14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s mobile platform might suffer another big loss, as Opera Mini could say goodbye to the platform for a reason that we’re all familiar with: the dropping market share.
The retirement of Opera Mini for Windows phones is not yet official, but there’s a new report claiming that the application is listed as “not currently available” in the Windows Store, and the link to the app has also been removed from the official Opera site.
Opera Mini can only be downloaded on Android and iOS, according to the official page, which means that there’s a good chance Windows phones are no longer supported.
While it makes sense for Opera to give up on Windows phones considering the dropping number of users the platform has at this point, this decision leaves hardcore fans of Microsoft’s mobile platform with very few options when it comes to replacing Microsoft Edge with another browser.
Few alternatives
The top browsers available on rival platforms, such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, do not exist on Windows phones, so at this point, the alternatives pretty much come down to Monument Browser and UC Browser.
Without a doubt, there are users out there who don’t think replacing Microsoft Edge with a third-party browser is worth it, so a possible demise of Opera Mini for Windows phones doesn’t affect them, though it’s very clear that such a decision confirms for the millionth time that this platform is collapsing and devs can barely find a reason to stick around.
On the good side, Microsoft Edge is still getting some improvements from Microsoft, and the Creators Update will bring more of them, but having more alternatives has always been a good thing for everyone.
We’ve reached out to Opera to ask for more information about this and find out if Opera Mini is indeed discontinued for Windows phones or it’s just an error, and we’ll update when an answer is offered.