Snapshot 1.3.537.5 – Improved proprietary media support on Linux

In Today’s snapshot we address some of the problems you raised in the last snapshot, including fixing the private window crash on Mac, selection of the custom background image and the broken proprietary media on Linux. We also made the Linux proprietary media system more robust on Ubuntu and added additional support for OpenSUSE and Slackware users.

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Improved support for HTML5 proprietary media on Linux

We have supported proprietary media (MP4 [H.264/MPEG-4AVC & AAC] Video and MP3 Audio) since our October snapshots from last year. On Ubuntu Linux, you simply needed to install the chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra package (which provides a suitable library) and restart Vivaldi. However, we would only accept certain (very recent) versions of this package, meaning that occasionally (in snapshots) proprietary media would stop working.

With today’s snapshot we have made the system more flexible on Ubuntu by allowing the version of chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra package to vary a little more than before. In addition, we now look for suitable libraries in the chromium-ffmpeg package on OpenSUSE (from the Packman repository) and AlienBob’s Chromium package on Slackware. It is also worth reminding people that on Arch Linux, the vivaldi-snapshot-ffmpeg-codecs (found on the AUR and maintained by one of our Sopranos, Ike Devolder) provides support for these codecs.

In summary, proprietary media works more reliably for even more Linux users!

Oh and in case anyone thinks that it is odd that we offer a fix for Slackware specifically and yet do not provide Slackware packages, keep in mind something we explained before:

“[…] we provide packages and updates in the most two common formats (.rpm and .deb) but are happy to work with any Linux distribution to see if Vivaldi can be included directly. In addition, even where we do not provide a native package format, we will accept bug reports from users of any Linux distribution and attempt to fix the issues they might encounter.”

If you want to know more about our Linux packages and what the installation options are, read our previous blog post “Alternative install options for Vivaldi on Linux“.

Known issues

  • Moving a tab to a new Window causes focus to be lost: click the tab to restore focus
  • We are making some small changes to our Linux repositories, so updates might not be detected for some people for a short while: feel free to use a download link in the mean time

Download (1.3.537.5)

Changelog

  • [Linux] Make H.264, AAC and MP3 work more reliably on Ubuntu and derivatives: accept more versions of chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra (VB-19573)
  • [Linux] Support H.264, AAC and MP3 on OpenSUSE and Slackware if suitable libraries are available: Use libs from chromium-ffmpeg and AlienBob’s Chromium package (VB-17174)
  • [Mac][Regression] Vivaldi crashes when opening private window (VB-19473)
  • [Mac][Regression] Window title is not updated when settings page is loaded (VB-19586)
  • [Regression] Cannot set Vivaldi as default browser on Windows 10 (VB-19325)
  • [Regression] After switching tabs with mouse wheel, address bar field focus lost when typing 1 character (VB-19570)
  • [Regression] Custom background image doesn’t work through Settings (VB-19522)
  • [Zoom][Touch] The UI scale slider doesn’t react to touch events (VB-8449)
  • [Zoom] Settings page is reloaded after changing UI zoom (VB-16306)
  • Hibernated tab is still listed as “hibernate-able” (VB-19408)
  • Uncontrolled TAB jumping if you close a TAB (VB-19301)

Related articles

A further fix for http downloads – Vivaldi Browser snapshot 3329.9

Memory Saver and Compact menus – Vivaldi Browser snapshot 3329.7