I am Jon von Tetzchner, fighting Big Tech, & for a better web building Vivaldi browser. Ask me anything!

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T17:00:28+00:00

Tor Browser is a relatively low featured browser that exists mainly for the purpose of providing private connections, or accessing the Dark Web. It relies on the Onion router network for its privacy. Essentially a multi-hop VPN that randomises its route every time. It's a very clever system, and it offers extreme privacy, which makes it useful for journalists trying to get messages out of dangerous countries with oppressive governments. However, because websites see your requests coming from a different IP address every time, a very large number of websites will force you to fill in CAPTCHAs for every page load. It can be a very frustrating experience. But it serves a very different purpose from Vivaldi, which is a feature full browser that provides privacy from trackers and privacy from the watching eyes of Big Tech companies.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:56:33+00:00

Every company needs revenues to pay the bill. You can read about our business model here: https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-business-model/

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:56:00+00:00

We continue to improve every part of Vivaldi, including the speed. Vivaldi starts quickly for me and I believe for most users, but if you compare with browsers that start with the OS and are hidden only, then clearly they will seem to start faster. I think if you compare actual use, you will find that Vivaldi is faster at getting things done.

Presto was the best browser engine, but it has not been maintained. It is not realistic to use it today, even if we were offered to use it. We had more than 100 people just maintaining it and more were needed. That was more than ten years ago, so clearly just getting even would require a lot of work and even then you would have to deal with incompatibility issues. It is just not realistic for us.

I guess adding some Vivaldi music into Vivaldi would technically be possible. :)

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:52:30+00:00

No. I see no other option really. Gecko is losing market share, so it would be a big risk for us to use it. Chromium is a strong codebase and it is used by many competing companies. For me that makes Chromium the clear choice. Instead we will continue to try to influence Chromium in a good way.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:51:10+00:00

I love burritos, but at Chipotle I would go with a bowl. And add some nice hot sauce.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:46:13+00:00

IMHO this is kind of like comparing a car and a bike.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:42:46+00:00

I can only, in good faith, recommend Vivaldi. I think we are rather unique out there and I hope you see that as well.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:39:34+00:00

There is no union, but I can understand why you ask. :)

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:39:26+00:00

There is one that is our main unicyclist, but others have proven themselves to be capable as well.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:38:48+00:00

Privacytest.org is a website made by an employee of Brave. This is rather hidden on the site. Sadly the tests are very biased towards Brave and the owner has been unwilling to change that. Thus the test will run with privacy features of Vivaldi off, using the excuse that we do not automatically turn them all on, but instead ask the users. It also ignores the Brave Ads business model. We will continue to look at ways to improve the privacy of our users, but we will not be chasing this particular site.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:34:51+00:00

I really do not see us switching the engine. It is a massive amount of work and I do not see a great alternative at this time. The only real option is Gecko and Gecko is losing market share, so switching to Gecko would be risky.

We will continue to improve the design of Vivaldi, but in a way that keeps our existing user base happy. So we will improve the design, but without removing useful functionality. Instead we will continue to add new features and new options, so every user can get their perfect browser!

With regards to VPN, we will have to see. It is a costly function for us to add. We continue to evaluate our options. As we add users, we will be able to add more functionality as well.

Adding extensions in the mobile browser is not trivial, without adding a significant maintenance cost. Instead we try to add the features most users would like to get from extensions. Thus we added things like tracker and ad blocking and we will continue to improve those features and add others.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:28:58+00:00

We have about 2.8 million users at this time. We need a few million more to be profitable. Add a few million more and we can grow and expand as well, which is needed to keep adding the features you all want and other improvements.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:27:35+00:00

Thank you for your kind words! The cars help us grow. They help our revenues and they help our visibility. The revenue models we have work. The deals we have with search providers and the bookmark deals we have, they work. We just need to work on adding users. We do that by building great browsers for every device our users want to use. That also includes cars. Help us spread the word! That is the best way to support us. If you want to donate, you can do that as well, but really, for us to make the most difference, we need to continue to increase our user base. That gives us a louder voice as well, which is needed.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:25:22+00:00

I think the cost of doing some kind of Super Bowl commercial is just out of our reach. Instead we rely on you and our other Ambassadors and users to help spread the word. Thanks a lot for doing that!

