Vivaldi 2.2: Focus on details

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The Vivaldi browser wraps up 2018 with a new update that improves accessibility, navigation and media experience.

 

Published on December 11, 2018 – By Team Vivaldi

 

PLEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL 09:00 CET, DECEMBER 13, 2018

 

OSLO, Norway – 13^th Dec 2018: Today, the Vivaldi browser launches version 2.2 with a strong focus on customizing the browser’s functionality and interface. The update introduces new ways to manage tabs, makes Access Keys easier to use, integrates Pop out Video, and makes toolbars more configurable.

 

Vivaldi does not confine users to pre-determined and locked settings in the name of simplicity. In fact, Vivaldi is built upon a strong and extensible foundation which gives users the opportunity to tailor the browser to their preferences down to every minute detail.

 

Vivaldi is flexible and easy to customise. It has unique ways to stack tabs, view tabs side by side, place tabs anywhere in the UI, take notes with full page screenshots, change the look and feel of the browser with custom themes, control search suggestions in privacy setting and more.

 

Tabs get more functionality

Vivaldi’s in-depth tab management offers multiple ways to access and manage tabs effectively. Vivaldi 2.2 offers new ways to work with tabs that set Vivaldi even more apart from other browsers.

 

Save select tabs as a session: A Session is a group of tabs that can be re-opened for later use in Vivaldi. They can be renamed as well, helping users significantly to remember and organize multiple sessions.

 

Users can now create a selection of tabs and save them as a Session. These multiples tabs can be easily selected (Ctrl/⌘/Shift) and can be saved via the  context menu

 

Speed up workflow with numbered menu accelerators: The first 9 tabs in the Window menu are numbered for quick tab-switching.

 

Just press Alt+w, to access the window menu, and type the number of the tab to be switched to.

 

“Customizing a browser as per your needs is not only a thing for pros and geeks. The key is to create something that works for you,” says Vivaldi CEO Jon von Tetzchner. “Features are what draw people to Vivaldi and details are what keep them there. That’s why we are always striving to fit every use case and giving our users different ways to browse.”

Navigate better

Discover site-specific shortcuts through Access Keys: Access Keys are a way to access key functionality of a web page through keyboard shortcuts. The site can define these shortcuts for easy access from the browser using the access key shortcuts (ALT + SHIFT).

 

Now users can easily see the list of shortcuts available on the site using Quick Command. They can simply launch Quick Commands and select ‘Show Webpage access key shortcuts.’

 

For example: If using Wikipedia often, a quick search in Quick Commands when viewing an article will reveal a list of the Access keys shortcuts available (e.g. “Edit this page” or “Search Wikipedia”)

 

Time travel with a middle-click: The address toolbar also gained a powerful new feature. Just “long-click” on one of the history navigation buttons to bring up the sub-menu, then middle- click an entry to open it in a new tab.

 

No other browser makes it so easy for users to travel quickly through their timeline, without the need to leave the page they are currently viewing.

 

Search box on Speed Dial: In addition to numerous ways of searching the Web like Search Field, searching through Address Field or from Quick Commands, users can now search directly from the Start Page.

This is on by default but can be hidden if users have any other preference to search.

 

Show a list of closed tabs using Quick Commands: Previously, a closed tab could be accessed via Quick Commands by typing parts of its title; allowing users to find and switch to it.

 

Now users can also pull up a list of all recently closed tabs by simply typing ‘show closed tabs’.

 

Streamline Video

Pop out Videos (Picture in Picture): Users can watch HTML5 videos in a floating window popup while continuing to browse as normal.

 

Right clicking on a video will reveal a context menu where users can now select Picture-in-Picture mode. For certain sites like YouTube, this is not yet possible via the custom context menu but works with a double right click.

 

Control Sound: Users can now easily control the sound of tabs playing media by muting all, but the current tab. Previously only Keyboard Shortcuts and Quick Commands could be used to mute foreground tabs.

Now with aright click on any background tab, all background tabs will be muted.

 

Better ‘Netflix’ support for Linux: Users can now watch Netflix, Prime Video, etc. as Vivaldi will now automatically fetch Widevine (Encrypted Media Extensions).

 

A complete toolbar with all the buttons available

A minimal toolbar with almost all buttons removed

First Step Towards fully Customizable Toolbars

With this update, Vivaldi takes a big step in toolbar customization. Users can now adjust the address and status bar to their liking by removing infrequently used buttons.

 

Buttons are removed via a new “Customize” context menu entry. Toolbars can also be reset from this menu. If all buttons are removed, another reset mechanism can be found under “Settings → Appearance”.

 

“Our users are frequently requesting more configurable toolbars, and this is just the first step. Our next steps will enable users to add, remove and customize buttons of more toolbars”, says Petter Nilsen, Senior Developer at Vivaldi Technologies, who is working on this feature.

 

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