21 ms·

Is there a web browser based on Brave but without the crypto scam features?

cowtools 4y ago
Ungoogled Chromium? I've heard that the cryptocurrency features are disabled by default in Brave, but I've never used it.
- ycta39840398 4y ago
  No, they're enabled by default. Brave makes a big deal about all of its features being opt-in, but the crypto shit is a big, glaring exception.
  - jacooper 4y ago
    That's not correct. Brave awards aren't enabled by default, and you have to manually to opt in for it to work. Yes the button is there, but you can just hide it.
    - notsrg 4y ago
      "Show Brave Rewards icon in address bar" is the only setting you really need to disable. Every once in a while they launch a new feature related to crypto i.e. in the new tab page but generally they're pretty good at letting you opt out entirely.
      - jacooper 4y ago
        You can disable the ads on the new tab page too.
    - robotnikman 4y ago
      At least on the mobile version it seems to be. You get a popup letting you know about BAT when you visit some sites, and whenever you open a new tab the page usually have some background or story about NFT's or some other crypto thing.
rosywoozlechan 4y ago
You can just not use those features. It's not like they upsell you on them or anything. If you don't use them they aren't in your face. I actually tried using them and found them kind of silly and useless. No website or creator I visit seems to be using attention tokens, and the tokens I bought to just to try it out remain unspent.
- speedgoose 4y ago
  I don’t want to promote scams though.
  - netr0ute 4y ago
    How is it a scam?
    - thatguy0900 4y ago
      There was a big uproar when it came out, they would accept donations on behalf of creators even if those creators had never made any kind of contract with them. Not sure if they still do that but it's pretty sketchy behavior to take money on behalf of someone you've never talked to and probably doesn't want you taking money for them. Especially people that already have actual donation methods.
      - jonathansampson 4y ago
        That's quite misleading; please see my response to a previous comment regarding the initial "payments" UI/UX: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32755143 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32755143.
    - k__ 4y ago
      Don't encourage them.
      - nwienert 4y ago
        In the future, just flag. It's explicitly breaking rules.
lmkg 4y ago
Take a look at Vivaldi and see if it's what you're looking for. Broadly, Brave is pro-privacy and pro-crypto while Vivaldi is pro-privacy and anti-crypto. Vivaldi is forked from Chromium directly rather than from Brave, but the similar pro-privacy stances mean that they remove or mitigate many of the same features. E.g. both disable FLOC, both have built-in ad-blockers, and both have committed to maintaining compatibility with ad-block extensions broken by Manifest V3. For what it's worth, Vivaldi is closed-source.
- RankingMember 4y ago
  Brave's paywall-bypassing news article viewer is tops. Does Vivaldi have that? I love Brave save for the crypto nonsense.
  - easrng 4y ago
    Add the Bypass Paywalls extension, it works on Firefox and Chromium. https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome
    - Tijdreiziger 4y ago
      Wait, what's the difference between this and 'Bypass Paywalls Clean'? I've been using the latter.
  - PufPufPuf 4y ago
    Brave browser is just three browser extensions in a trenchcoat
  - _23sd 4y ago
    You can get something close to Brave's Speedreader setting on Firefox with an extension [1], the difference is you have to enable it on each site. There doesn't seem to be anything similar for Chromium, probably because it's done differently in each Chromium-based browser. Firefox's reader mode also has dark mode and other text options, which Brave still lacks on desktop even though their iOS browser has those options. [1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/auto-reader-view/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/auto-reader-v...
suoduandao2 4y ago
If you dislike decentralization, why not just use chrome?
- speedgoose 4y ago
  I don’t think crypto currencies are the right solution for web decentralisation. And anyway, I prefer sustainability over decentralisation at all costs.
- PufPufPuf 4y ago
  I don't dislike decentralization. I dislike blockchain scams.
causi 4y ago
I wish there was a version of Brave without the loud orange logo on the address bar and without the stupid carded tab switcher.
maxloh 4y ago
It would be better if we have Chromium's UI too. Brave's theme is not as good as Google's one.
mongol 4y ago
What is Edge browser's privacy story? Is it any good?
- speedgoose 4y ago
  In summary, Microsoft tracks you instead of Google.
- brnt 4y ago
  Even chattier.
- jeroenhd 4y ago
  It used to be great. Chrome without the Google tracking and some Microsoft tracking that was easy enough to disable. Then they completely Microsofted it up. More tracking than Google, with more opting out you need to do and no way to opt out completely. Even comes with an interest free loan plugin that sometimes alters the HTML of checkout pages. Edge is the bloated corpse of what could be the best new browser from the last 10 years. A corpse that keeps coming back to life, trying to replace your default browser every other Windows update.

