Opera is a company who has continually been looking to improve the experience on Android, with a clear focus on offering a suite of features and apps which result in far less data-hungry smartphone experience for consumers. Most notably though their Opera Max app which looks to cut the amount of data an Android smartphone uses. Even with more data-heavy services like video playback.
Of course, when it comes to video and especially when trying to limit the impact playback has on data, one would probably assume that reducing the size of video data would impact on the performance of playback. Well, Opera has today announced it is updating the Opera Mini web browser app to version 15 and one of the key aspects of the update is an improvement to the performance of video playback when viewed through the browser. The new feature being added is going by the ‘Video boost’ moniker and is one which looks to reduce the data size of video. In doing so, increasing loading speeds while also reducing buffering times. All while also ensuring the data being eaten up by the videos is less than it was originally. In short, saving on the data without compromising on buffering or loading times. A feature which will be ideal for those on lower data plans and still looking to watch video content while away from a Wi-Fi connection. Or of course, for those who just would like to be consuming less data during video playback in general. As mentioned, the update is rolling out to the Opera Mini app today and the new feature can be toggled on or off through the app’s settings, which can be found under the “O” menu within the app.
In terms of the update in general, Video boost is only one of the features as the latest version will also allow users to re-size images before uploading in the browser. Another aspect which is designed to cut the data cost of uploading larger image file sizes. While another added benefit in that data-compression will now automatically be switched off when the app realizes a Wi-Fi connection has been established. Ensuring that compression only occurs when you are using mobile data and not Wi-Fi. Those interested in checking out the app can do so by heading through the link below.