User profile support – Vivaldi Browser snapshot 1468.4

Today’s Snapshot adds support for user profiles and a couple of user-requested options.

Users should note that this snapshot does not include the fix for CVE-2019-5786. However, that issue is fixed in the current stable Vivaldi release (2.3.1440.60). Users should not use this snapshot for testing untrusted websites. The fix should hopefully be included in the next snapshot release.

User profiles

User profiles allow multiple “users” to share one Vivaldi installation, without requiring you to log in to a different operating system, user account, or maintain multiple, standalone installations. Each profile can have a different set of extensions, bookmarks, Speed Dials, cookies, history, etc. You can also configure the browser to behave differently on a per-profile basis.

You can use profiles in whatever way suits you best. Perhaps you want to separate your home and work life, maintain profiles for different family members (not everyone has the same YouTube interests), or you might just want a guest profile (window) for a friend to use your browser (without messing up your setup or interacting with your open tabs). The fact that each profile can be configured differently also allows you to express different personalities. Perhaps the subtle theme for your work profile and hot pink for home?

To switch between profiles, you will find a new user profile icon on the right of the address bar. Click on this to access different profiles you configured previously or open the profile manager to setup new ones. Support for syncing profiles is also handled, allowing you to access all of your profiles, on each of your computers. Within each profile, you can set up sync of that profile data.

The last profile you switched to will be the one used on next startup but if it is not the one you wanted, just switch. If the guest (a throw away profile) window was the very last window closed, then on restart Vivaldi will display the profile manager. This in itself is a nice way to start up “clean” (no saved cookies, history, etc.) on every restart.

P.S. The audience for snapshots tends to include a lot of clever and experimental users, so we are sure a few of you will have realised that Vivaldi has actually long supported user profiles. However, previously you needed the command line switch “-profile-directory” to access them. Now all Vivaldi users can benefit. In addition, moving the profile management directly into our UI also means a different level of support. From now on we’ll pay much more attention to any bugs that you find with them.

Download (1468.4)

Changelog

  • [New] Support managing people and guest profiles (VB-48767)
  • [New] Add an option to open the context search in a background tab “Settings → Search → Page Selection Search in Background” (VB-29927)
  • [New] Allow double-click to rename tab stack (VB-49437)
  • [Regression] Bookmark folder name cannot be changed in bookmarks bar (VB-49601)
  • [Regression] Copy to note quick command does not work in input fields (VB-28801)
  • [Regression] Horizontal Main Menu sometimes requires two clicks to open the dropdown (VB-48138)
  • [Regression] Missing URL in History of address field (VB-49659)
  • [Regression] Starting from last session with hidden UI makes tab bar vanish (VB-49708)
  • [Bookmarks] Favicons in bookmark manager are not generated when visiting the page (VB-12385)
  • [Downloads] Controls in Downloads sidebar are inactive (VB-49778)
  • [Settings] “Confirm Opening Bookmarks over Maximum of [20]” doesn’t work properly (VB-47527)
  • [Shortcut] Ctrl+J shortcut to show downloads (VB-29705)
  • Register Yubikey crashes Vivaldi (VB-49003)
  • Upgraded Chromium to 72.0.3626.120

Main photo by Finan Akbar