11 ms·

I love Brave's privacy features but this constant addition of bundled features and services feels more and more like the crappy bundled software you get with a

by thamer 6y ago

I love Brave's privacy features but this constant addition of bundled features and services feels more and more like the crappy bundled software you get with a cheap phone or laptop. I've literally turned off all of their crypto/ad/sponsor features and it's starting to get pretty annoying; every time Brave gets a major update I feel like more crap is bundled that I'll have to hunt down and turn off. Their crypto tips feature added tip buttons on various websites (like Twitter). This is not ok. People would be hugely annoyed if Chrome started adding "Tip with Google Pay" under each tweet. I get that they're a company and need to make money. Their stance on privacy is awesome but I wish there was a better way to do this. I would pay for Brave+ with none of this bundled stuff and all of the privacy features.

devwastaken 6y ago
Exactly. This should all be under an extension that if you haven't selected won't be installed and won't be updated.
josht 6y ago
This. I'm sure all these bundles help keep the metaphorical lights on in the short term, but I can't help but see this as a risk posed to Braves long term adoption.
- Hallucinaut 6y ago
  Not just long term adoption but short term retention. The ads and forceful promoting of crypto and Brave services while browsing are distasteful enough that it leads me to question the validity of the premise on which I first picked them up. Brave Rewards is a nice idea. But I'm not interested at all. So continually trying to put it back in my face means I trust them less as a whole. Personally, I'm uninstalling as soon as I shrink the open number of tabs down to zero (which does take me some weeks sometimes!).
Spivak 6y ago
I don't understand why you're using Brave then though. Don't get me wrong I think all the stuff you listed is crap I wouldn't want in my browser either but isn't that the whole reason to choose Brave over UnGoogled Chromium?
- xiaomai 6y ago
  They do still have the ad-blocking stuff built in (although is that much better than Privacy Badger?). One big plus for me is it syncs with my phone (where I do vastly prefer Brave to Chrome).
- thamer 6y ago
  They do a lot more than remove just Google from Chrome. Their work on browser fingerprinting is a good example of a feature only available in Brave, to pick just one. This involved implementing mitigation techniques based on the latest research into the topic, something I haven't seen anyone else do.
- jonathansampson 6y ago
  There are more problems facing the Web than just "Google". Removing Google is good, and necessary, and solves a lot of problems. It's why we excise much of Google and Chromium from our own code-base with each update [1]. Blocking harmful ads and trackers is a necessity; users were already doing it in growing numbers before Brave came along. But this trend, while it yields safer users, cuts into the support given to the sites we visit and love. And asking users to send money to sites isn't necessarily a solid solution either. So Brave aims to address both issues: 1) User Privacy, and 2) Creator Support. What's interesting about this is that Ads are both the problem and solution. But not in their present form. Presently, ads on the Web harvest user information, auction it off to third-parties, and build up profiles on remote servers, far beyond user control. Brave's privacy-respecting ad model uses client-side matching against regional catalogs (avoiding fingerprinting) with machine-learning. This model ensures privacy. And when an ad is displayed, 70% of the revenue goes into the user's cryptographically-secured wallet. This is where the second challenge (supporting content creators) comes in. As you browse, the ad-revenue you've generated gets queued up for the sites you visit. The privacy-respecting ads you view are translated into real-world support for the sites you visit. This is one of the reasons why users prefer Brave. We aren't trying to solve half of the problem; we're trying to reform the Web such that it remains free, equitable, and open. [1] https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Deviations-from-Chromium-(features-we-disable-or-remove) https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Deviations-from-...
waynesonfire 6y ago
Yep, I've given up on Brave due to this long ago.

by thamer 6y ago

devwastaken 6y ago

Exactly. This should all be under an extension that if you haven't selected won't be installed and won't be updated.

josht 6y ago

This. I'm sure all these bundles help keep the metaphorical lights on in the short term, but I can't help but see this as a risk posed to Braves long term adoption.

Hallucinaut 6y ago
Not just long term adoption but short term retention. The ads and forceful promoting of crypto and Brave services while browsing are distasteful enough that it leads me to question the validity of the premise on which I first picked them up. Brave Rewards is a nice idea. But I'm not interested at all. So continually trying to put it back in my face means I trust them less as a whole. Personally, I'm uninstalling as soon as I shrink the open number of tabs down to zero (which does take me some weeks sometimes!).

Spivak 6y ago

I don't understand why you're using Brave then though. Don't get me wrong I think all the stuff you listed is crap I wouldn't want in my browser either but isn't that the whole reason to choose Brave over UnGoogled Chromium?

xiaomai 6y ago
They do still have the ad-blocking stuff built in (although is that much better than Privacy Badger?). One big plus for me is it syncs with my phone (where I do vastly prefer Brave to Chrome).
thamer 6y ago
They do a lot more than remove just Google from Chrome. Their work on browser fingerprinting is a good example of a feature only available in Brave, to pick just one. This involved implementing mitigation techniques based on the latest research into the topic, something I haven't seen anyone else do.
jonathansampson 6y ago
There are more problems facing the Web than just "Google". Removing Google is good, and necessary, and solves a lot of problems. It's why we excise much of Google and Chromium from our own code-base with each update [1]. Blocking harmful ads and trackers is a necessity; users were already doing it in growing numbers before Brave came along. But this trend, while it yields safer users, cuts into the support given to the sites we visit and love. And asking users to send money to sites isn't necessarily a solid solution either. So Brave aims to address both issues: 1) User Privacy, and 2) Creator Support. What's interesting about this is that Ads are both the problem and solution. But not in their present form. Presently, ads on the Web harvest user information, auction it off to third-parties, and build up profiles on remote servers, far beyond user control. Brave's privacy-respecting ad model uses client-side matching against regional catalogs (avoiding fingerprinting) with machine-learning. This model ensures privacy. And when an ad is displayed, 70% of the revenue goes into the user's cryptographically-secured wallet. This is where the second challenge (supporting content creators) comes in. As you browse, the ad-revenue you've generated gets queued up for the sites you visit. The privacy-respecting ads you view are translated into real-world support for the sites you visit. This is one of the reasons why users prefer Brave. We aren't trying to solve half of the problem; we're trying to reform the Web such that it remains free, equitable, and open. [1] https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Deviations-from-Chromium-(features-we-disable-or-remove) https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Deviations-from-...

waynesonfire 6y ago

Yep, I've given up on Brave due to this long ago.