The ultimate power user feature is finally coming to Vivaldi on Android

Vivaldi has been the go-to browser for people who like to tweak every single corner of their browser. And now, it might be getting the biggest missing piece: support for extensions. 

Following the major productivity update in Vivaldi 8.0 and a few bug fixes in the 8.1 release, the company has turned its attention to adding support for extensions on Android.

With the latest Snapshot build on Android (Vivaldi’s test version), the browser now lets you add Chrome extensions to the browser. The developers announced this in a blog post about the new 4143.3 update.

There’s an important note in the post too — you have to open the Chrome Web Store in desktop mode to add extensions. The store is built in a way that doesn’t let you add extensions on mobile devices. So the trick involves running it in desktop mode to unlock the ability to add extensions.

I have tested the new functionality on my phone, and it works as expected. Upon navigating to Extensions in the browser menu, Vivaldi opened the Chrome extension website in desktop mode, so I could freely browse through the catalog of available add-ons.

I was able to successfully install two extensions, including my go-to called Dark Reader, and install it on my phone.

Upon activation, the add-on immediately took effect, making all websites appear in dark mode, similar to how they would look on a computer with the dark theme enabled. Everything worked smoothly and without issues.

This new feature will likely be a welcome addition for Vivaldi users who want more out of their browser.

For context, Chrome on Android completely refuses to allow desktop extensions, forcing users to rely on third-party alternatives.

Meanwhile, Firefox has had its own add-on collection for a while. But if you wanted a Chromium-based browser on Android, you had to turn to niche options like Kiwi Browser and Quetta. 

So having a relatively mainstream browser like Vivaldi jump on board the Android extension train is a win for fans.

However, it is important to note that Vivaldi’s support for Chrome extensions is currently experimental. The company warned that “not all extensions will be compatible with the mobile version.”

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