Opera Mini for Android Updated to Version 7.0

Opera Software has updated the Android version of its Opera Mini proxy browser from 6.5.2 to 7.0. If you have used the Opera Mini “Next” Beta version, then 7.0 should look familiar. According to Opera 7.0, incorporates the all new features added to Opera Mini Next plus some unspecified bug fixes. Here’s a list of the new features in 7.0.

Full hardware acceleration of the Mini application has been implemented.
On Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) devices, URL sharing via NFC has been added.
Opera Mini now supports more than 9 speed dials – you can add as many as you like, or as many as your device can handle.
Improved support for Right To Left languages.
Tab improvements – Tabs are now closed with one click on touch screen devices. And when you close a tab, Opera Mini will switch to the one you used last.
No more “www.” in address bar. Auto completion still supports it, though.

Opera Mini Next for Android was also updated today with the same bug fixes. According to Opera, Next and 7.0 are now binary equal, but that as new features are developed they will show up in Next first. Which sounds like a good reason to keep Next installed along side 7.0.

I had no problems updating for 6.5 to 7.0 on my Motorola Photon Android 2.3 phone. I did notice that the bug in Opera Link which duplicates Speed Dials, which first appeared in Opera Mini Next, is still present in 7.0. In the screen shot of 7.0 below, on the right, the first and second Speed Dial icons are duplicates of the fourth and ninth and seventh from Opera Mini 6.5 on the left.

I consider duplicate Speed Dial bug more of an annoyance than a real issue. But it annoys me enough that I’ve now use Opera Link as strictly a bookmark backup tool. Once I do an initial sync after a new install, I disable Opera Link and delete the duplicate Speed Dials. As long as I don’t re-enable Opera Link, my Speed Dials behave.

Opera Mini 7.0 is available now from Android Play. Users without Android Play access can download the .apk from this page opera.com/mobile/download/versions/.