Vivaldi, a browser which goes out of its way to cater to power users, has been updated today to version 1.11, with even more customisability with the inclusion of the advanced reader mode. This release also debuts the new Vivaldi logo which we reported on in mid-July. In addition to those two items, users will have more control over GIFs, mouse gesture sensitivity, and speed dial thumbnails.
The headlining feature, advanced reader mode, allows you to get at customisability settings at the top of the page you’re currently reading to save you from navigating away from the page to edit your settings. From here you can choose the font type, size of the text, set the column width and line height, and choose whether to have a light or dark background. If you’ve got a custom theme set up you can allow it to apply a colour scheme to the reader mode. For those with visual impairments, custom themes in Vivaldi have programmatic support to enforce minimal contrast, allowing for an easier reading experience.
Regarding GIF controls, Vivaldi says:
“We have added a convenient option for people who react to flashing images and want to avoid them. If you’re one of them, you can now easily deactivate animated GIFs right from the Status Bar. Click on the Toggle Images icon and you’ll see three options for loading animations to choose from – always, once or never.”
Regarding mouse gestures, Vivaldi 1.11 gives you the ability to customise the minimum stroke length for the gesture to be registered. By default, the minimum stroke length is set to 5 pixels and can be upped to 100 pixels, all controlled by a slider in the settings menu.
As for speed dial thumbnails, Vivaldi previously added the ability to create custom thumbnails but users complained that hitting the refresh button on the website’s speed dial tile cleared the thumbnail; additionally, there’s a little cross which will delete the tile altogether. In order to cut down on accidental clicks, users can head to Settings > Start Page > Speed Dial to disable the close and refresh functions.
Vivaldi said in its blog post that the new app icon is the first step in the direction of a much larger visual overhaul – do you think Vivaldi is in need of one?