I won’t lie: I’m keen on aesthetics. I don’t want something I stare at for hours to look plain, average, or boring. If I’m going to use a piece of software all day, I want it to look good — and even reflect a bit of my personality.
That’s one of the many reasons why I chose the Linux operating system (because I can make it look and feel how I want).
But what about browsers?
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With browsers like Firefox, you can add themes in the same way you add extensions. But those themes are pretty flat and not exactly inspiring.
The developers of the Opera browser have something very special on the way, called dynamic themes. You’re likely somewhat familiar with the term “dynamic” as it applies to the desktop, thanks to things like the MacOS dynamic wallpaper. Anything “dynamic” should add a bit of excitement or flare to the software you use. What Opera has in store certainly does that.
A few things to note: Currently, dynamic themes are available only in the development version of Opera; you can install and use the development version alongside the standard version (which is what I do).
Also, the feature isn’t quite the same across platforms, nor is it available for the mobile edition (yet). For example, dynamic themes on the MacOS version of Opera Developer are animated but on the Linux desktop, they are not. I suspect that the animated option will come to the Linux version soon because if you look at the theme gallery on MacOS vs. Linux, there are themes marked “Coming Soon” on Linux that are all available on MacOS.
That’s fairly typical.
So, how do you use Opera’s Dynamic themes? Let me show you.
How to add a dynamic theme
What you’ll need: The only thing you’ll need is Opera Developer installed on your desktop.
The first thing to do is open Opera Developer, which I assume you’ve already done since you’re reading this article. With Opera open, click the settings icon which is directly to the left of your profile photo.
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From the pop-up, click “Theme gallery.”
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You can also enable/disable theme sounds from here.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
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In the resulting pop-up, select from one of the available themes, such as Classic, Aurora, or Midsommar.
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You can select from three theme modes: all, dark, and light.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
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In the theme customization pop-up, adjust the theme by dragging the circle around the square to change the primary theme color. This color will apply to the theme as a whole, but on the Linux OS, it only changes the color of the tab bar, sidebar, and window borders. On MacOS, the color applies to the overall theme and can make a dramatic difference in how Opera looks.
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Drag the circle around to change the feel of the theme.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
On MacOS, you can also enable/disable browser sounds, keyboard sounds, and animations.
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Once you have the theme looking perfect, click Set Theme and you’re done. At this point, you can enjoy that new dynamic theme and make your friends and family jealous enough that they too will want to switch to the Opera browser.
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