Opera attempting to get Opera Mini into the App Store

The software editor Opera will try and go all the way with their mobile Opera Mini browser, submitting it for acceptance to Apple’s App Store.

The software editor Opera Software has released their mobile Opera Mini 5 browser on almost all mobile platforms, with the only notable exception being the iPhone. Apple, who decides who can release software through their download portal, has never accepted competing mobile web browsers like Safari, with the only exceptions being variants using the same Webkit engine.

While Opera has an iPhone compatible version first demonstrated at the MWC 2010 show in Barcelona in February, this operated on Java, while the Opera Mini browser is available in the form of a native application on almost all other Smartphone OS’.


Submission to the App Store!
Following this logic right to the end, Opera Software has announced that they will be submitting their mobile browser to Apple with the aim being to integrate this into the App Store. The editor has indicated that there is no valid reason for their application to be refused.

They even claim that Opera Mini is faster at displaying web pages then Safari Mobile thanks to their data compression technology on the server side, before the information is sent to the mobile handset, a point which is attractive to mobile carriers.

The problem in reality is that Apple can nevertheless refuse to approve application without providing any particular reason. It is written in black and white in the licensing agreement signed by developers who wish to distribute their applications on the App Store.

The App Store is also the only officially authorised distribution channel for iPhone applications, leaving developers with little choice but to accept these conditions. Even if Opera Mini 5 is rejected, it should nevertheless please jail broken iPhone users who get their hands on it from alternative portals.