Dodge unexpected drop-ins from classmates, co-workers, parents, and peers to keep your job secure, your online secrets safe, and your romantic relationships intact
Oslo, Norway – 12 December 2023: Ever been caught playing games when you should have been studying? Do you browse sites that you’re not proud of and don’t want anyone to see? Viewing explicit content when you should be updating the monthly sales spreadsheet? A recent study by Opera GX shows that 36% of respondents admit to accessing inappropriate content while at school or work. Browsing what your heart desires can be risky business, especially when there are prying eyes around. But with Panic Button from Opera GX, the browser for gamers, your days of getting caught could be over.
“School, work, and even homelife can get seriously boring, but your browser can always be trusted to bring you immediate gratification. However, these quick moments of joy can result in long-term shame if caught by prying eyes. But it doesn’t have to be this way,” said Maciej Kocemba, product director at Opera and the mastermind behind Opera GX. “We created Panic Button as your first line of defense when your online secrets are at risk. Hitting just one button will instantly switch the good stuff for the mundane tabs – and nobody’s any the wiser.”
Panic Button is a new feature that acts as an indispensable defense against prying observers and unexpected drop-ins. The next time your boss suddenly returns early from lunch while you’re streaming League of Legends tournaments, you can quickly hit the F12 key and the Panic Button is activated. This quickly mutes and pauses playback from all tabs and forces open a new window of totally bland, “safe” content, keeping your secrets safe for another day. To restore all tabs to the previous state you just need to press the F12 button again.
Panic Button comes with a list of pre-installed websites that you can choose as your “safe” tab, such as YouTube, Twitch, or Wikipedia. You can also choose your own totally bland websites, such as tractor fan clubs, baby animals websites, or even stock data. To use Panic Button, all GX users need to activate the “Early Bird” option first in the settings of the browser.
Opera GX isn’t just for fast and discreet browsing. The only browser designed for gamers also features a myriad of customization options, including color themes, sound effects, background music, as well as CPU, RAM, and Network Bandwidth limiters designed to leave more of the computer’s resources for gaming.
Caught in the act
According to a recent study by Opera GX*, 36% of respondents admit to accessing inappropriate content while at school, college, or work. This content includes social media sites (61%), explicit adult material (58%), games (51%), online shopping (51%), and dating websites (36%). Almost a third (30%) of those who view inappropriate content confess to having been by their teacher or boss. Two-thirds (63%) of those people received a warning, while a quarter (22%) faced suspension or termination.
At home, almost half (45%) of respondents have been discovered by a parent, family member, or partner engaging in activities such as playing games (26%), viewing explicit content (14%), checking social media profiles of ex-partners/attractive friends (14%), visiting dating websites (13%), watching/listening to less popular bands/artists (12%), or looking up sensitive medical information (10%).
While the majority (78%) faced only embarrassment, a quarter of respondents experienced more serious consequences. Over half (55%) ended up in an argument, while a third (32%) managed to resolve the situation through conversation. However, being caught in the act resulted in a break-up or divorce for 13% of respondents.
Download Opera GX by visiting www.opera.com/gx.
*Data based on an Opera GX/Obsurvant study of 2,200 respondents across the UK/US during December 2023.
About Opera GX
Opera GX is not your standard browser. But it could be, just like it is for millions of gamers globally looking for a more custom Internet experience. Along with countless customization options including color themes, sound effects, background music, and a gaming-inspired design, Opera GX includes CPU, RAM and Network Bandwidth limiters that make the browser less resource-hungry and leave more of the computer’s resources for gaming. The browser also includes a Hot Tabs Killer feature, which lets users “kill” the most resource-draining tabs and GX Cleaner to purge those old unwanted files.