Why you shouldn't use Brave Browser
Why you shouldn't use Brave Browser
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Just use Firefox.
Firefox + uBlock Origin + arkenfox user.js gives you privacy, security and anti-tracking. The only way to fly IMO.
And a Pi Hole for good measure.
A dns blocker cannot do anything more than ublock. It is nice for other apps though.
A DNS blocker is great for other devices on your network!
It works very well on browser and outside the browser. So if your software/hardware is phoning home, it will pick it up.
Or Adguard Home, that I think is superior than Pi-Hole. It runs as a single instance and you can easily upgrade it from the web UI.
OpenWRT router with DNS over HTTPS for the whole network. Come for the easy adblock, stay for the updated router distribution and the best anti-buffer bloat features in any Router software.
I am using NextDNS. Is there any advantage of using Pihole over nextDNS?
Not that I can think of other than having more control (such as adding any Blocklist etc)
Don’t forget DoH or DoT if you can
White list firewall. Because this is the real reason everyone has a right to ad block. Ads are hidden links to other websites. It's like walking through a gauntlet of pick pockets bribing the credit card company just to make it to the checkout at your local grocery store, or some asshole you invite into your home that goes to the bathroom, opens a window, and lets a dozen random people in your home if they pay a dollar for the access. The entire system is based on stalking people. It is criminal.
Librewolf
No android version = no buy
Mull for android
What does Arkenfox do? I'll definitely add it if it's beneficial.
It changes many default Firefox preferences in
about:configto be as private as possible. The main selling point is resist fingerprinting (RFP). I highly suggest reading the wiki. It can break some websites, but you can configure it to fit your needs.Sounds interesting. I'll definetely check it out. Thanks!
Is this applicable for Firefox mobile?
According to the GitHub page the user.js is for desktop only but ublock should still work.
Why not add Snowflake while we're at it?
What about Privacy Badger? Is uBlock better?
I bounced between the two for years, i guess i am going back to Firefox full time.
The only reason I haven't switched to Firefox from Chrome fully is because for some reason Firefox for Android still doesn't have tabs for large screen devices. Mozilla says it's not a priority. 🤷
Yes, it really sucks. I am in the same boat. Samsung Internet on my tablet; really wish I had FF on it.
Firefox for Android removing the ability to open local html files killed it for me. Currently on Vivaldi.
If that's your only gripe with it, you can still access them by using one of the simple web servers available running inside Termux, that will also allow you to avoid CORS related problems, in fact it is the currently suggested method on MDN
Yeah, nah. I've already got enough unnecessary apps and services with Android.
Thanks for the workaround, though.
I mean you'd be running the server only when actually needed, but I understand it is a bit of a hassle to do every time as well
Why did they remove it though? I was surprised too when I found out I needed to run local webserver to access local html files
It was because of 'security', which was never explained. And it doesn't make much sense when other browsers can and do alow it. I'll see if I can dig up some historical links if I remember tomorrow.
Last time I checked,there was still no acknowledgement of it and appeared to be no intention of ever addressing it. The fact that they're now telling people to run a webserver suggests that nothing has changed ☹️
So use edge
Its chrome-based.. but at least its not brave, and the adblocker(which is off by default...) is decent enough
If you think the things brave has done are bad, go read through the list of things microsoft has done. You really don't want them to ever have a browser again, and certainly don't want to personally use it.
I used Brave for a few years but recently switched to LibreFox. I really enjoyed Brave as a browser but couldn't handle all the sketchy shit that seems to keep coming up
I really enjoy the chromium grouping of tabs. So much so that's it's almost a deciding factor for which browser I choose. I hope Firefox adds that feature soon, so the switch back feels easier
Try the Simple Tab Groups addon for Firefox. I’ve been using it for years and prefer it to any other tab grouping now.
Will do, thanks! But in the meantime I switched to Vivaldi and I quite like it!
I really enjoy the chromium grouping of tabs. So much so that's it's almost a deciding factor for which browser I choose. I hope Firefox adds that feature soon, so the switch back feels easier
Same. I had no idea about brave and I started using it full time on all my devices like a month ago. Guess I’m going back to Firefox. Which was fine.
