I feel like there is no web browser with a sane default configuration that I can recommend to other people. All browsers are preconfigured in a way that harms the privacy of their users or include services that no one wants such as Pocket and BAT.
Here are my problems with some popular browsers.
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Mozilla Firefox: Pocket integration, no ad-blocking without extensions.
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Brave: Everything related to crypto. Also its start page is horrible.
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Chromium: No ad-blocking without extensions and soon Manifest v3 will cripple all content blockers.
Now, these suboptimal defaults wouldn’t be such a big problem if the configuration files were easy to backup and restore and respected the XDG base directory specification.
Just install u block origin lmao.
And I’d have to do that manually for every computer on which I install the browser. I can’t just tell someone to install a browser and use it as is, there are always several additional steps required after install to have a decent experience. This is especially a problem for people who are not tech savvy.
Or just use their built in sync and sign in one time, and all your addons will be installed and enabled for you.
If your argument boils down to “none of the browsers are exactly pre-configured for me, one of the 7 billion not special people on the planet”, I’m not sure there’s a productive conversation to be had here.
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Use NixOS, nix package manager or home manager, declaratively add all the extensions and config you want, boom same browser every time
People who are not tech savvy can handle installing a browser extension the one or two times they have to set one up
Qutebrowser has great, sensible defaults with no telemetry. 😊
Can confirm, I only configured some visual changes, font, minimal font size and alike.
Only problem I have with it is, an increasing number of webpages tell me, my browser is outdated and rarely some pages don’t work correctly.
I am thinking of moving to Epiphany (gnome-web) some day, but I may start missing the vim-like interaction with qutebrowser.
you might be able to fix webpages telling you you’re outdated by changing your useragent string.
I am thinking of moving to Epiphany (gnome-web) some day, but I may start missing the vim-like interaction with qutebrowser.
There’s a WebKitGTK-based web browser called Luakit. Pretty good from my experience, although webkit can be problematic at times.
Have you updated Qutebrowser recently? It was running a pretty ancient version of Chromium under the hood before the 3.0 release (2 weeks ago), but it’s up-to-date now.
Thx for the reminder; I need to do that update.
Librewolf or one of the other Firefox forks
Ad blocking shouldn’t be tied to the browser, anyway. ublock is superb, imagine if firefox devs should have to develop it along with the browser (that nowadays is a herculean task).
Anyway, extensions give user freedom to chose how they use their browser.
Pocket take 2 seconds to disable.
It’s kinda the same with Brave. Just take 2 seconds to turn off the crypto thing and forget it was ever there.
I’m primarily a Firefox user but keep Brave around for Chromium-based browser testing.
Just turn it off, folks!
The difference is brave is shady as fuck.
Been seeing a lot of people talk positively about Brave like it’s some hail corporate shit
LOL it’s not “hail corporate shit”, it’s just a good browser…
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Yeah, and there’s definitely some pay-offs going on with their reviews. Almost every one of them says something close to “This browser pays you just for browsing the internet!,” most of them don’t mention that it’s crypto, and none of them mention that it has nothing to do with browsing, but is instead for clicking integrated ads.
Clicking doesn’t improve earnings.
What are you on about? Clicking is literally the only way to get anything from it, period. I used to use Brave on both mobile and desktop, and that was true universally. You don’t get BAT unless you click the ads.
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Regardless of what they claim, I noticed a large difference between months where I did and didn’t bother to click their push notification ads. Well, as large a difference there can be on a maximum of $0.75/month.
Liar
Shill.
it has nothing to do with browsing, but is instead for clicking integrated ads.
It doesn’t show you ads if you’re not browsing… 🤔
And you don’t have to click the ads.
Brainlet response.
Getting popup ads is a far cry from “just browsing,” and despite claims otherwise, I always noticed a fairly stark difference from month to month that seemed to coincide with whether or not I was clicking the ads. 🤔
My favorite part of all these mad shilling comments in getting as how not a single one of them addresses the carbon copy “BRowSeR tHAT PaYS YoU!!!” reviews, they just all go “Hmm, but it says you don’t have to click, haha, you fool, you liar! You are discredited!”
Brainlet response.
Dafuq is a “brainlet”?
Getting popup ads is a far cry from “just browsing,”
I don’t know what part of this you’re not getting but you have to be browsing in order to get an ad, so it has absolutely everything to do with browsing, despite your insistence to the contrary.
that seemed to coincide with whether or not I was clicking the ads.
Wait you actually clicked the ads?
mad shilling comments
God I just love these comments. As if no one can actually genuinely like a product and any correction of disinformation makes you a “shill”… such big brain energy over here.
how not a single one of them addresses the carbon copy “BRowSeR tHAT PaYS YoU!!!” reviews.
