Tag Archives: Android

On Monday Opera Software released Opera Mini 7.5.2 for Android. It was mostly a bug fix release but also included font changes. I noticed that the fonts on many sites were smaller in the new release. The new fonts made text on the effected sites hard to read and I immediately went back to the previous 7.5.1 version. Play Store reviews of the new version were largely negative as were comments on Opera's own forums.

Today Opera released Opera Mini Android version 7.5.3 to address the font size issue. I upgraded to the new version and can confirm that font sizes are larger in 7.5.3 (third image, above) than they were in 7.5.2 (middle image) but are still a little smaller than in 7.5.1 (first image). Click the images to view them in their original size. I find the new fonts readable. According to a post on the Opera Mini Forum the changes in 7.5.3 are:

• Font size and page layout improvements
• Fixed crash on http://www.drudgereport.com/

The new version identifies itself as 7.5.33361 in the browser's Help > About Menu. It's available now from the Android Play Store. I wasn't able to find a direct apn download on opera.com. Users without Play Store access download a copy from WapReview here: Opera Mini_7.5.3.apk (7.5.33361)

Related Post: Opera Mini For Android Updated to Version 7.5.2

Opera Software has updated Opera Mini for Android. Opera calls the new release 7.5.2, although the version number on the browser's Help > About screen is 7.5.33286. The previous 7.5.1 version was 7.5.32193 internally.

According to a post by an Opera employee on the My Opera - Opera Mini Forum the changes in this release are:

• Improved font calculation method
• Improved fonts for hi-res devices
• Page layout improvements
• Various stabilization fixes

I upgraded to the new release on several devices. There definitely are some font changes. The font on many pages is noticeably smaller. The screenshots of the dabr.co.uk Twitter web app (above) and the My Opera Forum below show the difference. In both sets of images, the first one shows the old version and the second the new one. My old eyes prefer the previous version. I recommend you backup Opera Mini using an app like the free ES File Explorer before upgrading in case you don't like the changes.

Opera Mini 7.5.2 is available now in the Google Play store. Opera's forum post claims that it "...will be available on our servers later". I hope that's true, however Opera.com's download page hasn't offered direct downloads of any of Opera's mobile browsers since it was redesigned earlier this year.

For anyone without Google Play access, I've put a copies of the new Opera Mini 7.5.2 on the WapReview server for you to download: Opera Mini_7.5.2.apk (ver 7.5.33286).

And if you upgraded to 7.52 without heading my warning to backup the old version first, here's the previous version: Opera Mini_7.5.1.apk  (ver 7.5.32193).

Other than having smaller fonts the new release seems good. It reportedly works better on tablets and may have even fixed the Black Screen of Death bug that afflicted the last couple of Opera Mini Android releases. That bug manifested itself when you restored Opera Mini to the foreground after it had been in the background for awhile. The screen would be completely back with no user interface at all. The only way to recover was to terminate Opera Mini with a task manager app or from the Android Manage Applications screen.