I've switched on Desktop a year ago. Also with Android. But Firefox on Android has an odd bug that I cannot get rid of. Pages are really slow to load on initial render. I've noticed it gets stuck on the SSL cert verification step, sometimes around 5 to 10 seconds before it starts painting the page.
I've tried disabling all add-ons, logging out of Firefox sync, disabling the built in HTTPS everywhere, and literally any custom settings I've added. But I can't get past this issue and seemingly no one else has it.
Chrome doesn't present this issue.
Yup got the same thing. Annoying as hell. The loading bar always goes to like quarter of the way and stays there for a couple of seconds and the continues. After that it's fine, but it is always the first page you load after closing Firefox.
I've never encountered this, which makes me realise I've been running Firefox beta for ages (with zero issues). Perhaps try that just in case it helps?
Same issue here! I thought I was alone. It annoys me to no end and weirder still, issue doesn't present itself with Firefox for Windows running behind the same IP.
Firefox Focus also doesn't seem to present the issue. Just the primary Firefox browser for Android. And honestly, often enough that it's nearly unusable.
If you ever figure it out, please let me know.
I don't have that issue on Mull, so maybe try that?
You're not alone, I've been using Firefox on Android for two years now, and I've had this problem from the beginning. The first time I launch Firefox and load a page it stops a quarter of the progression bar for ten seconds, and then loads fine. Once pas that everything works perfectly. It's very annoying and I don't know why this happens.
+1 for that issue, you are not alone :)
Unrelated, but why is it that so many kbin users seem to keep a dedicated reducing account? Relatively frequently, an account that reduces a post or comment has no recent posts or comments but heavy initial usage a ~month ago as jpgr above. It’s weird.
I think those existed on Reddit too. It's just that you could never actually confirm they existed.
Which was why they existed, as alts to upvote a user's own posts and downvote opposing ones.
Except now we're on kbin, we can see them.
I downvoted because it was a lazy comment not providing further elaboration. If anything, the fact that such a comment is highly upvoted shows that this community is not mature yet.
That I'm not engaging in online discussion doesn't automatically mean this is a bot or "dedicated reducing" account. Please restrain yourself from judging strangers on the internet.
In a space dominated by people endlessly sharing opinions and articles and memes, it’s just extremely peculiar to find accounts like yours so frequently downvoting while absent other activities even if it’s relatively mundane. Take, for instance, the upvotes on nothingwise’s comment where 1/5 are blank accounts. The novelty of the information sets off alarm bells, so I apologize if I was mistaken. I’m not trying to start a witch-hunt or JAQ off so I’ll leave it at that.
I use chrome on my mobile device... Is that bad?
Might as well take shits with the door unlocked; same level of exposing yourself.
Ooh tell me more
About Chrome, or the shitting?
yes
The shitting with the door open. That's why you can't get married, dad. ( Sorry for the shotty Stepbrothers reference)
And ads. Ads everywhere.
In a way yes. You're giving Google (via an increased browser market share) the power to decide the direction of the web. Their interests as a corporate organization are not aligned with yours, so they will make decisions to your detriment if they have to.
Just use Firefox. Mozilla isn’t good but it’s not evil
I don't know how people browse the web on mobile with ads taking half of the screen.
It's not really bad per se, it's the default on most Android devices these days. The problem is that almost all modern browsers are Chromium-based which give Google a lot of power to implement changes (see manifest v3 & web DRM). Personally, I'm trying to slowly reduce my usage of Google products. I'm using Firefox on desktop and a mix of DDG+Fennec on my phone.
Thank You! I'll look into DDG n Fennec.
On mac? Love safari? But also want good adblock? Use Orion! It’s safari, but with support for chrome and Firefox extensions! Fuck yeah!
I always loved safari, and always got weird looks for it as a web developer (but after a month or two they love me for it because I always find non-chrome bugs because those peasants only use chrome), but that browser is so damn good guys… on mac, that is. Not sure if it even exists yet for linux/win.
Orion
Thanks for the tip! Do you know any similar solution like this for iOS? I'm struggling to find a fully featured browser with decent ad-blocking capacity.
Orion is available for iOS and iPadOS too.
