Vivaldi 3.7 promises performance gains on desktop, improves Bookmark Manager on mobile
Vivaldi Technologies has unveiled Vivaldi 3.7 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. The challenger web browser’s main focus in this new release is performance on desktop, while Android users gain improvements to the Bookmarks Manager as well as onboarding pages to introduce new versions as well as welcome new users to the app.
Performance gains are primarily delivered through faster opening and closing of new tabs and windows, with tabs opening twice as fast as previously and new windows appearing 26 percent faster than before. Lucky owners of Apple’s new M1-based Mac range should also notice further improvements thanks to the unveiling of the first native build for the ARM-based chipset.
The faster tabs feature will of course benefit those who frequently find themselves disappearing down a rabbit warren of new tabs, and follows version 3.6’s new Two-Level Tab Stacks feature. This basically creates a sub-tab beneath the main tab to allow users to group related tabs together. Version 3.7 builds on this to introduce a semi-automatic feature: users can right-click on any tab and choose 'Stack Tabs by Hosts' to group all tabs from the same domain together.
Vivaldi 3.7 also extends the Periodic Tab Reload feature to its Web Panels – this allows users to set a specific time interval between tab reloading (1-30 minutes). There’s also improvements to the Quick Commands window, with search terms being flagged in bold in the Address Bar to aid selection.
Also new: Vivaldi’s uniquely customizable menus extend all the way to the context menus that pop up when right-clicking on web page elements (access this via Settings > Appearance > Menu), while support for silent updates in Windows has started to be rolled out in anticipation of future releases.
Vivaldi for Android 3.7 is also released with its own unique set of changes. There’s an improved Bookmark Manager to simplify accessing favorite websites thanks to easier access to the Speed Dial folder, plus the ability to add and edit descriptions and nicknames to websites that can be used in searches from the Address Bar.
Elsewhere there’s a new friendly Welcome page is designed to help new users acclimatize to the browser’s many features alongside a 'What’s New' page that will alert users to all new additions to the Vivaldi feature set going forward.
Vivaldi 3.7 is available now as a freeware download for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android.