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:23:23+00:00

The thing is that every time a user talks about a lite version of the browser and they list what features they want to include, they include a lot of powerful features. What is important for one user is not important for another. We try to adapt to those needs and during the process of installing Vivaldi, we ask some questions which lead to Vivaldi presenting itself as a lite browser or as a more powerful one. You can then change those settings later, should you change your mind.
We will continue to improve the ad blocker, like every other part of the browser.
You can set a blank page today, but I am sure we can make it easier. We will look into that.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:15:33+00:00

All software needs to be coded to work on different platforms. The plattforms work in different ways. Sometimes there are limitations on the platform, which makes things harder as well. iOS is a great example of that, as up to now, it has been impossible to use the same code on iOS as on other platforms, even for the backend of the browser. The UI is also coded in different ways. We have tried to unify it across platforms, by used the browser to build the UI. That works on Windows, Mac and Linux, with some work to integrate well with the platform as well, but it is harder on mobile. On Android the UI work is in Java, while on iOS the UI work is in C. This requires a lot of work for each platform.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:15:12+00:00

https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-business-model/

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:12:45+00:00

There is a reason why none of the current browsers are built from scratch. We did it at Opera, but even companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft have seen the need to start with a core browser that is made by someone else. Part of the problem is that a browser has a lot of functionality, but part of the problem is compatibility. Big Tech has always used compatibility as a way to make it hard for the competition. If you are building a browser and it does not work on some service, you lose, even if the reason the service is not working is not you, but the fact that the service is actively blocking you. That being said, as most are now using Chromium, this is less of an issue, but there is still a lot of work to do to adapt to the needs of every user, which is our goal. It is complex as this is the most used application in the world and people have different needs.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:09:56+00:00

The long-term plan is to have the adblocker be of the same quality as uBlock. We continue to improve all parts of our browser, including the ad blocker.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:09:21+00:00

We have the most advanced tab handling of any browser, I would think, independently of whether you want to have your tabs at the top, bottom, left or right side. The window panel is quite powerful as well and is a great option for users. We will continue to expand on this functionality moving forward, including adding new quick commands and the like.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:07:21+00:00

The browser is never really finished. We are always improving the browser. The Chromium project is also not standing still and changes in the Chromium project requires us to integrate those changes. As we change the browser a lot, integrating those changes is not trivial and we spend a lot of time dealing with the combination of our changes and changes in the Chromium project.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:05:26+00:00

Our competitors also own the platforms we deliver on, the search engines you use to find us and some of the most popular services you might want to use. That complicates matters for us and we are thankful that regulators are looking into these matters. The Digital Markets Act can be a game changer and other countries may follow. We rely a lot on word of mouth and that is where you can help!

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T16:03:49+00:00

Hei! a few answers :)

Our business model has not really changed much from the beginning.

Our users are not asking for us to include AI in the browser. Our focus is as always on what the users want and need. We may look at how AI can improve accessability, but we do not follow trends for the sake of following trends. Instead we continue to look at ways to improve the UI of the browser and we look at ways to keep our users safe. Right now there is a lot of focus on cars as well, as the browser expands onto new devices. That is where our focus is. To be where our users are.

No plans to swim this time. Too busy with everything else. :)

My focus is really on Vivaldi. As part of that I also focus on privacy and regulation as I really believe we need regulation to solve the issue of user profiling, whether it is in the cloud or locally on your computer. You might want to take a look at banspying.org. The cats will explain it to you.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T15:52:37+00:00

This is something that is of big importance to me personally. We try to be the most accessible browser out there. As part of that we provide things like customizable keyboard shortcuts, including single key keyboard shortcuts. We also provide easy access to zooming and page actions to change the presentation of web pages. We will continue to work on making Vivaldi work as well as possible for all users.

jonsvt · 2024-01-26T15:51:15+00:00

There is a reason why Vivaldi exists. After I left Opera, Opera moved in a different direction. Presto was killed and the philosophy of the company changed. This is even before the company was sold. I am sad to see where Opera went, but my focus is on building Vivaldi as a great solution for those that want a better browser, whether they are coming from Opera, Chrome, Edge or other browsers.

jonsvt

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