Opera lets Android app now also reduce data consumption with WiFi

Opera has officially made its Opera Max app for Android available. With the latest version, the tool not only compresses content from apps that arrive via mobile internet, but also pages that are requested via WiFi.

According to Opera, internet via public Wi-Fi points is often as ‘slow as a turtle’. The Norwegian company has therefore added the option ‘Wi-Fi Savings’ to its Opera Max app. If users activate it, Opera takes care of the compression of unencrypted content of apps, which should bring an increase in speed.

Opera announced the Max app in February, but since then only registered users have been able to use this test version. The restriction is now gone and, moreover, the app is now a stable version. The app works by passing data through Opera’s VPN, after which servers apply compression to it. The content that users eventually receive would take up less data, with advantages in terms of speed and costs.

Encrypted content, such as traffic flowing via https, does not pass through the Opera servers and is not compressed, meaning that many popular services will not show any savings. Google and Facebook, among others, have https activated by default. The Max app provides further insight into the data consumption per app and users can also immediately close apps that use a lot.

Users must reset their savings every seven days. The service is free, but Opera points to the possibility that in the future an advertisement may have to be viewed with the reset option.