Just moved from Brave to Firefox when that “AI training” story came out. I think it’s faster than brave now
I am using Brave on iOS mainly because of its superb YouTube support - It has a built in ad block, can download videos offline and play minimized. Is there any way I can achieve this with any other browser? I would switch immediately.
This is the way.
Doesn't Firefox do telemetry and other shady shit out of the box? Ofc you can turn it off but I don't get the fanaticism over this browser.
Every now and then, you'll see some journalist uncovering the great revelation that Mozilla is doing unthinkable things, but I have never these stories actually being relevant, if you do more research on the topic.
Some examples:
- Mozilla use Google Analytics! → Yes, but they have a special contract with Google to protect user data: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=697436#c14
- Mozilla uses Google Safebrowsing! → Yes, but they have technical measures in place to limit user identification (on top of Google stating that they do not use Google Safebrowsing data for tracking): https://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/posts/how-safe-browsing-works-in-firefox/
- Mozilla has privacy-invading ads on the new-tab-page! → Again, they have technical measures in place to avoid privacy issues: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/sponsor-privacy#w_what-data-is-shared
And telemetry by itself is not evil either. It depends entirely on what data is actually being sent. You can look at what Mozilla sends by typing "about:telemetry" into the URL bar. In my opinion, that is perfectly fine.
Ultimately, though, they enjoy so much trust, because they have no profit motive. The Mozilla Foundation is legally a non-profit and the Mozilla Corporation is a 100% subsidiary of the Foundation, so cannot pay out profits to anyone either.
Any 'evil' shit they do to make money, they do it to pay wages and to invest further into Firefox & their other projects.
You can criticize that the CEO takes a salary she can't possibly spend (yet is below industry-standard, to my knowledge). And you can argue whether they should be taking so much money from Google rather than other sources.
But all in all, that still leaves them far above companies who need to exploit users as much as justifiable, to make the maximum amount of profit.
The fact that they have (at least for now) foregone implementing Manifest v3 should be reason enough to use Firefox. Turn their telemetry off and use ublock origin, call it a day well spent.
If you're inclined to, use Librewolf with ublock, NoScript, decentraleyes, and chameleon.
Copy the bypasspaywalls sites into ublock, add a redirect extension to avoid all the idiot megacorps, and use duckduckgo lite and learn to use shebangs for very fast web searching.
Yeah it's not perfect out of the box but after turning off telemetry and adding some add-ons like ublock origin and such it's one of the best short of going full on tor/mullvad. And still less fanaticism than brave lol
Firefox and mozilla aren't your friend.
They like to play the "user and privacy friendly" company. Meanwhile they are hemoraging users, and laying off staff needed to actually build a great browser.
Mozilla ceo pay increase + layoffs in 2020:
In 2018 she received a total of $2,458,350 in compensation from Mozilla, which represents a 400% payrise since 2008. On the same period, Firefox marketshare was down 85%. When asked about her salary she stated "I learned that my pay was about an 80% discount to market. Meaning that competitive roles elsewhere were paying about 5 times as much. That's too big a discount to ask people and their families to commit to."
In 2020, after returning to the position of CEO, her salary had risen to over $3 million. In the same year the Mozilla Corporation laid off approximately 250 employees due to shrinking revenues. Baker blamed this on the Coronavirus pandemic.
They don't need to be my friend to be better than the chromium browsers though, so I don't know what this has to do with anything
What's the alternative though, we have Chrome and Firefox as choices. Chrome is far worse than some issues with Firefox around CEO pay.
With brave I never see any pc or YouTube ads. With Firefox even with ublock origin I can’t get rid of those damn ads. That’s what keeps me on brave
Which websites exactly do you still see ads on with ublock and not with Brave? Because I've not seen any ads in years with ublock.
I don’t know why you’re getting ads… I run Firefox + uBlock just fine.
But I also run NoScript and AdBlockPlus. Maybe try those?
(Yes I know NoScript with uBlock is pretty redundant. Doesn’t really bother me to allow scripts on both to unbreak things. I like the double lock.)
You should not run multiple ad blockers. uBO won't be able to defuse anti-adblocker scripts if it has another ad blocker interfering.
OTOH NoScript should be fine
No ads on YT with Firefox + uBlock, not sure why your setup isn't working.