Opera has updated its Opera Max app for mobile devices with an aim to decrease data consumption and reduce buffering times while streaming movies and videos online. The update, now available on the Google Play store, is aimed specifically at YouTube and Netflix users on 3G/4G/LTE and Wi-Fi networks.
According to the company’s official statement, Opera Max can “condense a 10MB video down to 3MB — and significantly reduce instances of video buffering — without any noticeable loss of quality.”
“The new version of Opera Max touts unique technology that saves data on videos without any significant loss in quality and even reduces buffering,” the company said Tuesday in a statement.
Originally released in early 2014 after Opera bought Skyfire Labs, Opera Max works by compressing and rerouting data using a virtual private network (VPN) to the “data-savings cloud.” All non-encrypted data requests (excluding websites and apps with HTTPS connections) are sent through Opera’s compression servers, which optimize video, images and websites to use less data.
Opera says it’s working to enable data saving for other HTTPS video services in the coming months. The app enabled data compression for devices on Wi-Fi connections back in May.
Opera Max is available as a free download from the Google Play Store.
