Brave is essentially just Chrome with an adblocker, a bunch of bloatware, and a bunch of controversies.

Brave took BAT donations in YouTuber’s names without their consent, with them keeping the money if the YouTubers didn’t claim it. https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2019/01/13/brave-web-browser-no-longer-claims-to-fundraise-on-behalf-of-others-so-thats-nice/

Brave’s search engine crawler hides itself from websites by pretending to be Googlebot, and Meta (Facebook) buys API access from them to train their AI. https://stackdiary.com/brave-selling-copyrighted-data-for-ai-training/

The business model of Brave rewards as a whole is to block all other ad networks to replace them with their own, which is unfair as only YouTubers and websites that have joined can make money from most Brave users.

If Brave actually cared, they would create an acceptable ads style feature which was free for everyone and allowed simple contextual banners while blocking ads which track you, take up most of the page, or have NSFW content.

Their approach is monopolistic as they have full control and can strangle YouTubers and websites by dropping pay at any time.

And Brenden Eich has said on Twitter that he plans to release “Brave Origin”, which is a paid version of Brave without the bloatware. That name is ironic as he is admitting that his browser is commercialised and bloated, which is similar to when gorhill gave uBlock way to Chris Aljoudi who commercialised it, which led him to create uBlock Origin.

If you use Brave, ditch it and look at using Librewolf or Helium instead, which both include no ads nor tracking and don’t have Brave News, Rewards, Wallet, Talk etc bloatware.

  • observes_depths@aussie.zone
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    9 days ago

    Honestly what do people have against Firefox that can’t be fixed with plugins? It’s the only decent browser that isn’t chrome based, and I think that deserves support. And with plugins and sync it’s a great experience.

    • steeznson@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Provided I can still use about:config to clear out all the Mozilla crap then I’m happy with Firefox. The only add-on I use is ublock-origin on my phone and also NoScript on desktop.

    • mcv@lemmy.zip
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      8 days ago

      Firefox is great. Mozilla, however, is making some weird moves every now and then. A lot of people don’t quite trust Mozilla to have their interests at heart anymore.

      The obvious solution is to use a Firefox fork. I have no idea whether there’s a meaningful difference between the various Firefox forks, and would welcome a summary.

          • gwl [he/him]@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            9 days ago

            No.

            It’s very simple: if someone is alive and holds detestable views, then giving them money gives them a chance to then use that money to lobby for their views. And in many many many many many cases, they do exactly that.

            If someone is dead and holds detestable views, they’re unable to do anything about it (cause they’re dead)

  • w3dd1e@lemmy.zip
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    10 days ago

    Brave is the browser version of Honey. It blocks 3rd party ads and inserts its own, taking the money. Either block the ads or don’t but this is shitty.

  • Manu@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    I always use and recommend hardened Firefox + Ublock. As a search engine, I use Qwant, which is based in the EU and uses its own search engine whenever possible rather than Google, Bing, etc. And there is another reason not to recommend using Brave. Among its investors is Peter Thiel, the most controversial figure in the investment world. Search for Peter Thiel’s controversial statements in your favourite search engine and you will see for yourself.

  • Engywook@lemmy.zip
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    10 days ago

    Nope, Brave is way better than FF has ever been. I will keep using it and promote it if someone asks me. I don’t care about the supposed scandals of Brave or political opinions of Eich, that’s not my business and he’s not my friend nor an acquaintance of mines.

    And no, using Librewolf still gives market share to Gecko, this to Mozilla. No way I’d touch that thing. What’s more, I’d gladly donate to make Mozilla disappear, if I could. Now, feel free to downvote me to hell. I won’t bother to reply to anyone. Better yet, I’ll just block the annoying people that will surely feel obliged to insult me.

    • typhoon@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      For Android, Vanadium in GOS is a better option than Brave.

      For computers, I have to say that this comment has some foundation. Why?

      For general navigation (things that don’t require login): Use Mullvad Browser

      For logins (things that don’t require total privacy and require better security: email, bank account, etc): For now use Brave (or Trivalent if you are using SecureBlue, or Ungoogled Chromium if you are techy savvy enough to keep the uBO extension working reliably)

      With this premise, of privacy and security in PC, is difficult to outcome Brave for the later in terms of convenience.

      Brave is open source, if you have a problem with something on it please bring it to us. The bloatware can be managed via settings (although very annoying and not sure when enshifitication will become unbearable).

      For those recommending Vivaldi, Vivaldi is not completely open source. So, no, I can’t trust it.

      • Engywook@lemmy.zip
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        6 days ago

        Brave is open source, if you have a problem with something on it please bring it to us.

        Absolutely 0 problems. I use it everywhere.

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    10 days ago

    I am pretty set with Firefox in Android and desktop to be honest.

