turn off the g*dd*m Smart Page!

Deleted User

Deleted User

How do I turn off the staggeringly atrocious so-called Smart Page - the new thing that shoves unwanted garbage links in your face every time you open Opera Mini?

Specifically, the Home tab.

If it can't be turned off I'm dumping Opera and telling all my friends what piece of junk it was, despite having once been good.

minimaciej

minimaciej

Personally I like it, but understand not everybody does
In the java version there is a setting for "Home page" - Menu/Settings/Advanced. Or you use a different platform?

Deleted User

Deleted User

That setting disables the entire home page. I want the Speed Dial and not the Home tab. See my related post about how it displays obscenity.

chrisu

chrisu

Hi planetrock

We created the Smart Page on Opera Mini to give you an instant overview of what's happening in your world as soon as you check into your phone. From your friends' latest posts in Facebook or Twitter to updates from your favorite websites and blogs, Smart Page is a news and social media aggregator tailor-made for the way you use the web.
Why makes Smart Page smart? Because it listens to you and learns what you like.

If you want to disable it, you can always go to Settings -> Advanced -> Smart Page Off. After this you will see only your Speed Dials.

But we'll miss you and you will be missing out on some of the very cool features that will be coming to the Smart Page in the future

All the best,
Opera Mini Team

ps: you can always enable it back in the same settings page!

Deleted User

Deleted User

Originally posted by chrisu:

If you want to disable it, you can always go to Settings -> Advanced -> Smart Page Off. After this you will see only your Speed Dials.

That's not true. There is no such setting. 7.5.33361. Brand new Google Nexus 4.

Originally posted by chrisu:

Because it listens to you and learns what you like.

Define "what I like".
Right now the links are about things with no conceivable relation to any interest of mine: Julia Roberts, the Olympics, and
developer discussion pages at Wikipedia where people discuss code and internal functions for the Wikpedia site itself.

Anyway the privacy invasion is mind-boggling. At one time Opera didn't seem to gather user data without permission but apparently those days are over.

petrichorical

petrichorical

I created an account specifically for this post. I'm glad someone else is having this problem because I've actually ended up installing Firefox on my phone instead and have been using it as my primary mobile browser (whereas before I'd only ever use Opera Mini).

I intensely loathe the "smart page" (is that what it's called?) - but what I loathe even more is that I cannot properly turn it off. Those instructions posted earlier do not work - If I navigate to settings > advanced > there's only one option to choose from called "Home page." ...

If I turn that off, hooray! I'm back to my basic Opera Mini "speed dial" page. However, once I exit the app and re-open it, I'm greeted with a completely blank page. No speed dial, nothing. If I press the small icon at the bottom for opening a new tab/window, it just shows me a blank page with three grey boxes. So essentially, yes, I can turn off the smart page... but it turns everything off with it once I close out of the app and open it back up.

The only solution is to turn the smart page BACK ON, then turn it off again... and not close the app.

I do not like the "smart page." It's not smart, it's invasive and distracting. In fact, when things were first updated, I thought maybe I had a virus or my app was FROZEN, stuck on some kind of web banner page. I restarted my phone several times.

nowurtalkin

nowurtalkin

Originally posted by chrisu:

Hi planetrock

We created the Smart Page on Opera Mini to give you an instant overview of what's happening in your world as soon as you check into your phone. From your friends' latest posts in Facebook or Twitter to updates from your favorite websites and blogs, Smart Page is a news and social media aggregator tailor-made for the way you use the web.
Why makes Smart Page smart? Because it listens to you and learns what you like.

If you want to disable it, you can always go to Settings -> Advanced -> Smart Page Off. After this you will see only your Speed Dials.

But we'll miss you and you will be missing out on some of the very cool features that will be coming to the Smart Page in the future

All the best,
Opera Mini Team

ps: you can always enable it back in the same settings page!

