Samsung Max

Samsung has rescued Opera Software’s Opera

Max data-saving, privacy-protecting Android app

from oblivion and relaunched it today as Samsung

Max.

Norwegian tech company Opera, which first became

known for its desktop browser when it launched in

1995, has offered mobile browser apps across various

platforms for years. But in 2014 it launched the standalone

Opera Max app for Android to give its users more bang

from their data plan, along with some VPN-like features.

The app compresses data such as photos, music, and

videos while promising “no noticeable loss of quality.”

Opera Max can also block background processes to

conserve battery and data.

The app was given a number of new features over the

past few years, but last August the company revealed

it was pulling the plug on Opera Max once and for all.

The reason, according to Opera at the time:

The product had a substantially different value proposition

than our browser products, and represented a different

focus for Opera. We, therefore, focus on our browsers and

other upcoming services.

Opera delisted the app from Google Play*, though it did

state that the app would remain functional for a period of

time and promised that it would inform existing users before

terminating server-side functionality.