14 DAY TRIAL // Despite many considering it the underdog of the browser race, Opera is actually one of the best choices on the market, and the improvements the app receives on a regular basis make it a solid solution in the long term as well.
This time, the folks working at Opera have decided to implement support for a rather unusual feature: emoji-only addresses.
If you’ve never of such a thing, well, they exist, and Opera wants to be the first browser in the world to support it. And thanks to a partnership with Yat, the company that actually makes the emoji-only website URLs possible, Opera is bringing this feature to users on all supported desktop platforms.
“The partnership marks a major paradigm shift in the way the internet works,” says Jorgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera. “It’s been almost 30 years since the world wide web launched to the public, and there hasn’t been much innovation in the weblink space: people still include .com in their URLs. Through the integration with Yat, Opera users are able to ditch .com or even words in their links and use emojis to be directed to websites. It’s new, it’s easier and more fun.”
Already up for grabs
Opera sees the new feature as a major step towards a modern web, as the company explains its application has always spearheaded the adoption of new-gen capabilities.
Together with Yat, Opera plans to target a growing userbase relying on emoji for everything online.
“With over 90% of the 4.6 billion internet users around the globe using emojis to express themselves, Opera’s integration of Yats unlocks a new easy way for people to be present on the Web. The integration is equally about functionality as it is expression. Instead of typing in numerous alphanumeric characters into a URL, Opera users get the ability to express themselves on the web,” it says.
The new version of Opera with support for emoji-only addresses is available for download right now.