Brave Browser - Ready for Prime Time?

[MacInWin]

@krs, the feature in Safari is called "autofill" and is found in Safari/Preferences with a tab labelled just that. There you can control what Safari fills in for you. Brave has that same feature under Brave/Preferences/Additional settings. I haven't tried it, so I don't know how well that works in Brave.

 

[krs]

Thanks, guys...

@Rod I turned all the Shield option off to see if that would make a change but it didn't

@ Jake Yes, Brave has autofill, but I think it's a different feature.
On Brave it says:

Save and fill addresses
Includes information like phone numbers, email addresses, and shipping addresses

Seems to me all that does is save and automatically populate fileds where one has already entered that type of information previously.
I used that a lot with FireFox and it also works well with Brave. Brave actually copied the 'autofill' info along with Bookmarks, etc. when I first installed it.I think that was pretty neat.

 

[krs]

I just tried that example with Virgin Mobile with the following browsers:
FireFox
WaterFox
Safari
Chrome
Opera

When I type 808 into the filed, they all bring up a list of suggested Canadian addresses that start with 808...except Brave which brings up nothing.
Seems as if there is a Canada Post database they automatically access since the format reminds me of the Canada Post format.

But this is only one example - I have run into that type of issue with Brave on other sites where they pull in data from some other website (nothing to do with addresses) and Brave doesn't have that function it seems or blocks it.
I just went to FireFox to use those sites and haven't kept a track of them at this point.
I will open a trouble ticket with Brave to see what they have to say.

 

[MacInWin]

@krs, have you actually entered addresses into the fields at any website using Brave? The reason I ask is that from the setting screens it looks like Brave will save an address if you enable it to do so. You can also click on the "Add" button and add an address manually. Once it has addresses saved, it can input them.

 

[krs]

Oh Boy - Brave doesn't work properly at all in this case.

I typed in the complete address including postal code.
Then, when one gets to the next window in Brave, one has to type the whole address in again in a different formatted filed (with all the other browsers, all the entries in that next window are already pre-populated based on what was selected in the previous one).
Next step is to click on a button to find out if internet is available at that address.
With Brave I get "No" as the answer, with all the other browsers I get "Yes"
The correct answer is "Yes" since I'm actually getting that new service installed on Tuesday
In a sense I'm glad that Brave didn't work because had I used Brave to fill out all the address fields in Brace I would have missed out in getting internet at $30.- per month for a year instead of $120.-/month

When I look at the whole address, the difference is minor between what I type and the pre-selected options
The difference is that I type the street name as Montcalm Court
The pre-selected one with Firefox and the other browsers is Montcalm Crt, with Crt having its own field.

Jake, as to your question - yes, I have typed in this address in on other websites I opened with Brave - actually on this Virgin Internet siteas well.
And Brave does fill in those types of fields fine, as I mentioned before, Brave even imported that information from FireFox.
But this is a different type of field that Brave doesn't even seem to recognize, however all the other browsers I tried do.

Now I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what to call this problem and how to describe it in a few words to the Brave team to see what they have to say about it.
And btw - this is not the only site where I have come across this problem, I just haven't kept a track of the others at this time

 

[MacInWin]

krs, I'm puzzled because that is entirely different from what I am seeing. I opened Brave, Preferences, Additional Settings, Addresses and more and make sure the slider for "Save and fill addresses" was to the left (Colored red). Then I clicked on the Add button and entered my information into the fields for Name, Street Address, City, State, ZIP, Country, telephone, email and clicked "Save." Done. It has my address correctly displayed in the fields. I tried Court, Ct, Crt, and it accepted all of them. No question about internet.

The rest of your post, about internet, yes/no having another address is all confusing to me. Are you talking about a specific website? I'm talking about IN Brave, to configure Brave.

 

[krs]

Jake,

The problem on Brave that I'm trying to describe has nothing to do with entering one's name and address in that Brave preference area you are describing. That part of Brave doesn't work either, but I will get to that in a minute.

The problem I'm describing only happens on websites which have a field that gets populated by information from another website over the net.
Back in my original post about that, I included a website where one gets that problem:
Order Home Internet - Virgin Mobile Canada

Trouble is that this is specifically a Canadian website, so I'm not sure what you will get.
But assuming it opens the same way as for me, you should see a field in the middle to type in your address.
For me it shows: Example: 123-101.......
If I type in 808, which is my house number, on Firefox and all the other browsers, I will get a selection of addresses starting with 808.
And as I keep typing the rest of my address, at some point, well before I typed all of it, my address shows up and you just click on it to see it in the field where you were typing.
Then you go to the next page and that address will be pre-populated but in a different manner.
The last step is then the check.

