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Firefox, Brave or Tor?

Cham2000

Cham2000

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 11, 2022
426
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There are lots of web browsers to use on Macs, and I'm wondering which one I should use, appart of Safari (and certainly not Chrome!). About security of web browsing and eradication of ads, which one is better/fastest/more reliable and trustable? Firefox (with the free uBlock plugin), Brave or Tor? I'm writing this message on Tor right now, and it's slow as hell!
 
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Cham2000 said:
There are lots of web browsers to use on Macs, and I'm wondering which one I should use, appart of Safari (and certainly not Chrome!). About security of web browsing and eradication of ads, which one is better/fastest/more reliable and trustable? Firefox (with the free uBlock plugin), Brave or Tor? I'm writing this message on Tor right now, and it's slow as hell!
Click to expand...

Now that memory and storage don’t need to be closely rationed on modern hardware, I use a multi-browser setup. I keep Safari in its stock configuration for exclusive use with regularly visited, trusted websites that handle confidential information (for example, financial services). I use Firefox with a full set of security and privacy extensions for general browsing. I use DuckDuckGo when I look at regularly visited but non-sensitive websites (for example, MacRumors).

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I went with Firefox because it is widely used and open source, which means there are lots of eyes watching how it works, and because it is free. I continue using Safari because it is highly integrated with macOS and Apple consistently provides updates for it. I tried DuckDuckGo during its beta testing period and decided to keep it…but if I stopped using it, I would just shift most of my browsing to Firefox.

Firefox add-ons I use:
  • Adblock Plus
  • Disconnect
  • Ghostery
  • Google Analytics Opt-out
  • NoScript
  • Privacy Badger
 
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KaliYoni said:
Now that memory and storage don’t need to be closely rationed on modern hardware, I use a multi-browser setup. I keep Safari in its stock configuration for exclusive use with regularly visited, trusted websites that handle confidential information (for example, financial services). I use Firefox with a full set of security and privacy extensions for general browsing. I use DuckDuckGo when I look at regularly visited but non-sensitive websites (for example, MacRumors).
Click to expand...

this for me too (minus DDG as a web browser, but i'm using the search engine inside Safari and Firefox)

my always active Firefox add-ons are:
CleanURL
LocalCDN
NoScript
PrivacyBadger
UBlock Origin

though i also have these in spare (though rarely, if ever, use these)
Firefox Multi-Account Containers
uMatrix
User-Agent Switcher and Manager


you can also heavily tweak Firefox for more "privacy" (though the more you're tweaking, the more uniquely identifiable you will become, though i'm more focused on blocking stuff from invading my system, rather than absolute stealthiness)

in the end, all are good though
 
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I use Firefox as my primary browser on both my Mac and gaming PC. I use 1Password, uBlock Origin, Facebook Container, and Privacy Badger extensions as well.
 
Cham2000 said:
There are lots of web browsers to use on Macs, and I'm wondering which one I should use, appart of Safari (and certainly not Chrome!). About security of web browsing and eradication of ads, which one is better/fastest/more reliable and trustable? Firefox (with the free uBlock plugin), Brave or Tor? I'm writing this message on Tor right now, and it's slow as hell!
Click to expand...
I use Brave on my MBA 2023 (arm64 Apple Silicon) and Chromium when it's on parity with the latest version (is not right now). On my Intel-based iMac 2014 I use Chromium (https://chromium.woolyss.com/), available in the latest version.
Brave has https:Everywhere installed internally, and I also use Privacy Badger, and on the Intel version I use https:/somewhere, uBlock, and Privacy Badger. You have to tweak the Setting menu in Brave to turn off the Rewards, etc. Read this, about alternatives to Google Chrome: https://www.techspot.com/article/2319-google-chrome-alternatives-better-features/
 
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safari 16.3 is most stable and fast.
add in duck duck go for your search.
then Ka-Block for deforestation
and you're good to go.
i also select 'advanced' in the preference bar and check the box 'show Develop in the menu bar'.
this allows me to flush caches upon exiting safari, and i also 'clear history'
thus when reloading safari, i have a fresh palette to work with.
all useful links are saved to the 'reading list'.
 

