Challenger web browser Vivaldi 2.6 has been released for Windows, Mac and Linux, promising protection against abusive ad practices.

Version 2.6 also adds additional ways of customising user profiles, introduces a filter for browsing saved passwords, implements support for Razer headphone devices and continues to revamp the user interface with several welcome minor tweaks.

The headline new feature in Vivaldi 2.6 is its promise of a browsing experience free from so-called abusive and misleading ads. These are known to use abusive technologies including fake messages, unexpected click areas, social engineering and auto redirect.

The feature is basically a new blocklist of sites hosted securely on Vivaldi’s servers, and updated on a regular basis. It’s enabled by default, but users can review it (and other) privacy settings via the Vivaldi menu: choose Tools > Settings > Privacy for the new ‘Block Ads on Abusive Sites’ setting under Content Blocking, which is ticked by default.

After introducing user profiles in Vivaldi 2.4, version 2.6 adds key custom controls missing from that release – most notably the ability to add and remove non-synced profiles from within the profiles pop-up menu. Users can now also update their non-synced avatar by simply clicking it when the user is active.

Users also gain the ability to filter the list of saved passwords by site or account name when browsing the list under Settings > Privacy – simply start typing into the ‘Filter Passwords’ box to use the feature.

The Window panel button adds a notification counter indicating how many background tabs have unread links, while the ‘Find in Page’ feature (Ctrl + F) makes it easy to find specific content within a page using the keyboard.

Users can also set the currently set search engine’s icon in the Search field for easier visibility – head to Tools > Settings > Search and tick ‘Show Search Engine Icon’ under ‘Show Search Field in Address Bar’.

Vivaldi 2.6 ends with several performance improvements focused on those who use Vivaldi with lots of tabs and panels, while Razer headphone device support has been added to go with Razer Chroma integration, which first appeared in Vivaldi 2.5 along with options for new Tab Selections and resizing Speed Dial thumbnails.

Vivaldi 2.6 is available now as a free download for Windows, Mac and Linux. Users can import data from a variety of browsers, including Opera (old and new versions), Chrome, Edge, Internet Explorer and – via HTML export – Firefox.