Opera has released the first developer build of Opera R3, short for “Reborn 3”, and the browser looks very different. The build, announced on Opera’s desktop blog on February 14, 2019 as Opera developer 59, brings a borderless design, new light and dark themes and a built-in Crypto Wallet.
What’s new in the Opera R3 design
Opera calls the new look a “frame for the web”. The idea is to put web content at the center and remove the dividing lines between the parts of the browser.
- Light and dark themes: inspired by high-key and low-key photography. The light theme now covers the whole browser, including the sidebar and tab area, while the dark theme is more subdued and easier on the eyes.
- New tabs: redesigned to feel physically open, with the active tab staying on top of the others.
- Access bar: EasySetup and the Snapshot tool move next to “Send to My Flow” and bookmarks.
- EasySetup in the toolbar: the panel moves from the start page to the toolbar, where you can change the theme and wallpaper and turn key features on or off.
- Smarter sidebar: an unpinned sidebar is hidden on internal pages such as Speed Dial. You can change this in EasySetup.
Crypto Wallet and Web 3
R3 also integrates a Crypto Wallet. You can browse Web 3 sites and sign transactions with your phone after pairing the desktop wallet with Opera for Android.
How to try Opera R3 developer
- Open Opera’s desktop blog post for the R3 developer release.
- Choose the build for your system: Windows (installer or portable), macOS, or Linux (deb or RPM).
- Install it. The developer channel installs alongside your regular Opera, so you can compare the two.
- Click EasySetup in the toolbar to switch between the light and dark themes.
This is a developer build, so expect rough edges. Opera’s developer channel gets new features first, before they move to beta and then to stable. Keep your main browser for daily work and keep it updated as usual.
Today
The R3 design did not stay a developer experiment for long. Opera merged it into Opera 60 “Reborn 3”, released on April 9, 2019. That stable version kept the borderless layout with light and dark themes, added two animated special-edition themes, a faster free no-log VPN, a native ad blocker (off by default, turned on with the “Block ads” toggle in Easy Setup) and the Crypto Wallet, whose keys stay on a paired Android phone. Later Opera releases have kept building on that design.
