Opera Max lives on after Samsung acquired the mobile browser to save it from oblivion.
The browser was one of the first data-friendly mobile browsers and it later added privacy-focused settings, including safeguards against insecure WiFi connections and a VPN. The popular app clocked up more than 500,000 installs, but that didn’t stop parent company Opera — which is owned by a consortium of Chinese firms — from announcing its closure last year.
“Opera has now decided to discontinue Opera Max. The product had a substantially different value proposition than our browser products, and represented a different focus for Opera,” it wrote at the time. “We, therefore, focus on our browsers and other upcoming services.”
Step forward Samsung, which said today that it has picked up the service and turned it into ‘Samsung Max’ — as first spotted by VentureBeat.
Opera Max users will get an update that brings them over to the now-Samsung-owned version, while other users can get their hands on the Android app or check the Galaxy Apps store. Bad news though, it’ll only be available on Samsung phones rather than all Android devices as had previously been the case.
In addition, Samsung plans to preload the app on its devices in a number of emerging markets: Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam.
“At Samsung, we’ve been committed to creating inclusive data saving and privacy protection services for all our devices. Because of this, we are now introducing Samsung Max to our mid-range devices as an exclusive and unique service that sets Samsung devices apart from the rest of the smartphone market,” Seounghoon Oh, VP of Samsung R&D Institute India, said in a statement.
It’s unclear how much Samsung paid for the service, if anything at all, but you’d imagine it wasn’t a lot since it was destined for closure.
