Opera Ships Major New Version Of Its Desktop Browser, Codenamed "R5"

The newest version of Opera's desktop browser comes with new features and supportive design tailored to the changes in people's everyday online lives: from video calls, through sharing ideas with friends to a better music streaming experience

News provided by

Opera Limited

Jun 24, 2021, 03:00 ET

OSLO, Norway, June 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The way people use the web is changing and the role of the browser has never been greater: according to a study conducted by Opera [NASDAQ: OPRA], 65 percent of people have been spending more time online during the last year and a half. Two thirds were also spending more time online during their free time. The newest major release from Opera addresses these changing patterns with a set of features that support people during their key online activities: from video conferencing through entertainment to sharing ideas with others and getting feedback on them.

Opera presents the annual release of its desktop browser codenamed R5. It improves videoconferencing, introduces the new Pinboards feature for idea sharing and enhances the music streaming in the browser. These features come as a response to people's increased use of the web for both work and play in the past year and a half.

The major release of Opera browser for Windows, MacOS and Linus improves the videoconferencing experience and adds many new features including Pinboards

"Many people have become true power users of the web in the past year and a half. With today's release, Opera is providing smart ways to improve their online lives," said Maciej Kocemba, product director at Opera.

A better video call experience with new popout feature

Video calls are the new reality of life and the browser is now a key way people access different video conferences online. Opera's recent study finds that 57 percent of people have used the browser to join video calls in recent months. The survey results show that they also like to multitask while video conferencing, which can cause some issues.

Those who spend many an hour on calls will be all too familiar with the situation when a video conference hijacks the entire screen or will be familiar with not being able to find the tab with the meeting after looking something up in another tab or simply getting distracted.

Opera has fixed this problem with its brand-new video conferencing popout feature which works with Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Video conferencing popout pops the video out of the tab and keeps it on top of other tabs. This happens automatically whenever you're switching to another tab and video pops in when you switch back to the video call tab. The behavior can be adjusted in settings. This makes multitasking easier, so you can stop juggling tabs during calls. There's also a clever option to make the floating window transparent giving users both more screen and constant contact with people on the call.

With the new R5 release, the tab with the active video call is also now marked with a red bar to make it easier to spot. And if you still get lost in a sea of open tabs and browser windows, you can simply use the CTRL+space keyboard shortcut and find it using a keyword. And if you forgot about a tab that was recording from your microphone? Opera will indicate it too.

New feature alert: Collect, organize and share ideas visually with Pinboards

The new Pinboards feature is exactly that: a virtual pinboard that lets users collect websites, images, links and notes in visual form and share them with others, regardless of the device they access it from.

Sharing a pinboard involves simply sharing a link, and those who it's shared with can view everything the pinboard owner posts, as well as react with emojis.

"Whether it's a group trip to Mallorca, a collection of gaming articles, home redecorating inspiration, shopping wishlist or anything else, we want our users to be able to share it with other people and get their reactions - without the need to install new apps or going through the tedious process of creating accounts," said Maciej Kocemba.

Pinboards look fantastic, no matter which browser or which device they are viewed with, and no signup is needed to use the feature. It's free to use for all. To create a new pinboard, you'll need to use Opera.

More inclusive at streaming the music of your choice

Opera is known for its built-in features, like all the social messengers integrated into the browser. It also boasts native access to Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube music in the Player feature in the sidebar. And now, the feature is more inclusive with a wider range of music services including Deezer, Tidal, SoundCloud and Gaana.

The Player feature itself has also been improved with additional controls for music playback. Simply hover over the player icon in the sidebar for a mini control popup, and skip, play, pause, or drag the playback timeline, without having to open the feature's panel.

"Whether you use Opera for work or play, we're here for you," said Kocemba.

A tab hoarder or neat freak - we don't judge

A browser wouldn't be a browser without the occasional storm of tabs. For the tab-hoarders out there, Opera has a useful Search in Tabs feature which lets them find a particular tab by typing keywords.. Search in tabs is opened with the CTRL+space shortcut, and it searches through both tab titles and page content to find the tab you want.

If you have synced your browsers through your Opera account, Search in Tabs will also display tabs that are open on your other connected devices. And one more addition - if you are having a video conference in one of your tabs, an indicator will show which tab it's in.

From now on, Opera will also indicate duplicate tabs in the search in tabs feature, which means you won't find yourself opening the same tab over and over again.

Opera has never looked better

Beyond pure functionality, R5 means that Opera is also improving its looks with a set of new wallpapers designed especially for this release. It will also make sure to follow the system setting as far as dark and light themes are concerned.

Messengers to stay connected to friends while browsing

The built-in Messengers in Opera's sidebar allow you to chat and browse at the same time, without having to switch apps or open tabs with a given messenger. Opera currently offers native access to Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, and VKontakte. You can also use Instagram and Twitter directly from the sidebar.

About Opera

Opera is leveraging 25 years at the forefront of web development, building browsers. With hundreds of millions of monthly engaged users across their product range and a team of 1800 engineers, researchers, analysts and marketeers across 10 countries. Opera is headquartered in Oslo Norway and listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (OPRA).

Today Opera is building its audiences in Europe, Africa and Asia across 4 product categories; computer and laptop browsers, AI driven news platforms and fintech applications.

It is highly experienced in identifying consumer trends, needs and wants and developing products that meet demand quickly, capturing space and early adopters.

The press kit with extra images can be accessed here

VIDEOS:
Opera R5 product animation:
https://opr.as/R5

The new Opera pinboards feature explained video:
https://opr.as/pinboards

SOURCE Opera Limited