Vivaldi is one of the lesser-known web browsers, but it’s a great choice if you value customization. It appears to be a slightly more colorful version of your average web browser at first glance – mirroring the colors of the webpage is a notable Vivaldi feature.
However, despite being based on Chromium, Vivaldi has many additional features. For example, it has the most options for customizing the user interface of any browser. Moreover, on my Linux system, with dozens of active tabs and windows, Vivaldi consumed at least 20% less memory than Microsoft Edge.
Vivaldi 5.2 is a minor update and carries a couple of essential feature updates and a lot of bug fixes and changes. So let’s take a look at what’s new.
Vivaldi 5.2 Web Browser Highlights
The Vivaldi web browser users know that the developers introduced the new Reading List feature in its previous 5.1 version, released in February. In short, it makes it easy to save pages that you want to read later.
However, the browser developers go even further by providing us with a brand new Reading List Panel in the Vivaldi 5.2 release. Reading List allows you to add web pages to a list to keep for later. It prevents endless tabs from accumulating on your Tab Bar and Bookmarks being filled with entries you only need once.
To open the Reading List Panel, you need to click on its panel button on your browser window.
There are numerous advantages to using the Reading List Panel:
- Double-click on the selected item immediately opens the corresponding page in a new tab. The saved page is marked as unread or read by clicking the eye icon.
- The search bar in the Panel can assist in filtering the Reading List by recognizing URLs and words in the page title.
- The sort menu allows you to reorder the list by title, read status, date updated, or address.
Furthermore, you can sync your reading progress across all of your devices with the Vivaldi web browser installed while you’re on the go. In other words, the articles you save on your phone can be viewed on your computer, and vice versa.
Another key highlight in the Vivaldi 5.2 release is the availability of viewing stats on how many trackers and ads follow you.
Do you ever wonder why ads on websites often look too personalized? This is because companies use tracking software and other methods to understand your online habits better and target you with customized ads.
According to The Washington Post, 87% of the world’s most popular web domains use digital tracking. Fortunately, Vivaldi’s built-in Tracker Blocker allows you to control what personal information websites can track and store about you.
Previously, when you clicked on the shield icon in the Address Bar, you could see the Ad and Tracker Blocker statistics per site per visit. Vivaldi 5.2 adds a new option for a quick summary view of Ad and Tracker Blocker statistics directly at the Start Page’s entry point.
We can’t fail to mention that Qwant, the search engine that respects your privacy and ensures neutrality and impartiality, is back in Vivaldi 5.2. So now you have another integrated option in the list of Vivaldi’s default search engines to choose from.
Changing the default search engine is extremely easy. Just go to Settings -> Search and select your preferred search engine.
Apart from those mentioned above, some additional changes also deserve to be noted here. For example, much work has been done on the tabs in Vivaldi 5.2, so tab drag and drop is now faster and smoother. In addition, some built-in applications such as Vivaldi Mail, Calendar, and Feed Reader also received some love in this release in the form of many fixes.
Of course, there are also numerous other improvements and countless bug fixes across the entire Vivaldi 5.2 release. So you can refer to the official announcement or changelog for detailed information about all changes.
The latest Vivaldi 5.2 web browser can be installed manually by pulling the DEB or RPM package available on the official website.
