Opera's lightweight Air browser is back, unbothered, moisturized, in its lane

New soundtracks and breathing exercises are designed to encourage mindful browsing.

Opera

Opera has relaunched its very mindful Air browser with a host of new anti-distraction features. The audiovisual makeover is designed to help you focus better on what you're actually supposed to be doing, rather than encouraging you to wander into yet another free time-draining Reddit rabbit hole.

The first new addition is music. Opera seemingly knows that people turn to ambient playlists when they're trying to concentrate, so it's built its own. Air Soundscapes give the browser a soundtrack split into four moods: Focus, Relax, Work and Ambience. Pick the latter and you'll be treated to the tranquil sounds of forests and the sea. 

Opera Air also now has built-in breathing exercises, which you can schedule to pop up at your chosen intervals, as well as neck stretches you can follow along to. 

The Air browser is purposefully streamlined, so you have to manually add any apps you want to the sidebar. Opera has added new wallpapers that it says incorporate "open spaces, perspective and natural textures" to make your browsing experience as serene as possible. It also now has an automatic dark mode.

Given its resistance to the many distractions of the web, Air naturally has a built-in ad blocker, and you even get a free VPN. It does interface with ChatGPT but that sidebar option is unchecked by default. The resigned user experience builds on the first version of Air that Opera introduced in early 2025 as a mindful antidote to the chaos of the internet.