The stable version of Vivaldi 3.0 has been released with built-in tracker and ad protection and a corresponding version for Android.
Despite not having the huge market share of Google Chrome or the reputation of Mozilla Firefox, Vivaldi is still one of the best programs browsing and every update it receives improves its capabilities even more.
Today, Vivaldi's team An important new update has been released, bringing it to version 3.0 and adding several new ones possibilities, which users will love. First of all, Vivaldi 3.0 comes with built-in protection monitorings, something that was in testing a while ago and is now ready for the first time, for everyone.
The new tracker blocker that comes with Vivaldi is powered by DuckDuckGo Tracker Radar, which is essentially a block list. As many already know, DuckDuckGo has long been one of the leading privacy advocates around the world, so working with Vivaldi is an important step in protecting your privacy online.
Users can configure ad and tracker blocker from the following path:
Vivaldi> Tools> Settings> Privacy> Block Trackers and Ads
There are three levels available at this time:
- Without exclusion
- Block trackers
- Block trackers and ads
The names of these settings are quite simple, so it is very easy to understand their purpose. Additionally, in the same window you can also configure exceptions and manage resources.
Tracking Block status can also be verified using the shield icon in the address bar. This menu also allows you to quickly determine if the page you are visiting is running third-party crawlers in the background or not.
On the iguru page, Vivaldi states respectively that google-analytics is running and that it has been blocked. Of course we never hid the above and we mention it clearly on the first page of our website.
The third default block level also targets ads, as with this release, Vivaldi also has a built-in ad blocker program that is supposed to make intrusive ads a thing of the past, with no need for further extensions.
What you need to know, however, is that the ad blocker is disabled by default, so you must enable it manually from the aforementioned path. In addition, it only blocks intrusive ads, so if you want a completely clean ad-free experience, ad-blocking extensions are the way to go.
Another new feature in Vivaldi 3.0 is a built-in clock, which has a countdown and alarm, which you can configure from the status bar. The purpose of this feature is to help you keep track of important events while you are online, and if you are not using any other reminder app, then the watch is really handy.
Vivaldi 3.0 is definitely a welcome browser development and the addition of crawler protection and a built-in ad blocker is a living proof that this application is not only interested in profit, but also in protecting users' privacy in every way.
Sure, Vivaldi will continue to improve in the next updates, especially now that the company has entered the mobile market. Vivaldi is currently only available at Android devices, as Apple's enclosed garden makes the iPhone browser a much more difficult task.
