Brave Browser

[pedzsan]

Has anyone here tried the Brave Browser. I came from FireFox everywhere maybe two years ago to Safari everywhere -- Mac, iPhone, iPad, ... I'm still missing some of the FF features but the password integration is very nice. Much nicer than FF with LastPass premium.

I'm wondering if Brave would be better / worse / the same. Anyone have any experience with it?

 

[sracer]

Has anyone here tried the Brave Browser. I came from FireFox everywhere maybe two years ago to Safari everywhere -- Mac, iPhone, iPad, ... I'm still missing some of the FF features but the password integration is very nice. Much nicer than FF with LastPass premium.

I'm wondering if Brave would be better / worse / the same. Anyone have any experience with it?

I use Brave on my Amazon Fire tablets but I am not impressed with it on MacOS or Windows. It seems to be as "heavy" as Chrome. For those desktop operating systems, I prefer Vivaldi (developed by the original developer of Opera)... it is also a chromium-based browser but requires far less resources.

 

[MacDawg]

I would choose Vivaldi over Brave as well if picking between the two
I found nothing compelling in Brave to make me switch to it

At this point I am using Chrome on Windows and Mac because of the excellent syncing capabilities
I have DuckDuckGo set as my search engine and use an ad blocker
I was willing to use Safari on my Macs but the syncing wasn't working out for me and the extensions were lacking

 

[pedzsan]

I'm very surprised anyone uses any Google products at this point. A Windows guy told me that Chrome on Windows puts all sorts of stuff on the machine. I didn't believe him. Then a year or so later my Mac was doing funky things and I found various Google applications running on my Mac. (I had installed Chrome because it is bleeding edge as far as web features and I was developing Web stuff at the time.)

Anyhow... long story short, I removed all Google apps from everywhere.

 

[MacDawg]

I'm very surprised anyone uses any Google products at this point.

I guess you will be completely stunned when you find out the market share and number of people that use Android, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs/Sheets, Google search engine and all the other Google products worldwide and around you then.

 

[pedzsan]

I guess you will be completely stunned when you find out the market share and number of people that use Android, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs/Sheets, Google search engine and all the other Google products worldwide and around you then.

Yea... Kinda. I mean, I know what you say is true. But... when are people going to wake up and care about their privacy? I guess never but I completely don't understand it.

 

[MacDawg]

Yea... Kinda. I mean, I know what you say is true. But... when are people going to wake up and care about their privacy? I guess never but I completely don't understand it.

I think people fall into several categories...

1. People who are oblivious and just plow ahead without knowing what they are doing
B. People who are paranoid and see a nefarious boogeyman everywhere and in everything
3. People who realize to be connected to the Internet and to live life carries certain risks, including privacy risks and they seek to mitigate them to a level they are comfortable

That level of comfort varies between individuals
Here are just some of the things I do to gain a measure of peace of mind and comfort, realizing there are still risks involved:

• I use 1Password with unique and strong passwords everywhere utilizing 2 Factor when offered as an option
• I use NordVPN on my computer and iPhone
• I use DuckDuckGo as my search engine
• I use an Ad blocker on my browser
• I practice safe computing by not clicking links in emails, not downloading from sketchy sites, etc.

Yes, tracking to show targeted ads can be seen as an invasion of privacy
Yes, collecting data patterns, sites visited, cookies, etc. can all be used for unintended purposes
But I am less concerned that Google knows that I searched for diapers on Amazon than I would be if someone stole my login to my 401K

So, I realize there are still risks to my privacy, but at some point, protecting privacy means not being able to live and work and enjoy life
It also helps that I am not a secret agent with precious intel to protect, nor am I currently engaged in anything illegal or immoral
Your comfort level may vary

 

[MacClueless]

• I use 1Password with unique and strong passwords everywhere utilizing 2 Factor when offered as an option

Good call. Is your 1Password email a known email? Might want to have a seperate and safe one for that.

