▲I know that I'm in a bit of a bubble with this one, but I am surprised there is still anyone using Chrome instead of Brave. I get the dependency on Gmail other Google-specific tools, but the built-in ad blocking and Google-free aspects of it made me switch instantly and haven't look back after years.
reply▲touristtam1 minute ago
[-] After years of using alternative to chrome (Firefox, Chromium, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, Edge, etc ...) I have stopped fighting the choice of IT for installing and setting Chrome as the default browser on a Mac. I still use Firefox when I can and religiously reroute URLs to it where possible, but this is beating me down and I would rather spend time playing with LLMs rather than continue this struggle.
reply▲I'm similar but instead of brave, which I don't trust, prefer Firefox.
reply▲skocznymroczny31 minutes ago
[-] I switched to Firefox when Chrome started messing with the ad blockers. Haven't really had any issues. I prefer developer tools on Chrome but I rarely need to use them anyway.
reply▲The trouble is that Mozilla has admitted they can't survive without Google's revenue. You are basically using Google by proxy unless you use a truly independent browser engine of they get blocked by Cloudflare for not having enough fingerprinting tech.
reply▲(Ungoogled) Chromium and Firefox are both projects that are open source and readily available. The code is sitting there ready for you to compile. More users = more donations. You can be the change you wanna see.
reply▲vehemenz54 minutes ago
[-] Ok, why Brave though? There's Safari, Chromium, LibreWolf, Ladybird, and plenty of others.
reply▲Not everyone is on Mac. In fact, most people use Windows. So Safari and Ladybird are out of the question, that's two gone.
reply▲rolymath47 minutes ago
[-] Brave is has pre-configured as block that works on everything, also a polished sync experience.
reply▲Vivaldi's sync experience is nice as well. Top notch customization too.
reply▲I'm just surprised people use Chrome at all. Google has proven over and over they can't be trusted and will exploit you every chance they get.
reply▲Because some things only work in Chrome. It's a fact. It's terrible.
We're the frogs being boiled, over the last decade. People sounded the alarms, but they were looked at like they had tin foil on their heads. Now, it's clear they were right.
I'm speaking generally, of course. I use Firefox for all my personal stuff, except for those situations where it doesn't work.
tcp_handshaker14 minutes ago
[-] >> Because some things only work in Chrome.
What things? Looks like an urban myth.
A lot of IT now curates the extensions for the browsers and doesn't allow extensions not on the whitelist and then they basically just only do that work on Chrome and disable Firefox. It's kinda self defeating in the long run imo but that's the problem in the industry.
reply▲mrguyorama5 minutes ago
[-] 95% of people who use Chrome have no clue what browser they are using.
They got Chrome when it was bundled with every single installer ever for about a decade (which was so prolific and scummy that Microsoft had to make the "default app" picker system more defensive, because Chrome was abusing it more than microsoft apps were).
When you installed Java, you also got Chrome set as your default browser with no interaction.
Or they one click downloaded it from Google.com because of a giant banner saying "You gotta download chrome"
It's insane to me how rarely people on HN seem to actually know the history of this. Everyone who worked in tech support in the 2010s experienced this.
It was an identical strategy that most spyware and adware used at the time.
I use Safari personally. It’s good.
reply▲I was very vehement about needing to stay in Chromium — until I tried Zen browser and it turns out I didn’t! (Unless I wanted to watch Prime Video)
reply▲I find Brave's UI uglier than Chrome's.
Unfortunately, there is no way to switch back to the stock Chromium look.
You’re definitely in a bubble. Google advertises Chrome on TV. Most users haven’t even heard of Brave.
reply▲shevy-java59 minutes ago
[-] Well, why would I want to use Brave?
Brave is the Google empire aka chromium.
I use thorium, which also belongs to the empire, so it is not really any different to Brave - but I can use ublock origin still, so that's better. I think we are all in the Google empire here. Praising Brave as alternative, simply does not make a whole lot of sense really.