You'll MISS HIM? .... give me a break... and recently it's been reported that when the home pg is turned of & then mini off/on, the result is a blank white page, which renders mini unusable until you go back & are forced to turn it on again, so a dumb circle... but I don't see you replying to that? I posted it yest (and several before on a couple threads... But you talk instead about what a cool thing it is & even tho the majority don't seem to like it, you're gonna MISS HIM! for not wanting it. I also posted yesterday about how my link/syncronistic & speed dials were robbed from me yesterday as well, just because I decided I would toggle the switch, so now, either no data / all taken by opera link (as it states will occur if I sign back in, or, no link/sync in effect anymore. It gave no other choices.. Just dandy! Being so nonchalant and/or staying behind the scenes most of the time & allowing people to lose all their data is inexcusable imho.

nowurtalkin

nowurtalkin

Originally posted by planetrock:

Originally posted by chrisu:

If you want to disable it, you can always go to Settings -> Advanced -> Smart Page Off. After this you will see only your Speed Dials.

That's not true. There is no such setting. 7.5.33361. Brand new Google Nexus 4.

Originally posted by chrisu:

Because it listens to you and learns what you like.

Define "what I like".
Right now the links are about things with no conceivable relation to any interest of mine: Julia Roberts, the Olympics, and
developer discussion pages at Wikipedia where people discuss code and internal functions for the Wikpedia site itself.

Anyway the privacy invasion is mind-boggling. At one time Opera didn't seem to gather user data without permission but apparently those days are over.

I have 7.5.33361 & it IS there to turn off in settings (I think called home page) and that was fine when it worked (choices are always better) but it's not working now. See below.

*update:
Now it's back working again.. And he told you wrong.. It's settings>Advanced>home page toggle.

nowurtalkin

nowurtalkin

Define "what I like".
Right now the links are about things with no
conceivable relation to any interest of mine:
Julia Roberts, the Olympics, and
developer discussion pages at Wikipedia
where people discuss code and internal
functions for the Wikpedia site itself.
Anyway the privacy invasion is mind-boggling.
At one time Opera didn't seem to gather user
data without permission but apparently those
days are over.
____________________________________
That's right! It BULLSHIRT! People know what they like & how to find it.. It's an intrusion. If you guys spent more time repairing all the real issues & less time deciding what we like, and the condescending attitude of "we'll miss you" (if you turn it off. Yeah, right! What will you miss?... Data that isn't your business or even asked for by us or the courtesy to ask for permission. Hdrrrmmmffff!

nowurtalkin

nowurtalkin

Jeez. I got a blank page again when I tried to post above & then about 6 "forbidden" errors when I continued to try to post & then finally it posted about 4 repeats. I'm going somewhere else where I can do stuff w/o this constant mess ups & hassles & staff that could care less for the most part is what is projected. It's goin downhill

petrichorical

petrichorical

I'm not quite as doom and gloom... I really sincerely DO want to resume using Opera Mini on my droid, but this has really turned me off to it. I feel like the smart page is invasive and awkward - for example, I've been looking up a particular style of shoes for a birthday gift for my sister, then later today I decide to show her something online on my phone... cue awkwardness abound when I bring up Opera Mini and sitting right there plain as day on my "smart page" are gobs of ads for that same kind of shoe... way to go, so subtle.

I shouldn't have to turn it off every time I start the app up. Either make it (properly) optional or not, but I don't feel it's good design to break an entire app in order to discourage people from turning off a feature. (Then again, "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.")

nowurtalkin

nowurtalkin

I guess I'm the only one for whom the broken function started working again yesterday..

*correction
I was wrong. I usually don't exit the app but I tried to & back on again & boom... Blank page.

Plus I got a black blank page for opera mini today. It's about the 10th to 15th time overall. And then nothing function & have to force close to get it back again. It's the only app I have ever had to force close. What's THAT tell you? (and I have a lot of apps).

And I still need ANSWERS... as to how to not lose all data when signing in to link. How stupid is THAT? 2 choices: no link/sync or lose all data (bscause it says somebody else is using the account. DUH..

Deleted User

Deleted User

Originally posted by petrichorical:

I shouldn't have to turn it off every time I start the app up. Either make it (properly) optional or not, but I don't feel it's good design to break an entire app in order to discourage people from turning off a feature. (Then again, "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.")

