This mobile browser is red hot on iOS and Android
Under one name or another, the Opera Browser has been around on smartphones for a long time.
Opera is hot on iOS and Android | Image by Opera
Just because Google Chrome is the default browser on Android, it doesn't mean that those using Google's open-source mobile operating system are tapping on Chrome when they need to access a mobile browser. Even with Google adding Gemini features to Chrome in more countries, another browser is getting plenty of attention from Android users.
Opera Browser had amazing second-quarter growth on iOS and Android
According to Opera, monthly active users (MAUs) on Android in the US soared by 40% year-over-year during the second quarter of 2026. The browser did even better during the same quarter in the UK where monthly active users on Android rose an incredible 66% on an annual basis.
Interestingly, with iPhone users always bragging about how Safari is the best mobile browser, Opera's monthly active users on iOS soared by 50% during the second quarter, year-over-year. In the UK, the annual increase for Q2 in MAUs was a mind-blowing 93%.
The EU's Digital Markets Act gets much of the credit for Opera's strong numbers
Opera credits the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which forced Apple to include a screen in the EU allowing iPhone users to select a default browser besides Safari for the first time. While Android users could always choose a new default browser, the DMA forced Google to make alternative browser options easier for Europeans to see.
Opera continues to innovate upon these core features: Opera One for iOS’s latest update, for instance, gives users an updated synchronization system that lets them sync their Opera tabs, bookmarks, and passwords from desktop to iPhone and vice versa. It also adds media controls to the tab interface, so users can see which tabs are playing sound and mute or unmute them. The browser AI gets new capabilities as well, with users now able to input multimodal prompts and upload files from their iPhone directly.
Opera spokesperson
New features on Opera that help retain new users
While it is true that the DMA can lead Europeans to make Opera their default browser on iOS and Android, if Opera doesn't deliver, it won't be able to retain these new users. But thanks to some new features, Opera is thrilling its new users with features such as:
- A no-fee unlimited VPN that keeps trackers away.
- A native ad blocker.
- Tab management that includes Tab Islands and tab search.
- A built-in browser AI allowing users to generate content, search, and get their queries answered inside the browser.
Opera One for iOS lets users sync their Opera tabs, bookmarks, and passwords from their desktop to iPhone and vice versa. Opera for Android, which recently released its 100th version, has a redesigned start page and a dedicated football hub. I believe that since Opera is headquartered in Norway, when it talks about the football hub, it is talking about soccer and probably is referring to the World Cup.
Opera Browser shows strong MAU growth on iOS and Android in the US and UK during Q2. | Image by Opera
Anyone who remembers the launch of the modern smartphone era will surely remember the Opera Browser, which was used on early touchscreen Windows Mobile phones like the HTC Touch Pro and HTC Touch Diamond. You might also remember Opera Mini, which was a version of the browser for those using feature phones, early smartphones, slow 2G/3G networks, or those on expensive data plans. Opera Mini did 90% of the lifting via Opera's remote servers and set the rendering of the site back to the phone.
Opera Mobile was made for flagship and premium models and rendered the pages on the phone using Opera's native rendering engine. This used more battery power and required more processing power and bandwidth.
Opera dropped its Presto in-house rendering engine in 2013 and replaced it with the WebKit browser engine. Opera Mobile and Opera Mini merged that same year, and the resulting browser was titled Opera Mobile 15. After 2013, the Mobile part of the name was removed and the connected word was left with Opera Browser and Opera for Android.
The strange reason I use Opera on my iPhone
Personally, I use Opera on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. This is going to sound weird to you, but the reason I use Opera is because it is the only free browser I've found on iOS that correctly renders the desktop version of The New York Times.
Perfect rendering of the Times' front page in desktop mode on iOS using Opera. | Image by PhoneArena
Other browsers, including Safari and Chrome, stack the columns of the wide desktop site vertically instead of side-by-side. On Android, Chrome tries to show the complete desktop version of the Times' front page, but it cannot render the last column side-by-side, changing the paper to a single column. The Android browser I found that will render the correct Times' front page is called Desktop Fullscreen Web Browser.
For me, it's a nostalgic thing since the very first website that Steve Jobs showed on the iPhone's HTML browser when he introduced the phone in January 2007 was The New York Times.
The Opera Browser can be found for iOS by tapping on this App Store link. Android users should tap this link to install Opera from the Play Store. And Android users who are as crazy as I am and want the perfect front-page rendition of the NY Times' front page can tap here for the Desktop Fullscreen Web Browser.
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