Firefox is a bit outside of it but it basically got rid of most of its users. When I use firefox, I can not play audio on youtube videos. It works fine with thorium. I tried to convince the firefox developer who said everyone on Linux must use pulseaudio (I don't) but there is no reasoning with Mozilla hackers here. He thinks he knows better than everyone else does. (I could recompile firefox from source, but Mozilla uses mozconfig still: https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/view/svn/xsoft/firefox... - they are too incompetent to transition into meson or cmake. A failing project, no wonder it lost most of its users. Titanic got nothing on the Firefox team.)
why would you use brave with annoying crypto and no customization over superior Vivaldi?
reply▲tcp_handshaker13 minutes ago
[-] Why did I had to come so much down this thread, before seeing a mention of my favorite browser?
reply▲I have never heard of Brave, please tell me more
Edit: downvoting a request for insight on something? Mediocre
+1 for Brave. Been on it for years and it’s fantastic. Strongest security settings without issue.
O no they gave you BAT for visiting websites. Ahhh crypto everyone run!
newsoftheday1 hour ago
[-] My theory is that, since I'm going to do things like banking in my browser, I want one that has a lot of skin in the game. Chrome being backed by Google has trillions of dollars on the line should they ever do anything truly evil. Though this sneaky 4GB download comes close.
reply▲Google is not liable for your banking.
reply▲SecretDreams1 hour ago
[-] There's no skin in the game if they do not think they'll be meaningfully punished by government or consumers for their wrongdoings.
reply▲AlecSchueler47 minutes ago
[-] And they have trillions riding on milking you for all your data and ad impressions.
reply▲SecretDreams14 minutes ago
[-] Which they seem to think they'll get, regardless of the quality of their web browser. Most people are entrapped by Android anywho.
reply▲iAMkenough29 minutes ago
[-] Edge and Chrome could both be eliminated tomorrow and those trillions would be safe.
You’re the product, not the browser.
wafflemaker25 minutes ago
[-] Since the thread evolved into browser comparisons,
I'd like to endorse a better uBlock ('s fork) -
AdNausem.
It doesn't block ads. It clicks them first, and then blocks them.
I don't want websites to loose revenue because of my adnlocker. I want them to make extra money because of it!
I'm not affiliated, but would like the project to get more followers. This can stop ads once and for all.
These "clicks" are likely identified as fraudulent and dropped by the ad network. So you still pay the cost of downloading and running all the advertising JS and you still get tracked by the ad networks, all for nothing.
reply▲BrenBarn21 minutes ago
[-] How will it stop ads if it rewards them with money?
reply▲Because it could eventually be detected as click-fraud, and ad networks hate paying out for click-fraud.
reply▲stronglikedan13 minutes ago
[-] It rewards Google with the advertiser's money, and the advertisers don't like paying for extremely low conversion rates.
reply▲I mean to be expected of Google. Even their Google Pay sends data to their servers whenever you use it to make payments, effectively also making it so you can't even use it without service. Apple Pay does not, runs the whole thing on-device, and not only is private, but as a result also enables payments entirely offline.
reply▲>
Apple Pay does not, runs the whole thing on-deviceso when I use the physical card that is also on Apple Pay, and Apple Pay tells me I just made a transaction as if I had used Apple Pay, that is all happening on my device? what online service is my phone using to track my account with Visa or my credit card issuer, and it's polling or push?
You get a notification from Apple Pay when you pay with your physical card? Because I only get a notification from my bank's app whenever I use my physical card. Apple Pay notifications only pop up when using Apple Pay itself.
reply▲> You get a notification from Apple Pay when you pay with your physical card?
I do. Which is sometimes annoying if somebody else is looking at my screen.
I'm willing to bet that it's just for telemetry, but this kind of stuff just lends credence to the crazies claiming Google wants to create some kind of absurd botnet with people's devices.
reply▲Maybe it sends the payload after coming back online, but for I can for instance leave with only my galaxy watch 6, which doesn't have esim, and I'm able to make payments as long as I connect it with my phone before leaving the house.
reply▲If your phone doesn't have connection does it still work on your galaxy watch? Or if you leave the phone behind?
reply▲I think the comment's saying that they leave the phone at home, and the watch works by itself as long as it was connected to the phone before leaving the house.
reply▲newsoftheday1 hour ago
[-] Wow...that seriously may change my long standing anti-Mac disdain to pro-Mac advocacy, very interesting, even Gemini confirmed what you're saying.
reply