You can try that first with FireFox or Chrome or Safari to see what should happen

Then try the same thing with Brave and you never get any options when you type in 808 (or whatever)
And if you type in the whole address in that field (on the page where I provided the link), and then go to the next page - all the address fileds on that page are blank.
But even if I retype everything on that second page and do a check, I still get the wrong information.

Now going back to what you are doing, filling in the name and address in the Brave Preference area.
I have done that, but I don't see how that can possibly work - Just for a starter, in the preference area my first name and my last name are typed into a single field.
Most websites that I use require separate fileds for that, like this one by Via Rail that I just used today.
There is no way Brave can populate this from the information in "Save and fill addresses"
However, once you fill out each of the individual fields on the Via Rail website, Brave will fill that in next time, but it will not be the information from the "Save and fill addresses" from the Brave preference area.
That autofill is totally different than the first issue with the Virgin website
Via Rail address template is here, I get none of the info that I saved in the Brave "Save and fill addresses" populated.

 

[MacInWin]

OK, got it. I cannot use that site because as soon as I put in my information the zip code doesn't match anything in Canada, obviously, so I get the "no service" response. But I know what you are talking about.

I think what may be happening is that auto-fill from some database somewhere else function uses something very similar to popup windows and Brave is blocking that. Or it could be that Brave blocks cross-site tracking, which this could look like (It is transferring your information to a different website, after all.) I don't think it's a bug as much as it is a feature of Brave. I don't see anything obvious in the settings for Brave, but it may be something in the way it handles popups or redirects.

But file the issue with them and see what they say. Maybe they can fix it.

 

[krs]

I think even in the US you could still test it by first using a different browser, then typing in 808 or some other number and selecting one of the addresses that shows up. Pretend that is your address and then try the same thing on Brave.

I'm trying to figure out what to call that feature so that I can make it clear to the Brave team - any suggestions?
Or is there actually a name for that?
I see that on a lot of websites where the address tries to get populated by, what I assume, is a Canada Post database, I just have not used any lately since I started using Brave.
I tried turning off every option in Shields which includes cross-liner trackers - still the same issue.
Bottom line really is that it makes Brave useless as a browser because even if I type in my address on both pages - it gives me the wrong information.

Now I'm wondering what happens if I install an ad blocker etc. on Firefox or Safari.
Do I get the same problem?
What are typical blockers people use with those browsers so I can try that?

 

[MacInWin]

I did try that and I see what you are saying. I suspect the issue is more at the Virgin Mobile site not working well with the restrictions imposed by Brave for security. If you right click in the input box and then "Inspect" you can see the code from the Virgin website. You might try sending the Virgin link to the Brave developers and asking why the box does not autofill with Brave like it does with other browsers.

 

[krs]

It's not just the Virgin site that Brave has a problem with...if it was just the one site it wouldn't bother me too much.

Reminds me of the issue on this forum when one tries to insert an image
On Safari and Chrome one gets one window (the first attached image) where people keep saying, just click on "Choose File" to select the image you want to attach.

Trouble is on FireFox, WaterFox, Opera, iCab and Cliqz on gets a different window (second attached image) with no "Choose File" button anywhere.
And first having to click on something in the bottom right corner wasn't obvious either

 

[MacInWin]

Websites query any incoming connection for the type of browser that is being used. You can see that in Safari, if you enable the Developer's menu, where you can get to this:



In this mode Safari can emulate any of the listed browsers for the website. The website will respond differently, depending on the browser.

Why? Because in the early days of browser wars there were no clear standards or enforcements, so not all of the browsers implemented HTML in the exact same way. A web developer, wanting to test the code would work, would use the Developer mode to do that emulation and allow him/her to test without having to have all those browsers/machines/operating systems.

So, those websites are not responding to Brave appropriately. It may be that Brave is too new, or is implementing something differently, or not reporting appropriately. Or any combination, including all of them simultaneously.

Thus, it could be that the website is not taking Brave into account, or doesn't recognize it, and is defaulting to not doing the lookup because it doesn't know how Brave will respond to autofill. That would be the same at any autofill site using the same service, I suspect.

