10 comments

  • SunshineTheCat 56 minutes ago
    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.
    • plopz 24 minutes ago
      Brave started off incredibly sketchy and with terrible reputation, for example https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18734999

      I haven't ever considered it since and I assume many others are in the same boat.

    • ifh-hn 34 minutes ago
      I'm similar but instead of brave, which I don't trust, prefer Firefox.
    • amatecha 19 minutes ago
      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.
    • vehemenz 8 minutes ago
      Ok, why Brave though? There's Safari, Chromium, LibreWolf, Ladybird, and plenty of others.
      • nazgulsenpai 1 minute ago
        They mentioned the built-in adblock
      • rolymath 1 minute ago
        Brave is has pre-configured as block that works on everything, also a polished sync experience.
    • newsoftheday 33 minutes 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.
      • bix6 12 minutes ago
        Google is not liable for your banking.
      • SecretDreams 21 minutes 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.
        • AlecSchueler 0 minutes ago
          And they have trillions riding on milking you for all your data and ad impressions.
    • bix6 10 minutes ago
      +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!

    • jeffgreco 34 minutes ago
      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)
    • afavour 4 minutes ago
      You’re definitely in a bubble. Google advertises Chrome on TV. Most users haven’t even heard of Brave.
    • shevy-java 13 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.)

    • RobRivera 28 minutes ago
      I have never heard of Brave, please tell me more
    • Markoff 34 minutes ago
      why would you use brave with annoying crypto and no customization over superior Vivaldi?
  • avdelazeri 1 hour ago
    • baq 41 minutes ago
      Taken completely by surprise, no one could have predicted this /s
  • ScoobleDoodle 50 minutes ago
    For someone with more knowledge than me: How does this affect other Chromium based browsers?

    I did some web searches and see Brave has its own AI thing “Leo” that is intended to preserve privacy. But I don’t think that is on device. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

    I use Firefox myself but have family and friends who use various Chromium based browsers.

    Thank you.

    • josefcub 14 minutes ago
      Brave's "Leo" AI is configurable enough to specify local endpoints for processing, instead of going wherever they want it to go. I've set it up to use my own systems, and it works just fine like that.

      If you have a beefy enough device, then yes this can be done on-device.

    • pier25 44 minutes ago
      Also, does this affect Chrome for iOS, Android, and iPadOS?
  • jeffcox 1 hour ago
    As soon as "don't be evil" became a topic for debate it was over, if you're surprised you haven't been paying attention.
  • shevy-java 16 minutes ago
    What we learn: we can not trust Google.
  • askonomm 1 hour ago
    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.
    • acheong08 4 minutes ago
      > Apple Pay does not, runs the whole thing on-device, and not only is private, but as a result also enables payments entirely offline.

      Apple Pay still does send a lot of telemetry about your payments though. https://duti.dev/randoms/wip-location-services/

    • fsckboy 33 minutes ago
      >Apple Pay does not, runs the whole thing on-device

      so 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?

      • Hamuko 18 minutes ago
        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.
        • cyberax 1 minute ago
          > 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.

    • jazzypants 35 minutes ago
      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.
    • newsoftheday 29 minutes 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.
    • gchamonlive 57 minutes ago
      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.
      • waterloser 35 minutes ago
        If your phone doesn't have connection does it still work on your galaxy watch? Or if you leave the phone behind?
        • iamjackg 24 minutes ago
          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.
      • Hamuko 17 minutes ago
        Google Pay works for a limited amount of uses in offline mode.

        https://9to5google.com/2023/12/20/google-wallet-without-inte...

  • ChrisArchitect 1 hour ago
    Al or AI?
    • ulfw 1 hour ago
      It's Google. It's AIs
  • greenavocado 1 hour ago
  • ChrisArchitect 1 hour ago
    Google weighs in on Chrome's weights.bin controversy https://www.androidauthority.com/google-chrome-weights-bin-f...
  • jcgrillo 1 hour ago
    They're probably doing some degenerate form of [1].

    [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitic_computing