    I cringe a little when users praise Brave as being the best ad-less YouTube solution (especially android users since we have revanced here!), no bro, there is no way using the web version of YT is better than revanced, or any other apps on mobile.

    • Void98@lemmy.ml
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      10 days ago

      And now Morphe too, continuation of the revanced project, and it’s acually really good i have to say

      • kratoz29@lemmy.zip
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        9 days ago

        … This is how I found out about the Revanced situation… Oh boy I swear the open source community is one of the biggest ones that carries some drama 😂 (not saying this is bad, the switch is something totally justified).

        • Void98@lemmy.ml
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          9 days ago

          I just saw a random post about it here and i switched since revanced isn’t really getting updated, although i still use the revanced reddit bc it blocks ads, bit buggy but it works and i also have their pirated lightroom xd.

          • kratoz29@lemmy.zip
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            9 days ago

            I see, I still main Sync for Reddit thanks to revanced do you know if Morphe has parches for it? As far as I can tell it only has parches for YT stuff…

  • bigmamoth@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    so it s bad bc of some opt in feature ? tbf it work great and suit my use case i dont see any argument that will make me ditch it

    • locahosr443@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      It’s bad because it’s a Peter thiel funded MAGA browser run by someone who hates people for their sexual orientation

      • bigmamoth@lemmy.world
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        10 days ago

        And ? Wont you find me ridiculous if i said i didnt want to use software coded by trans ppl ? what do i care about the opinion of the guys or what he does with his money ?

        • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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          10 days ago

          Are you serious? Of course people should care if people are using their power and influence to strip certain people of their rights.

              • bigmamoth@lemmy.world
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                9 days ago

                it s a never ending argument that s only based on vibes. We can literally make dozen of similar one with any brand or product. I mean it s a choice to place trans right uper than child labor, and you r free to do so but lecturing other on the principle you do it isnt fair.

                • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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                  9 days ago

                  Nobody mentioned child labour.

                  Thinking gay and trans people should have human rights does not mean you must be fine with child labour.

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    9 days ago

    To those asking “which browser other than Firefox”

    https://helium.computer/

    It’s fantastic. It’s Chrome, stripped of junk, with full (not lite) Ublock Origin natively supported and shipped. What more could you want?

    And it can coexist alongside Firefox.

    Cromite is also great, but its antifingerprinting is so hardcore it breaks some sites. That’s perfect for shopping/private browsing, but a bit much for daily driving unless tracking resistance is your #1 priority.

    On iOS and OSX, Orion (from Kagi) is sublime. It’s Safari based (which you want for Apple stuff), but heavily modified with a native blocker, and supports extensions if you really need them. There aren’t many Safari “forks” like it.


    I say this because I’ve been through a gauntlet of trying a bunch. Bromite, ungoogled chromium, waterfox, pale moon, Thorium, Vivaldi, all sorts of iOS apps and Firefox/Chromium forks. And these feel like endgame to me. Helium is just about perfect (as long as its development isn’t dropped), and Orion is close aside from some UI quirks.

  • pigup@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    All brave users I personally know are dumb ass racist maga garbage people.

    Edit : wtf i’m telling the truth. I didn’t say anything about you. Peter Thiel, did you make several accounts on Lemmy and are down-voting me?

    • John@lemmy.ml
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      9 days ago

      Hi, I’m john, I use brave. I’m a socialist and I fight for lgbtq and workers rights. I fight against the fascist regime.

      Now you’ve met somebody personally who isn’t maga and racist who uses brave.

      • pigup@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Hi John, nice to meet you! I’ve heard too many sketchy things about Brave. And what I said was true. I worked with a bunch of “country folk” let’s call them. On the rare occasions where browser choice did come up in conversations with them (two people specifically), they’d rather pompously proclaimed that they used brave as if there is no other option to be considered. They also proceeded to denigrate my choice. Both are maga gun nuts, so… I don’t know. Just smells real scammy to me. These folks are just one degree of separation away from preppers with giant five gallon mac and cheese buckets in their garage and their critical thinking skills are not visible from my perspective.

    • texture@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      ive been on lemmy for 23 days. this is easily the worst comment ive seen yet.

      “all companies do shady stuff like google and apple” is a wild thing to say in an opensource community.

    • Jako302@feddit.org
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      9 days ago

      If you want privacy, then the Tor browser wins, after that is mullvad, then a lot of Firefox forks, then firefox itself, then vanadium, then ungoogled chromium and maybe after that is brave.

      Its somewhat decent I’m terms of security features in comparison to all the Firefox derivates, bit that’s simply cause its based on chromium.

      Its only real feature is the ease of use which makes it a viable alternativ for non tech savy people that aren’t comfortable with the additional settup that the Firefox forks take to be on the same level.