BROWSE THE WEB DIFFERENTLY ON YOUR IPAD

The way we use a mobile device is different from a desktop computer. Take software for example. On computers, you generally know exactly what you need. Smartphones introduced the concept of the app store, which is more of an exploratory experience. Similarly, the way you browse the internet can be different. Most websites default to simplified versions when they detect a mobile device. And even if you force the desktop version to load, you’ll often run into navigation and layout issues. If you’re looking for an alternative approach on your iOS device, you could try Opera Coast, which has recently had a major upgrade to version 4.0. Here are four reasons why you should give Opera Coast 4.0 a try.

1.

Opera Coast is designed for touch-based navigation. Yes, you can bring out the search bar if you want to specifically visit a page. However, like the App Store, results are visual rather than just plain text. Also, in Opera Coast 4.0, there is a new Discover feature where you’ll get curated content pushed to you when you bring up the search bar. When you’re on-the-go and don’t really have time to sit down and digest your daily bookmarks, this is a great feature to hop around with topics that seem interesting. Who knows, you might just find a new favorite site.

2.

Most websites have some form of share button, but it’s not always apparent, and sometimes they don’t have a link to your preferred social network or messaging app. Copy-pasting links from a website on a smartphone can also call for some finger gymnastics. Opera Coast 4.0 has its own built-in share button that allows you to post just about any content to popular messenger and social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Line. Again, it does this in a visual manner so you link looks like a customized image rather than a text URL.

3.

Opera Coast 4.0 supports Handoff, which is part of Apple’s new Continuity features. This becomes a great way to continue surfing from your iPad to on your Mac once you’ve reached home (or the office). You can now jump between different browsers, screens and other devices too. While this feature is not limited to Coast, your other devices/browsers will need to support or have Handoff enabled.

4.

Lastly, Opera Coast 4.0 finally comes with Opera Turbo compression technology. This feature was previously only available in the Opera Mini version of the browser for iOS. Opera Turbo is a server-side compression technology which routes the pages you’re loading to dedicated Opera Turbo servers first, which then try to reduce data sizes as much as possible before sending it to you. This often results in lower bandwidth usage for you and helps load pages faster. While Turbo doesn’t work on all content, especially encrypted ones like online banking, it is very useful for general surfing especially if you have a low data cap or in an area with very bad connection speeds.