3 hours Ago By Ille Smolanko
Much of the digital environment is centered around optimizing for attention, from the Gattaca-style design of social media apps to the engagement-optimized matchmaking in online games. Opera's newest browser release, Opera Air, aims to remedy this struggle by offering a browsing experience designed around mindfulness. Introduced as "the world's first mindfulness-based browser," Opera Air comes equipped with a range of unique, digital-wellness-based features.
Visually, the UI has a friendly, tranquil feel, with bubbly, rounded address bars and transparent backgrounds covering the entire browser. On the left-most toolbar, you'll find a suite of browser-specific tools, including boosts, which 'simulate different brain waves through music and sound to boost creativity.' The take a break button contains a range of breathing, neck exercises, meditations, and full body scans.
While these features might sound unusual or tacked on for a web browser, they feel very well refined and integrated with the experience . As someone who works with hour-long focus music playlists on YouTube, I quickly embraced the audio options available in Boosts. The stretching-focused 'take-a-break' exercises are accessible, with voice guides and a 3D model you can follow along with.
You can also set break reminders, which are built into your browser. Opera's mainline browser and the gaming-focused Opera GX contain arguably the most robust set of features available in web browsing. Workspaces, toolbars, pretty animations.
Yet the thing that kept me from adopting them was the feeling of bloat. There was too much happening on my screen, and it felt somewhat cluttered visually. Opera Air strikes a much better balance , particularly for users who prefer a minimalist feel.
The mainline Opera browser The developers of Opera Air appeared in a YouTube video explaining the philosophy behind the software's design. We often know that we should take more breaks, stretch, or remember to breathe. A benefit of Opera Air is that it encourages those behaviours by removing friction .
For example, you're far more likely to meditate or complete a breathing exercise when it's built into your workspace, as opposed to stepping away and digging through apps on your phone or finding a tutorial on YouTube. Excessive screen time has become of increasing concern, as studies find strong correlations between high screen time and increased levels of depression and anxiety. The terms ' doom scroll ' and ' brain rot ' have become synonymous with modern tech culture, and in that regard, it's refreshing to see a browser dedicated to combatting those trends.
As someone who values digital wellness, I'm strongly considering making the switch. Opera Air is currently available now for Windows users in early access..
