Brave Browser - Ready for Prime Time?

[Rod]

I think Brave will be a big data saver on mobile devices.

 

[krs]

@Rod - If you think you might keep using Brave, you can throw your 5 cents worth about new features you would like in here:
Desktop Requests - Brave Community

I just glanced through some of the items quickly and already saw the FireFox complete webpage download as one of the requests.
So I'm going to sign up there to add my support to get that feature implemented.

 

[harryb2448]

Like you Rod Brave will not import boo0kmarks so it is out the window

 

[krs]

Like you Rod Brave will not import boo0kmarks so it is out the window

You mean from Safari?

I remember years ago I had the export the bookmarks from Safari to an html file and then import that html file to the new browser.
That is an option that should work from any browser to any other browser.

 

[Rod]

There are some things I like about Brave straight off, such as the default Font and size and colour in Dark Mode (Automatic). The Font is whiter, larger and much more legible in both the search panel and the Favourites tool bar.
Im still getting an understanding of the BAT system which I have enabled. The Brave information pages give a very full explanation and I like the concept of rewarding "Good Ads" and favourite sites. I notice that Mac-Forums is not a "Verified" site so the app is unable to give any tokens to the developers.
Anyway, I'm going to give it a good try and get back to this thread with my findings. I have made it my Default browser for now.

PS I have found a way to open emailed links directly in Brave for iOS/iPadOS if it's stats are true it's saving me a lot of data on 3G.
I have also got the Sync Chain up and working between three of my devices.

 

[krs]

The Brave browser just passed its first big test with me.

Was notified of an update - 103.8 MB
Decided to go ahead and have it automatically installed.

With FireFox, every time there was a FF update I would lose all the auto log-ins and would have to set them up again - a real waste of time
With Brave, I tested a sample various types of the auto log ins after the update - they all still work.
Big plus for me

 

[RobNJ]

You mean from Safari?

I remember years ago I had the export the bookmarks from Safari to an html file and then import that html file to the new browser.
That is an option that should work from any browser to any other browser.

Worked like a charm, for me, too.

 

[TotalSolutions]

Installed Brave today. Used when it was first born / released many years ago with my windows pc. Been using Chrome since it to was released which I like. Install went fairly ok, but stopped (x) when the installer decided to save in Applications/Adobe. Tried again and it went to Applications as it should. May be I was to quick on the mouse on a fast machine ... dunno.

Imported bookmarks ok but not passwords (for this site anyway). Will use for the next few days and see how it goes. Does seem to block as required.

 

[krs]

Imported bookmarks ok but not passwords (for this site anyway).

For me Brave imported many user names and passwords, but not all.
It seemed initially that passwords of financial sites were not imported, but I later found other sites, non-financial, where I had to type in the password.
But once I went to the site once and selected to remember user name and password, that worked fine.

A lot of things are a bit different from Firefox, so good, some not - as with any browser there is a trade off.
Tracking and ad blocking is a big plus in my mind.

 

[lori5060]

as suggested by krs...I am posting in this forum rather than from my original post. I wasn't quite sure which person to post reply to as so many others had great info and suggestions...so I just picked first one that resonated with me.

I currently run Sierra and use google search engine. I am planning to upgrade to Mojave soon. i use safari browser but understand there are some big changes in it with Mojave! so am ready to make a change!

over the years, I had heard about so many other browsers and have played with a few but always went back to SAFARI as was so familiar to me. now tried Brave but am having challenges getting bookmarks ...on my MacBook was no problem but cannot find how to do on iPad and iPhone.

I also have google chrome on MacBook also and got bookmarks there no problem. but on iPhone all I got was mobile bookmarks.

I am very interested in using a browser which does collect a lot stuff from me and also ad block protection.... just having a big learning curve with iPhone and iPad.

I have googled on how to do this but anything they suggest does not show up on my devices. I realize all devices are differently set and would be very difficult to get help here. I need to visit a guru to actually guide me.

 

[MacInWin]

I am very interested in using a browser which does collect a lot stuff from me

Anything from Google will do that. They collect a ton of stuff from you every time you go to Google, and their browser collects everywhere you go, everything you look at, and every click you make. So if you want a browser that "collects a lot of stuff from me," use Chrome.

On the other hand, if you meant to say "does NOT collect" stuff, avoid Google and Google products at all costs. I have zero of them on my Macs. I don't use Google, or Chrome, or any of the other products from Alphabet.

Safari is pretty good at privacy, I've heard Brave is good, too. I have Brave installed, tried it, didn't like it but didn't hate it, so it gets to stay installed.

 

[lori5060]

....avoid Google and Google products at all costs. I have zero of them on my Macs. I don't use Google, or Chrome, or any of the other products from Alphabet..

so am assuming if i were to try using google drive and photos..... those also collect data?

what about gmail? i have all gmail accounts and use apple mail to access them. have been toying with trying to use Gmail app instead of using Apple app for reading my mail.
so is data collected with that also?

what search engine wuld be best if not using google?

 

[krs]

Lori -
You can pretty much assume that any "free" service collects and uses your data.
That's basically how they make money, not only to run their servers and pay their staff, but also how they generate huge profits.

DuckDuckGo is the obvious search engine that comes to mind if you want to move away from Google

 

[MacInWin]

Google scans everything it can touch. So Google drive, Google Photos, gmail, etc, are all constantly cataloged and used by Google.

If you want to avoid google, Duck Duck Go is a pretty good search engine and keeps you anonymous. I have it set in Safari and Brave as my default search engine.

I don't use gmail, never have, I don't use Google for photos.

 

[pigoo3]

Discussion seems to have shifted from Brave browser to an email app discussion. Thus an email app discussion thread was created...and email app focused posts were moved to its own thread:

Email App Discussion

Thanks,

- Nick

 

[lori5060]

duckduckgo is great search engine tho there doesn't seem to be option to save in reading list and I do a lot of that. may have to switch.
I find that when I click on safari icon..instead of using duckduckgo app or even google...I can just type in top search bar. does that make a difference?
so actually using safari bar for searching and I can bookmark to read list

 

[MacInWin]

Lori, when you search from the Safari bar, you are using whatever is set as the default search engine. You can see what that is by clicking on the "Safari" in the top bar, then "Preferences" and then the "Seach" page will show what that default is and allow you to change it to what you want.

 

[lori5060]

oh ok thanks jake...just checked and google is still there...changed to yahoo for now

one day I will not be such a newbie and understand more than I do now,

 

[krs]

duckduckgo is great search engine tho there doesn't seem to be option to save in reading list and I do a lot of that. may have to switch.
I find that when I click on safari icon..instead of using duckduckgo app or even google...I can just type in top search bar. does that make a difference?
so actually using safari bar for searching and I can bookmark to read list

I don't understand what you mean by "saving a reading list", but on the Brave browser when you launch it, there is also a search bar just above the bookmark bar where you can type in your search query without actually going to DuckDuckGo or Google.

 

[lori5060]

I had been using safari and google search engine. when I saw a site that I wanted to look at again and not set a bookmark...I could set it to reading list. still working on all these new things and trying to to get confused.