 

[krs]

I don't know why you bring up the subject of "User Agents"
I used to have to use that with Safari as the browser when some websites were specifically coded to only work properly with Internet Explorer, but that was ages ago - and Thank God, those days are gone.
Does Brave even offer a selection of user agents? I don't recall seeing that.

And the issue we are discussing has also nothing to do with "autofill", I already mentioned that earlier.
Autofill works just fine on Brave as far as I can tell.

With "Autofill", once one has entered information in a specific field, if one then goes back to that same type of field on the same or on a different webpage, one can just click with the mouse and all the previous entries one had made to that field will show up - so one can just select one or type in something new.
I use that feature dozens of times a day.

You said you entered your address in the address field on that Virgin website.
If it was an 'Autofill' field or had anything to do with 'Autofill', you should be able to go back to that web page, click on the field and see your address come up that you typed in there previously.
But it doesn't.

I'll try to find the time later today to write something up for the Brave developers and see what they have to say about this issue.
Might be a bit hard to get the message across unless I can find another website with that type of problem that isn't Canadian specific.

There must be websites in the US that populate an address when one starts typing in the text.
I know, I think even with paypal, I often get an address correction where for instance 4 digits are added to the 5 digit zip code I have and then one gets the choice of using the address I typed or the suggested one.Difference is either the additional 4 digits appended to the zip code or some abbreviation within the address slightly different.

 

[MacInWin]

Let me back up and try to explain it again. The feature that is not working in Brave is part of Autofill. Autofill can work two ways, either filling in from what it knows, or as in the Virgin Mobile site, it fills from a referenced site that has all the addresses possible (or as many as the database knows). Apparently the autofill in Brave is not playing well with the referenced database at Virgin Atlantic. It may be part of the security, particularly if Virgin Mobile is using a third party site to do the lookup (highly likely). Brave may be blocking the Virgin site from doing the linking because Brave doesn't want your information you are giving to Virgin to go anywhere else.

I referenced the User Agents to demonstrate that the problem of variable reactions to different browsers is still a problem. You said

I used to have to use that with Safari as the browser when some websites were specifically coded to only work properly with Internet Explorer, but that was ages ago - and Thank God, those days are gone.

but they are NOT gone. Even in post #71 you showed how two different browsers reacted to this site.

I used VPN to get into Canada, typed in 808 as you suggested and sure enough, Brave did not autofill with the lookup, as you said. Safari did work. I didn't try any of the User Agents in Safari because I ran out of time.

But I'm done here. Brave doesn't work like you want it to. There doesn't seem to be a fix you can implement on your own. Send the issue to the developers and see what they say. I would suggest you just send them the URL of the site you are having problems with, they can sort it out, even if they aren't in Canada.

 

[krs]

I just put in a trouble ticket with Brave - let's see what they say.

 

[MacInWin]

Report back if you hear from them. Be interesting to see what they say.

 

[Rod]

Just following on from the previous posts/threads, my curiosity was piqued when Cliqz was mentioned so I downloaded it to try on both my iPhone and MBP, always searching for a better browser.
My opinion is starting to become that no one browser is going to fulfill all my needs but some are definitely better than others when it comes to privacy which is such a big issue these days.
Cliqz has some some good points. For example Cliqz uses the Firefox extension gallery rather than the Chrome extension gallery like Brave does. This is a huge advantage for me because I am transitioning from Firefox and I'm familiar with its extensions. Unfortunately i could find no way to import my menu bar bookmarks but there weren't that many.
Cliqz also has a settings menu (right hand end of the menu bar) that is pretty much identicle to Firefox so my guess is that anyone like me who was a Firfox user will find a move to Cliqz a pretty easy shift and as the promo info says it is Europe's first venture into a European based browser.
It also comes with its own built in "secure" search engine which has a novel approach, it only shows the top three hits as selected by their search engine. This is often all I need but I have added DuckDuck Go as an alternative and this comes up as an option in any search results so if i dont see what I want I can select the DDG seach instead.
All up I think I like it more than Brave but I will see how it performs over the next few weeks.

 

[harryb2448]

Bookmarks transfer, please Rod?

 

[krs]

Report back if you hear from them. Be interesting to see what they say.

It's been 10 days now.

Nothing from the Brave support team.
Seems they are struggling with a ton of problems just in the "Web-Compatibility" category

Web Compatibility - Brave Community

 

[krs]

Unfortunately i could find no way to import my menu bar bookmarks but there weren't that many.

That killed Cliqz for me - I use menu bar bookmarks several times each and every day.