“When people think of using
social networks on the go, they
often imagine a smartphone with
the latest apps installed. At
Opera, we know that’s not the
way a majority of mobile phone
owners access their social
networks,” says Lars Boilesen,
CEO, Opera Software. “That’s
why we’ve made ‘ordinary’
phones smarter, by making it
easier to use the most popular
social networks right in the first
screen of Opera Mini for feature
phones. Just because you’re on a
more basic phone, doesn’t mean
you can’t be a active social
networker.”
Opera Mini line-up with smart page for featured and smartphone devices ain't that bad and anyway if that define 'stupidity' then can be easily ignored.

nowurtalkin

nowurtalkin

I swear.. it seems like you & the other opera help guy, don't seem to get the premise that it's NOT so much that the apparent vast majority don't seem to like "home page", as the fact THAT IT DON'T WORK!! It used to work (the toggle) but it stopped working & now throws a blank page (if you switch off & exit/enter), rendering mini useless, unless you turn it back on & before, if it was on & you chose speedial tab, it would stay that way, but now everytime you pull up mini it defaults back to "dumb.. I mean smart.. I mean home page"...

This poster explained it so well above. I wish I had his ability to exactly cover all the bases & do it w/so few words, or so eloquently. Dirgas, I just can't see your explanation as appropriate to this case at all. ITS DEFINITELY AN INTRUSION! and IT DEFINITELY IS CURRENTLY MALFUNCTIONING (the toggle to allow to be turned off) & SO FAR, WITH SEVERAL WELL EXPLAINED COMPLAINTS on different threads, NO HELPERS SOUND AS THOUGH THEY UNDERSTAND, because they're explaining WHY it's there & why it's SO GOOD & all, BUT NOT ACKNOWLEDGING THAT IT CAN NO LONGER BE TURNED OFF!

sorry, I'll try switching to decaf; (

*by the way, I love the quote "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." (now if I could only get my brain fully wrapped around it's true meaning. Wonderin if I been malicious or just stupid. LOL (however, at this point I think they're doing it on purpose..)

Deleted User

Deleted User

'intrusion' doesn't have a meaning in this context, smart page is not a build-in feature instead is more like a startup page. Right after installation starting with EULA accept button the user must have the ability (and it has for j2me platform) to kill refresh process forcing fast exit and so at next startup the page will be blank and doesn't have firsttime activation. As a request that frontpage shouldn't be automatically reloaded at first startup because EULA can state that I'm using this software as it is but it needs an user action to do that - like first link which automatically can trigger 'odp:showuptodate' url - and of course home page disabling button. Perhaps is not a known fact that once it was loaded that home page can be disabled but (django script?) always will run in background since at any startup will send data from the client regarding latest cached pages from previous data sessions (even that I'm not connected with the same host). Source: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/http/sessions/ or related. In short: we want Django chained again, right?

petrichorical

petrichorical

Originally posted by dirgas:

Opera Mini line-up with smart page for featured and smartphone devices ain't that bad and anyway if that define 'stupidity' then can be easily ignored.

Not sure if I'm interpreting your statement properly so please forgive me. I know this isn't a horrible, world-ending application issue. It's not like the app is unstable or crashing regularly. But it is difficult to ignore and interferes with usability in a big way for me. Either I'm a huge idiot, or something's wrong when an update has me thinking my app is infected with a virus or frozen at first pass (or perhaps it's a little bit of both).

I get their reasoning for adding it - really, I work in a marketing department, I totally understand that sometimes the marketing team's aspirations don't always line up with what the developers or programmers might want, and sometimes it doesn't always score a home-run with consumers either. Heck, do I even have a "right" to complain, seeing as how I am not paying a penny to use this application in the first place?

I just want to know how to properly turn it off without breaking the application. Until I figure that out, I'll continue using Firefox and leave Opera Mini alone and unloved.

nowurtalkin

nowurtalkin

Originally posted by dirgas:

'intrusion' doesn't have a meaning in this context, smart page is not a build-in feature instead is more like a startup page. Right after installation starting with EULA accept button the user must have the ability (and it has for j2me platform) to kill refresh process forcing fast exit and so at next startup the page will be blank and doesn't have firsttime activation. As a request that frontpage shouldn't be automatically reloaded at first startup because EULA can state that I'm using this software as it is but it needs an user action to do that - like first link which automatically can trigger 'odp:showuptodate' url - and of course home page disabling button. Perhaps is not a known fact that once it was loaded that home page can be disabled but (django script?) always will run in background since at any startup will send data from the client regarding latest cached pages from previous data sessions (even that I'm not connected with the same host). Source: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/http/sessions/ or related. In short: we want Django chained again, right?

