Tip #98

Enable Pop Out Video on Vivaldi for Android to check other apps while watching a video.

Pop Out Video, aka Picture-in-Picture, is a popular feature on desktop, but did you know it’s also available on Vivaldi for Android? The main difference is that, on your mobile device, you can’t browse other tabs in Vivaldi while Pop Out Video is enabled, but you can use most other apps.

To enable pop-out video on Android:

  1. While browsing with Vivaldi, find a video you want to watch.
  2. Press play and enable full-screen view of the video.
  3. Tap on your phone’s home button.

The video will continue playing in a small rectangle on your home screen. You can move the video by dragging it around and use the two finger zoom gesture to change the size of the video. Tap on the rectangle to see video controls.

Pop Out video from Vivaldi open on top of the Shazam app.
Pop Out video from Vivaldi open on top of the Shazam app.

Tip #93

Choose a custom Theme color for Vivaldi on Android.

By default, with a light theme, Vivaldi on Android will change the Address and Tab Bar colors based on the open website. To change the accent color:

  1. Go to the Vivaldi menu button Vivaldi menu > Settings > Appearance > Themes.
  2. Choose between:
    • Adaptive color based on the open web page,
    • One of the preset colors,
    • Custom color (insert the color’s Hex value).

Tip #87

Do a quick clean up on Android by closing all tabs at once.

It’s easy to accumulate an abundance of tabs, so every now and then it’s good to close them. You can of course close them one by one, which gives you the chance to review the tabs you’re closing or you can be bold and close them all at once.

To close all tabs:

  1. Open the Tab Switcher.
  2. Click on the menu button at the top of the page.
  3. Select Close All Tabs.
    To leave the active tab open, select Close Other Tabs.

Tip #84

Swipe on the toolbars to switch tabs on Android.

When you swipe right or left on the Android browser’s Address Bar or bottom toolbar, you can switch to the next or previous tab that you have open.

When you swipe down from the Address Bar (up, if you’ve moved the Address Bar to the bottom), you can open the Tab Switcher, from where you can see all your open tabs, as well as access private, recently closed and synced tabs. In case the swipe down/up gesture doesn’t seem to work, make sure you have Enable Address Bar Swipe Gesture toggled on in Settings.

Tip #80

Use an external download manager to download files on Android.

If you need a bit more control over your downloads, instead of the built-in downloader, you can opt for an external download manager app.

To set an external app to manage your downloads:

  1. Install an external download manager of your choice.
  2. In Vivaldi, go to Vivaldi menu > Settings > Web Pages > Downloads > External Download Manager.
  3. Select the app you want to manage your downloads with.

Then whenever downloading a file the external app will take over.

Tip #78

Synchronize your browser data to access open tabs on other devices.

If you browse with Vivaldi on multiple devices, then by using the Sync feature, you can continue browsing seamlessly when switching devices.

To be able to access tabs you have open on other devices:

  1. Go to the Vivaldi menu > Settings > Sync.
  2. Log in to your Vivaldi account.
  3. Enter the encryption password.
  4. Sync all or select the data types you want to sync, but make sure to enable syncing of History.

To open synced tabs on desktop:

  1. Click on the cloud icon on the right side of the Tab Bar (bottom, if you’re using a vertical Tab Bar).
  2. Select the synced device.
  3. In the list of synced tabs, click on the web page you want to open.

To open synced tabs on Android:

  1. Open the Tab Switcher.
  2. Tap on the cloud icon on the menu at the bottom of the screen.
  3. In the list of synced tabs, tap on the web page you want to open.

Learn more about Sync:

Tip #65

On Android, move the Address Bar to the bottom for easier one-handed access.

With smart phones’ screens still increasing in size, reaching the top of the screen while simultaneously holding the phone with the same hand can get cumbersome. That’s why in Vivaldi you can move the Address and Tab Bars to the bottom of the screen for easier access.

To move the Address Bar (and Tab Bar) to the bottom of the screen on Android:

  1. Go to Vivaldi menu > Settings > Appearance.
  2. Toggle on Address Bar at Bottom.
Address Bar at the top vs at the bottom

Tip #57

Enable Desktop site from the Vivaldi menu on Android, to view desktop versions of websites.

To display a desktop version of the website, instead of the mobile version commonly displayed on smaller screens, open the Vivaldi menu buttonVivaldi Menu and tick the box for Desktop Site.

To permanently display desktop versions of all websites:

  1. Go to Vivaldi menu button Vivaldi Menu > Settings > Web pages.
  2. Enable Always Show Desktop Site.

Tip #48

Add Vivaldi’s search widget to your mobile device’s home screen to start a search with just one tap.

With a search widget on your Android phone’s or tablet’s home screen you can get to what you’re looking for in no time.

To add Vivaldi’s search widget to the home screen:

  1. Long press on an empty space on the devise’s home screen.
  2. Select Widgets.
  3. Find Vivaldi search from the list.
  4. Long press on the widget and drag it to where you want to have it on the home screen.
Vivaldi's search widget on Android's home screen

Once the widget has been added, just tap on it whenever you want to start a new search. It’ll open Vivaldi and focus on the Address Field, so you could start entering the search term or web link right away.

You can also open the QR code scanner from the widget.

Tip #34

Long press on a link in Vivaldi on Android and select “Open in new Tab Stack” to keep related tabs together.

You can group open tabs in the Tab Switcher, but to create a new Tab Stack on the fly from the active tab and a link you want to open from the active tab, just select “Open in new Tab Stack” from the link’s context menu. Then all your research, shopping, recipe and other web pages will be grouped together into a neat stack.

Web link context menu open with Open in new Tab Stack highlighted.

Tip #26

Enable “Clear session browsing data on exit” in Vivaldi on Android to close all tabs and delete history, cookies and cache after use.

To enable the settings:

  1. Go to the Vivaldi menu > Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data on exit.
  2. Toggle on the setting.
  3. Choose which data types you want to delete:
    • Browsing history.
    • Cookies and site data.
    • Cached images and files.
    • Close open tabs.

It’s not enough to minimize the app or remove it from the app switcher menu to exit the browser. To exit Vivaldi:

  1. Go to the Vivaldi menu.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the menu.
  3. Select Exit.

Tip #10

On Android, when adding a web page to the Reading List, also download the page for offline view.

If you know you won’t have internet connection for a longer period, for example, on a long flight and you want to spend the time reading the interesting articles you’ve saved in your Reading List, make sure to download the pages.

  1. Open the web page you want to save.
  2. Tap on the Vivaldi menu button and select Download Page.
  3. Open the Vivaldi menu again. This time select Reading List.
  4. Tap on Add Current Page in the top right corner of the Reading List menu.

You’ll already be able to view the page offline after downloading it, but you’ll need to find it from your downloads. For easy access it’s best to save the page in the Reading List as well.

Tip #6

Long press on the Vivaldi app icon on Android to quickly open a new tab or a new private tab.

Did you know that you can open access menus on Android by long pressing on the app’s icon? Many of you probably did, but if you didn’t… You’re welcome! 😄

In Vivaldi’s access menu, in addition to general app controls, you can access a few useful Vivaldi specific options.

  • Open a new tab, which opens Vivaldi’s Start Page with your favorite bookmarks on the Speed Dial.
  • Open a new private tab, for a more private browsing. 🤫
  • If there’s a QR code somewhere nearby and you want to see what’s behind it, you can also launch Vivaldi’s QR scanner straight from that menu.
Vivaldi app on the Home screen with access menu open.

It’s not just Vivaldi that has additional options available in the access menu. Check your other apps to see which useful features they have to offer and up your game not just while using Vivaldi, but also while using your mobile device in general.