Most people on this planet are in one way or the other using the internet. There was once a time when we had to consciously search for information on the internet through a web browser, but due to the increasing use of apps with dedicated functionality, people are not always aware that they are connected to the internet and actually extracting underlying information from the internet via the app. And that is not automatically bad, and in lots of situations very good, because it has brought technology and the internet closer to less tech savvy people. But in many situations, the use of a good browser is indispensable for putting together focused searches and specifying the search result very precisely. Vivaldi is one of those browser developers and their browser is currently my personal favorite on my Linux Mint based desktop. But 2019 could be the year of the Vivaldi browser on our mobiles as well. And there will be a Vivaldi mail client as well.
About the Vivaldi browser
For surfing the web, that can be via a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone, most people will probably use the better known web browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari. But despite these being the most popular browsers, that does not automatically mean that they are the best or the most interesting browsers for every user. There are several alternative browsers available that are certainly worthwhile to have a look at, like the Brave browser focused on ad free browsing, or the Ecosia browser (with Ecosia search engine) for Android and iOS that focuses on a greener world. And of course my personal favorite Vivaldi, which is a greatly adaptable browser, but sadly not yet available for mobile devices.
Vivaldi is a web browser developed by Vivaldi Technologies. The team behind Vivaldi has a clear vision. A browser should adapt to the user and not the other way around. The designers believe that many people want to adapt their browser to their own preferences in every detail possible. They want access to advanced tools without sacrificing performance or safety. Further the Vivaldi developers have made privacy, security and reliability the core of their scope with every modification or extension of the application.
If you want to read more about the functionalities of the Vivaldi Browser you can read my blog post Vivaldi is a great web browser for Linux and Vivaldi 2.0 for Linux offers many improvements.
Vivaldi for mobile
To be honest, I can go on and on with describing all nice functionalities of Vivaldi. I am really enthusiastic about this browser and if you give it a try I am convinced that you will like Vivaldi as well. But there is one thing missing, the Vivaldi browser on our mobile devices. The community of Vivaldi enthusiasts is asking for a while now to have a mobile version of the Vivaldi browser that offers perfect synchronization with all settings and bookmarks in the desktop version. But The Vivaldi team is relatively small and it is better to make one perfect piece of software than multiple weaker ones. So creating a mobile web browser was not Vivaldi’s top priority.
But in a recent interview on the CNET website with Vivaldi CEO Jon Von Tetzchner some nice to hear and eagerly awaited news was being shared. In this interview Jon Von Tetzchner tells about the Vivaldi browser and his goal to build a browser with an endlessly configurable interface. He also tells about the latest 2.4 release that brings us a step closer to his goal by making it possible to freely move every interface element and button within the application interface. But for me the news on a mobile version of the Vivaldi browser and even a mail application that will both finally come out in 2019 is very exciting to read.
Jon Von Tetzchner mentions that not only an Android version of Vivaldi but also a standalone email application should arrive by the end of this year. Jon expects the browser to come first. He shares that he already runs both applications, but that there is still some work to be done. We can expect a number of distinctive functionalities from other browsers, such as those that are characteristic of the desktop version of the Vivaldi browser. I will keep you informed if there is more to report.
If you want to read the complete edited interview on CNET you can find it here.