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Firefox. Or more specifically seeing those other two options, Librewolf. Brave gets its revenue from data collection using an ad-blocking carrot to get people who don't really look into things much to join in and Tor is... literally just Firefox, but slower because it does onion routing. Which is kinda pointless if you're doing it on macOS since... come on, it's macOS. Not exactly a private operating system.​
 
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I currently use the Brave browser as I've found the in-built ad blocker to be more effective for my use. If set to 'aggressive' I've found it will get rid of adverts on things like tv catchup sites or Spotify free version that I couldn't get rid of with ad block extensions on Firefox. I haven't tried lately with Firefox though so you may find some of the extensions will block them now anyway.

Also sometimes use Abine's IronVest extension for email masking. :)
 
Firefox for primary (also syncs cross platform, so bookmarks on your Mac can be on your iOS/PadOS, Android or Windows - and vice-versa)

- uBlock Origin
- Privacy Badger
- ClearURLs
- Firefox Multi-account Containers (limiting cross-website info)
- Bitwarden (also cross-platform)
- PrintFriendly & PDF (stripping out unnecessary bumpf on websites for printing or PDF creation)
- HoverZoom+ (zooms images)

I also use Startpage as my Search engine. Based in the EU, so more stringent privacy regulations.

Second browser - Vivaldi. Chromium-based. Crazy number of features, but can choose what you need. Also capable of using extensions from Chrome store.
 
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I'd say Firefox with the extensions uBlock Origin, DecentralEyes, and Privacy Badger would make a great setup for most people.

Brave comes with built-in Tor capabilities that you can toggle on or off, if you want to use Tor features but still want a pretty decent browser otherwise.
 
I highly recommend Orion. It's still in beta but it combines the speed and Mac integration of Safari with the ad & blocker tracking of Brave in one very nice package. Crucially, they also integrated support for both Chrome & Firefox extensions.

I had been using Brave as my daily driver since before 2019 and it's a great browser but for Mac, Orion is absolutely superior.
 
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Cham2000 said:
There are lots of web browsers to use on Macs, and I'm wondering which one I should use, appart of Safari (and certainly not Chrome!). About security of web browsing and eradication of ads, which one is better/fastest/more reliable and trustable? Firefox (with the free uBlock plugin), Brave or Tor? I'm writing this message on Tor right now, and it's slow as hell!
Click to expand...
When I want to be more certain that I'm not being tracked, I use Brave along with VPN. But otherwise, I find Safari with the iCloud private relay feature acceptable.
 
Cham2000 said:
There are lots of web browsers to use on Macs, and I'm wondering which one I should use, appart of Safari (and certainly not Chrome!). About security of web browsing and eradication of ads, which one is better/fastest/more reliable and trustable? Firefox (with the free uBlock plugin), Brave or Tor? I'm writing this message on Tor right now, and it's slow as hell!
Click to expand...
On my laptop, I use Firefox, and for my iPad I use Safari. Firefox, at the moment, is nearly a reskinned Safari on iPad/OS.
 
halledise said:
chrome, firefox, etc are all google which i avoid like the plague.
the best browser for a mac is … … safari.
it's optimised for the macOS
Click to expand...

Safari is fast because they decide for the user 'what is best for them' (typical Apple move) and limit functionality users may want by having such a restricted extensions library, and by insisting their security measures are all users really need. Any browser is going to run fast if its bare bones.
Safari is fine - if you entirely trust Apple to act in your best interests.
 
Mac: 95% Safari, 2% Firefox,3% for chrome only web apps.
iPhone: safari 75% and Brave 25%
 
If you are looking for a most-compatible full-featured webapps out there, then pick Brave. Otherwise, stick with Safari. If you don't want to support the Chromium monopoly, bet for Firefox.
 
Cham2000 said:
I'm writing this message on Tor right now, and it's slow as hell!
Click to expand...

Tor is used specifically to access the dark net. If you're doing something nefarious, or if you're a reporter in an unfriendly country, it's the safest way to access the internet. But for everyday use, it's way too slow. Best thing you should do is get a VPN (Virtual Private Network) like SurfShark or NordVPN.
 
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