would find a way to convert them).
- No option to open page with images, while clicking a link. This was a feature that I loved and used often in Opera Mini 4.2. I hope it is not removed and would be back soon.
- Crashes. This isn't a dislike actually. As it is beta software, people should expect and accept crashes and bugs, which would eventually be fixed.
Overall, I like the new Opera Mini 5 beta and hope it would be final soon.
PS, I am posting this from Opera Mini 5 beta.
Posted by Ameer at Monday, September 21, 2009 1 Comments Links to this post
Labels: Crap
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