There's a lot going on in the sidebar of Opera. It's already one of the most feature-packed browsers out there and for a while now you've been able to keep your Twitter, Instagram and other social media addictions tethered to the side area.

Now, Opera is opening up the sidebar to music streaming with a feature that will help tidy up the desktop of anyone who plays music while working or often has too many tabs open.

Normally, if you use the likes of Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube, you'll have a program installed on your computer or else use the web player.

But Opera is making it simpler by integrating streaming services into its pop-out sidebar.

You can instantly sign in and use three different streaming services: Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube Music. Once your music or podcast is playing, you can fold away the sidebar and keep working in other tabs.

And what happens when you open a page with a video? It's pretty seamless: Opera automatically pauses the song and then starts it again when the video is finished.

 - dpa