Software update: Vivaldi 3.6

Version 3.6 of the web browser Vivaldi has been released. Vivaldi is a web browser developed by former Opera employees. He mainly focuses on power users and users of Opera before the switch to Chromium, although this browser is also based on it. Vivaldi has extensive capabilities such as mouse gestures, tab stacking, extended keyboard shortcuts, and annotation on web pages. The browser is free and is being developed for Windows, Linux and macOS, and since version 3.4 also for Android. The release notes for this release are as follows:

Vivaldi 3.6 launches with Two-Level Tab Stacks feature

Vivaldi Technologies released Vivaldi 3.6 Stable to the public on January 28, 2021. The new stable version of the Chromium-based browser improves the tab stacking functionality of Vivaldi significant. We reviewed the feature when it launched in snapshot builds back in December 2020. You can check out the review here.

Tab Stacks is a feature of the browser that allows users to stack tabs on top of each other. All it takes for that is to drag and drop tabs on top of each other. Besides using it to group sites together, eg multiple pages from a single website or pages from different sites that discuss the same topic, it is used to free up space on the tab bar as a single tab is used for a number of open sites when the feature is being used.

Two-Level Tab Stacks improves the feature by adding a second tab row to the browser when a tab stack is selected. The second row displays the tabs of the stack making it easier to access them.

The feature complements Vivaldi’s impressive list of tab-related options. Vivaldi users may move the tab bar from the top to the bottom or one of the sides of the browser. Two-Level Tab Stacks work in all layouts; if the tab bar is displayed on the side, the second level is displayed next to it so that two sidebars are displayed essentially.

The second tab row improves the handling of stacks. It is easier to change the order of tabs or add new tabs to the stack using the feature. Another benefit is that it improves visibility significantly, as you see page titles and, if supported, notifications, clearly when the feature is enabled.

The second tab bar can be locked to keep it in place all the time. Vivaldi displays it only if a tab stack is selected, and will hide/show it whenever you switch between tab stacks and single tabs. A click on the lock icon displayed on the right side of the second tab bar locks the second level firmly in place so that it is displayed all the time. It takes away space from sites when a single tab is active, but it does away with the hiding and showing animation.

The new feature is entirely optional. Vivaldi users may select the compact mode in the Tabs Settings to use the single tab bar mode, or disable the feature entirely if they don’t want to use it.