Opera Mini Approved for iPhone: Developers Scratch their Heads
By: Hillel Fuld
The entire tech community is a little confused and pleasantly surprised today to discover that Opera Mini, the mobile browser with over 50 million users across platforms has just been approved by Apple. This is a clear change in policy on Apple’s part, at least from where I am sitting. Opera is an alternative browser to the iPhone’s built-in Safari the same way Google Talk is an alternative to the iPhone’s phone app. Yet, for some reason Google Talk along with thousands of other apps were rejected by Apple and Opera was approved. In all fairness, I will say that Opera claims they did everything by the book to adhere to Apple’s strict rules, but that still does not change the fact that Opera competes with Safari.
So, what caused this policy shift? The way I see it, there are two options. Opera took out the big guns when they submitted the app to Apple and almost every single tech site across the Web reported that the app is in review. Is Apple actually paying attention to its customers? Are they caving under the pressure? Well, lately, Apple has shown positive signs that they are actually paying attention. These include Jobs’ iPhone 4.0 keynote, and the pressure to implement multitasking on the iPhone. This also includes Steve himself replying to customer emails, specifically regarding support for older generation iPhones.
So, did Opera’s PR efforts bring the results they were hoping for? Opera also pulled out another trick with a real time counter on their site showing exactly how long has passed since the app was submitted. The counter now shows how much time passed until it was approved. Nice touch Opera. So, Opera is now live on the App Store and within minutes of appearing, it already has well over 1000 user reviews. Looks like the buzz worked.
The other alternative to this policy change is that Apple has indeed become more lenient in its old age. Is Apple beginning to open its gates to more apps? Jobs addressed the issue of allowing unsigned apps on the iPhone during the Q&A session of the keynote, and he basically said, it aint gonna happen. OK, maybe not unsigned apps, but how about approving apps you would have once rejected? No mention of that, but Opera is a good start.
With the release of iPhone 4.0, a significantly better and faster browser for the iPhone, and every indication that the new iPhone will include some serious hardware enhancements, I, for one, am starting to rethink my choice of BlackBerry as my primary mobile device. Whatever the explanation is for the approval of Opera for iPhone, this is a good day for the iPhone community and an even better day for Opera and its numbers.
Are you going to be using Opera or sticking to Safari? Why do you think Apple approved this app? Please let us know in the comments.
