The renowned browsing platform- Opera has announced the launch of its dedicated chat service Hype in Nigeria. Hype is built into the Opera Mini mobile web browser and allows users to connect. Recall recently we reported the launch of hype in South Africa, Zambia and Ghana. The leading global web innovator with an engaged and growing base of hundreds of millions of monthly active users has done it again. Opera is increasingly expand its offerings and business by leveraging on its brand to bring exciting services to its massive and highly active user base. Opera continues to offer her users around the world a range of products that includes Opera browser for PC and mobile, the AI-powered newsreader Opera News, and other classifieds apps.
With the introduction of Hype into the Nigerian market, Opera is keeping her promise of redefining the concept of mobile browsers. By providing users with a personalized, engaging browsing experience that enables seamless chatting, surfing and sharing – without compromising speed or driving increased data consumption which has always been a concern to internet users. The first African-inspired chat service – Hype, allows her users to easily set up an account and start chatting with secure end-to-end encryption right away. This means users can now browse the web, chat with friends, and share self-created memes, stickers and GIFs with other Hype users, all in the same app, isn’t that so cool?
As you may already know, Hype was built because younger generations of internet users expect social connectivity from apps on their devices and Opera hasn’t fallen short of delivering exactly that. Jorgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile Browsers at Opera said “Hype is an original instant messaging service by Opera, designed for the new generation of African internet users to elevate the traditional browsing experience and make it more engaging. With Opera Mini and a Hype account, Nigerians can enjoy a browsing and chatting ecosystem tailored to their needs. He continues by saying, “Hype bridges cultures from Sub-Saharan Africa with mobile technology, as the world’s first African-inspired chat service.”
In 2021, the pilot market for Hype was first launched in Kenya, and the acceptance has been quite impressive with about 400,000 activations and over 10,000 friend request daily. In other to help people familiarize themselves with the concept of a browser with inbuilt chat service and as a response to the high cost of data in Nigeria, Opera also announces free chatting with Hype monthly. This partnership with leading carriers in Nigeria like Airtel, MTN and Globacom allows users browse freely. Users can activate the free data anytime by opening the Feedback Bot in Hype, sending “Unlock my free data” in chat, then clicking the link in the reply message. The free mobile data will be activated when the page is loaded.
Key features of hype remain the same with Hype Clubs, Meme Creator, WebSnap, Link Preview, GIF. Users can join interest-based channels Hype Clubs to chat with those who are on the same wavelength. Users can create their own Club and gather interested people together or share opinions with others. Memes are an essential part of internet culture, more easily than ever Hype offers the built-in meme creator. Hype supports GIFs in chats, and makes choosing them super simple with its search capabilities and scrollable GIF grid.
To make it easier for users to express themselves frely, Hype includes WebSnap, a feature already known from the Opera desktop browser, allowing users to take snapshots from the web. Hype comes with the link preview feature aswell. With link preview – website header and description automatically appears in chat. This function is also available in encrypted chats and on metered networks. In other to activate a Hype account, users would first need to have an Opera Mini application. Users can set set up a Hype account by tapping the Hype logo at the bottom of the Opera Mini browser, or through the O menu. Find out more about setting-up a Hype account here.