Oh boy...
I thought I would check in & see how things are working today. Geeez, been struggling & fighting w/mini for 1/2 hr & ready to give up & leave. I cannot even keep up w/the problems or remember them all..

Some of this ought to be on a different thread but I'm having such a hard time using & haven't even been able to compose a reply til now, so I'm throwing out here what I'm experiencing, while I can (if it posts)

I had 3 mini crashes in approx 24 hrs, which required force stops. But then add 1 more, as soon as I opened mini after the 3rd crash, it crashed immed upon opening the 4th time. (this is the 5th)

That is unprecedented. I never had any of my many apps crash & require force close, since I owned this android phone (approx a yr). Mini is the only app to have crashed/force close & done so now, close to 15 times. Then, in past 24's or so, 4 times. Today it was unusable. So I was forced to see if it was usable via US browser. Mini opened right up in uc browser (actually, I went to the forum) & everything looked fine & operational. I noted there was a msg waiting for me from staff, regarding the link/sync issues & so I opened & tried quite a few times to reply to Margaretha, but I could not make a reply. I don't know what part of the combo of mini/uc browser/the mini mail system (or whatever part of mini the msg came from) /my text editor/my phone, is to blame, but some element weren't playing nice & it wouldn't hold its place of allow me to continue to type or even to get cursor placed at end of quote, was all but impossible, so I had to give up that as well.

Then I tried opening mini normal way again & here I am. It's sure a lot of work. While I'm not sure if the reply compose issues are related to the original problems reported, clearly, mini crashed I operable black screen on me 4 times in near 24 hrs & immed after last "crash upon open", it opened & looked fine via uc browser.

Font is too damn small in read & write, also (w/largest setting)

Dirgas, I appreciate the time, effort & knowledge you have, and your replies, but I just cannot follow you. You get too technical & deep into it & assume ppl can understand. Those who are way more into the technical aspects may understand you but I only partly have a clue as to what your talking about & that then is mixed in w/a few grammatical/language issues, to make it even more difficult. I try to understand tho..

I think its wrong stance for you to tell me & others that IT'S NOT AN INTRUSION, when quite a few ppl have now said they feel the intrusiveness. It is, esp when it no longer works to be able to turn it off & when it's somehow tracking ppl in order to provide the so-called personally tailored content, which ppl also are reporting the content to have nothing to do w/them.. And also intrusive because it wasn't there before & now it's forced in your face & now I've seen at least 2 reports of pornography or other inappropriate content. I post, that if you take this stance that it's not intrusive & a general pain in the butt, your gonna catch a whole lotta hell.

The rest of your "explanation", I just can't understand, but the bottom line regardless of whatever your saying, is that the toggle ceased to work right around the 10th. I don't understand how the staff can't see it on their end, for over a week now. What the heck are they running over there?

And it also sounds like you're saying something to the effect that the way the tab isn't holding either, is also the way it should be? Pardon, if you're not saying that. Fact o matter is, the tab for speedial held its place for a long time for me (and apparently others..) & now it does not, even when mini is left open (which I usually do) & again, if home pg is turned off & mini is switched off/on, result is blank useless page.

Margaretha, I'm gonna try to reply if I can, but the link problem has been solved. Thankyou for responding. After I figured it out, the fix & the opinion that it's caused by a bug (when someone mistakenly/automatically uses upper case 1st letter on username), was reiterated from vargas & yeswap. There also seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether or not logging in w/the incorrect (should it even matter?) capital 1st letter in username will indeed result in what the pop-up warning dialog box says will happen, which is that if you continue to login w/that, you will lose all your data. Dirgas says it won't actually happen, but if that's the case, the dialog shouldn't tell ppl that.

nowurtalkin