The Mindful Browser

Unless you build websites, you probably don’t spend much time thinking about which web browser to use. Sixty-seven percent of people used Google’s Chrome browser in 2024, with Apple’s Safari in second place at 18%. I bring this up because many of us do a lot of Web browsing, often in ways that undermine our mental, physical, and emotional health. As I’ve noted before, the Center for Humane Technology has an excellent Take Control page with tips on digital well-being. This week, something new popped up on my radar: Opera Air, "the world’s first browser with mindfulness at its core".

It’s fairly straightforward to change the Web browser on your computer or mobile device, although there’s no mobile version of Opera Air yet. The people who bother to switch browsers typically do so for security, privacy, or performance reasons. The Norway-based Opera has added a new rationale–being healthier and more mindful!

The web is beautiful but it can be chaotic and overwhelming. We decided to look at science-backed ways to help our users navigate it in a way that makes them feel and function better. – Mohamed Salah, Opera

What exactly does Opera Air offer? Through a subtle sidebar menu, you can quickly access:

• Binaural audio beats (requires headphones) that help to shift your brain’s frequency toward creativity, focus, deep relaxation, and more (dream recall!)
• Guided breathing exercises
• Guided neck exercises
• Guided meditation and body scan exercises

The guided exercises feature custom lengths, voices, soundtracks, and nature sounds.

Opera Air has all the features most people would need in a browser, including privacy and AI chat, and it’s easy to bring your bookmarks over from Chrome or another browser. I applaud Opera for building out such an extensive set of mindfulness and wellbeing tools into their browser, at no cost.

It’s still in "early access" mode, so there will be minor bugs to work out, but if you spend a significant amount of time online you might browse yourself into a more calm, focused, and mindful day.