• I use NordVPN on my computer and iPhone

Curious what you're trying accomplishing by doing that. Sure, now your ISP can't see what web sites you're going to... but your ISP is at least a US corporation with deep pockets. Instead you let "NordVPN" a company of unknown ownership based in Panama have that data? I am not sure that's better?

• I use DuckDuckGo as my search engine

Meh.

• I use an Ad blocker on my browser

NordVPN can block ads too, personally, I use ad blocking DNS.

• I practice safe computing by not clicking links in emails, not downloading from sketchy sites, etc.

Thumbs up! Curious do you use any Facebook products?

 

[sracer]

Yea... Kinda. I mean, I know what you say is true. But... when are people going to wake up and care about their privacy? I guess never but I completely don't understand it.

Maybe because the claims of superior privacy of competing companies and apps are simply nothing more than marketing.

Even if you never ever used the internet, companies have a full portfolio of information on you. Using Google products and services doesn't increase your exposure. Unless you only visit brick and mortar stores and pay by cash, your purchase activity is tracked.

 

[MacClueless]

Maybe because the claims of superior privacy of competing companies and apps are simply nothing more than marketing.

Even if you never ever used the internet, companies have a full portfolio of information on you. Using Google products and services doesn't increase your exposure. Unless you only visit brick and mortar stores and pay by cash, your purchase activity is tracked.

But you can make it very difficult for them to put that all together.

 

[sracer]

But you can make it very difficult for them to put that all together.

No you can't.

 

[Kraizelburg]

Brave is based on chromium so is almost as heavy as chrome and sync capabilities are still in beta.
Brave is a good browser and in my opinion much better than chrome.
I still prefer Firefox over any other browser, bitwarden for password management, uBlock origin and pocket are a must for me.

 

[chscag]

I tried Brave for a bit. In my opinion, it's not ready for prime time.

 

[MacClueless]

No you can't.

Sure you can! What identifying information do you think they use?

 

[sprague.rod]

I agree, I don't think Brave is quite ready for prime time "yet" but if you are coming from Chrome I can see how it would be an easy transition. On the other hand if you are coming from Firefox you may well enjoy Cliqz more. Same security features, seems to have less bugs, needs a little tweaking of preferences has access to the Firefox extensions library, like Brave has access to the Chrome extension library and works on all Mac devices.

 

[Pektin]

Hello thanks for the great forum.

It seems I am the only one where brave is always there with a dot in the dock when I start the computer ( i quitted and closed brave before shutdown)?
One mark of three when rightclicking on that dock symbol is not removable, and didnt find anything in settings..

I would prefer and use often firefox with ublock origin, but there I have the stupid and maybe dangerous pop sound if I stop a video (on a mbp 15 2018)
It seems that is now reduced in safari and brave

 

[sprague.rod]

Hello thanks for the great forum.

It seems I am the only one where brave is always there with a dot in the dock when I start the computer ( i quitted and closed brave before shutdown)?
One mark of three when rightclicking on that dock symbol is not removable, and didnt find anything in settings..

I would prefer and use often firefox with ublock origin, but there I have the stupid and maybe dangerous pop sound if I stop a video (on a mbp 15 2018)
It seems that is now reduced in safari and brave

My guess is that Brave has been added to Login Items (startup items) in Users and Groups Preferences in System Preferences. Be aware that unticking it in this preference only hides it. You must unlock the pref window and use the minus button to prevent itvfrom starting at login. The dot indicates it is active.

 

[Pektin]

Thanks a lot for the detailed answer.
Will try it out when i get to the mbp.

I wonder if its a bug or one of the strange, scary (?) things about brave.
Maybe the here recomended Vivaldi is less strange.
The somehow chinese opera, bugs with youtube and the arrow in safari.. hm i dont know..

My guess is that Brave has been added to Login Items (startup items) in Users and Groups Preferences in System Preferences. Be aware that unticking it in this preference only hides it. You must unlock the pref window and use the minus button to prevent itvfrom starting at login. The dot indicates it is active.

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