Ungoogled Chromium? I've heard that the cryptocurrency features are disabled by default in Brave, but I've never used it.

ycta39840398 4y ago
No, they're enabled by default. Brave makes a big deal about all of its features being opt-in, but the crypto shit is a big, glaring exception.
- jacooper 4y ago
  That's not correct. Brave awards aren't enabled by default, and you have to manually to opt in for it to work. Yes the button is there, but you can just hide it.
  - notsrg 4y ago
    "Show Brave Rewards icon in address bar" is the only setting you really need to disable. Every once in a while they launch a new feature related to crypto i.e. in the new tab page but generally they're pretty good at letting you opt out entirely.
    - jacooper 4y ago
      You can disable the ads on the new tab page too.
  - robotnikman 4y ago
    At least on the mobile version it seems to be. You get a popup letting you know about BAT when you visit some sites, and whenever you open a new tab the page usually have some background or story about NFT's or some other crypto thing.

rosywoozlechan 4y ago

You can just not use those features. It's not like they upsell you on them or anything. If you don't use them they aren't in your face. I actually tried using them and found them kind of silly and useless. No website or creator I visit seems to be using attention tokens, and the tokens I bought to just to try it out remain unspent.

speedgoose 4y ago
I don’t want to promote scams though.
- netr0ute 4y ago
  How is it a scam?
  - thatguy0900 4y ago
    There was a big uproar when it came out, they would accept donations on behalf of creators even if those creators had never made any kind of contract with them. Not sure if they still do that but it's pretty sketchy behavior to take money on behalf of someone you've never talked to and probably doesn't want you taking money for them. Especially people that already have actual donation methods.
    - jonathansampson 4y ago
      That's quite misleading; please see my response to a previous comment regarding the initial "payments" UI/UX: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32755143 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32755143.
  - k__ 4y ago
    Don't encourage them.
    - nwienert 4y ago
      In the future, just flag. It's explicitly breaking rules.

lmkg 4y ago

Take a look at Vivaldi and see if it's what you're looking for. Broadly, Brave is pro-privacy and pro-crypto while Vivaldi is pro-privacy and anti-crypto. Vivaldi is forked from Chromium directly rather than from Brave, but the similar pro-privacy stances mean that they remove or mitigate many of the same features. E.g. both disable FLOC, both have built-in ad-blockers, and both have committed to maintaining compatibility with ad-block extensions broken by Manifest V3. For what it's worth, Vivaldi is closed-source.

RankingMember 4y ago
Brave's paywall-bypassing news article viewer is tops. Does Vivaldi have that? I love Brave save for the crypto nonsense.
- easrng 4y ago
  Add the Bypass Paywalls extension, it works on Firefox and Chromium. https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome
  - Tijdreiziger 4y ago
    Wait, what's the difference between this and 'Bypass Paywalls Clean'? I've been using the latter.
- PufPufPuf 4y ago
  Brave browser is just three browser extensions in a trenchcoat
- _23sd 4y ago
  You can get something close to Brave's Speedreader setting on Firefox with an extension [1], the difference is you have to enable it on each site. There doesn't seem to be anything similar for Chromium, probably because it's done differently in each Chromium-based browser. Firefox's reader mode also has dark mode and other text options, which Brave still lacks on desktop even though their iOS browser has those options. [1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/auto-reader-view/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/auto-reader-v...

suoduandao2 4y ago

If you dislike decentralization, why not just use chrome?

speedgoose 4y ago
I don’t think crypto currencies are the right solution for web decentralisation. And anyway, I prefer sustainability over decentralisation at all costs.
PufPufPuf 4y ago
I don't dislike decentralization. I dislike blockchain scams.

causi 4y ago

I wish there was a version of Brave without the loud orange logo on the address bar and without the stupid carded tab switcher.

maxloh 4y ago

It would be better if we have Chromium's UI too. Brave's theme is not as good as Google's one.

mongol 4y ago

What is Edge browser's privacy story? Is it any good?

speedgoose 4y ago
In summary, Microsoft tracks you instead of Google.
brnt 4y ago
Even chattier.
jeroenhd 4y ago
It used to be great. Chrome without the Google tracking and some Microsoft tracking that was easy enough to disable. Then they completely Microsofted it up. More tracking than Google, with more opting out you need to do and no way to opt out completely. Even comes with an interest free loan plugin that sometimes alters the HTML of checkout pages. Edge is the bloated corpse of what could be the best new browser from the last 10 years. A corpse that keeps coming back to life, trying to replace your default browser every other Windows update.