Opera saves your smartphone from illicit crypto-mining and boosts performance, battery life

There are several browsers available for smartphones just like they are available for desktops and laptops. If you are an Android user and looking for a third-party browser other than the default Google Chrome, your search ends here. Opera has integrated an extremely useful feature that no other browser currently offers.

Ever since bitcoin and cryptocurrency gained popularity, crypto-mining became a new hot thing for techies. Since crypto-mining uses PCs' and phones' power to harvest the virtual currency, notorious developers started using other users' devices without their knowledge or consent. The practice is reportedly affecting more than a billion people around the world.

Victims of cryptocurrency mining are usually unaware that they're the targets, but the easiest way to find out is through unexplained CPU usage. Since the CPUs are not as powerful on smartphones as they are on some high-end PCs and laptops, crypto-mining affects the device's performance and battery life.

Now, there's a way you can put an end to that. Opera has added a new anti-cryptocurrency mining feature, which works in sync with the built-in ad blocker in the browser. When the ad-blocker is turned on, Opera and Opera Mini browsers for Android will automatically detect and stop mining scripts written into the webpage codes.

"When you browse the web, there are no visual clues that your device is exposed to mining. A single webpage you visit can take up to 4.5 hours of your battery time, if you keep the tab open. This often turns out to be just the battery time you needed to use a ride-hailing app or check the map to get home," Jan Standal, VP Product Marketing at Opera, warned.

Opera has also created a website for users to easily identify if they are victims of the illicit crypto-mining phenomenon. The test can be run on both mobiles and PCs via any browser. Just go to the link and initiate the test.

Opera warns that cryptocurrency mining on smartphones can result in 100 percent CPU usage, which in turn will overheat the phone and cause increased battery drainage. With Opera's anti-crypto mining feature, users can boost the phone's performance and battery life by putting an end to all illicit activities.

In a test run on Samsung Galaxy S8 and HTC One, Opera developers were able to recover the phones' 100 percent CPU usage.

Opera is a free browser available for Android smartphones whereas Opera Mini can be downloaded on Android as well as iPhones.