Because we don’t care. We don’t read reviews from randoms online. We listen to experienced privacy and security advocates, and we actually use the browsers ourselves.
You’re not a shill for “genuinely liking a product” or “correcting disinformation” (which, btw, are both obvious b.s.), you’re a shill for denying any lying about genuine issues.
You’re a shill for your staunch refusal to accept that there’s a difference between “using a browser” and “receiving advertisements that pop up over your content or in your notification bar.”
You’re a shill for responding to mention of the half-truths they (and people like you) propagate with the dismissive “Wait you actually clicked the ads?”
You’re a shill because you willingly admit that you don’t care about the shady shit they do, and you clearly don’t want other people to care.
You’re a shill for implying that anyone who would point out the shady shit they do is simply dumber or less informed than you.
Is it not open source? You can literally audit the code and point out any shadiness yourself.
though brave has 2 issues you can’t turn off:
- it’s chromium-based, and strenghtens the browser engine monopoly
- the company behind it seems quite shady, and afaik the ceo/leader/founder/… is homophobic
the browser engine monopoly
I don’t think you understand what a monopoly is. Chromium was developed specifically to avoid a monopoly…
Chromium was developed specifically to avoid a monopoly…
[Citation needed]
No one at Google is going to say that out loud. But it’s a fairly obvious assumption.
Same reason that Firefox is almost entirely funded by Google
Wasn’t Chrome also sort of a ‘reference implementation’ for years and years?
Yeah, obviously not great. Hence why I only use it for testing.
I would love to ignore Chromium based browsers completely I’m a web developer, so I can’t.
I wish there were a Chromium browser I could have the warm fuzzies about, but I’m not aware of one.
For me Firefox is perfect as is. I tweak some stuff only because I like to play with css sometimes.
That’s just three browsers. There are more. You don’t have to use Pocket in Firefox. An extension is no better or worse than an integrated ad-blocker (moreover, Librewolf simply comes with uBlock Origin). I don’t see what’s the real issue here. There are many other versions of Firefox with enhanced privacy.
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Just when I was getting used to car analogies, here’s candy analogies
Brave is based on Chromium, so the candy doesn’t have so nice taste.
On Android F-Droid app store there are some off-shoots of Firefox that are real good. Fennec comes with a bunch of the most popupar extensions already installed and none of that Pocket nonsense.
Why do people dislike pocket so much? I barely even know what it is, used it once to see what it was about and then forgot about it completely, it’s not exactly obstructive
data collection.
How does pocket collect data more than the browser itsself could though?
- It yet another step along the ever increasing march to enshitifaction where everything on the fucking internet wants to collect data about me.
- It’s utterly pointless and is ergo wasting system resources.
Mullvad Browser
Just use tor
overkill for almost all people with convenience out of the window
Nyxt includes a blocker, and has an appealing minimalistic interface, but I never tested.
Nyxt can’t load 9/10 sites without crashing, as it’s still using Webket instead of something Chromium based. For a better experience, try qutebrowser. It’s my daily driver now.
Just use Librewolf. It’s a fork of Firefox, with Pocket disabled, Ublock Origin preinstalled, and privacy settings enabled by default.
How many people maintain LibreWolf? How closely does it track the upstream?
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I still like firefox. I configure it using a json file. Just load that file and the browser is configured for all users on the system.
No problem. My comment was more to add some info. Perhaps i formulated it a bit odd.
I like Firefox too and I use it. But OP talks about adblocking and disabled pocket by default, so this is why I commented this.
(Actually I don’t even use Librewolf, I have just heard of it) EDIT: I saw that OP says that configuration files are an issue, so your comment is okay.
don’t expect browsers to block ads out of the box
Mullvad browser is perfect out of the box
Ive actually been considering switching to it you know how is it?
its great, works out of the box, i have it on multiple computers and I dont have to fiddle with settings.
You should REALLY try Vivaldi.
Best browser for desktop and mobile. Privacy respecting and great onboarding, plus very versatile and powerful if you want that.
Or keep it simple. They let you choose.
@danielfgom @the_crab_man bing + 10 auto bookmarked paves which i dont care about
Yep, also they don’t integrate Pocket in the browser, they just have a built-in
email client, note-taking software, RSS reader, calendarbloat. Also, Vivaldi is based on chromium (as such subsribed to all Google’s bullshit), and uses Chrome extension store.Honestly, OP, just stick to Librewolf, it’s privacy-respecting and actually open-source, pocket’s disabled, UBo’s preinstalled.
they just have a built-in email client, note-taking software, RSS reader, calendarbloatYou literally get a button when you first install it asking whether you want these things. One click and they’re disabled. Also OP post is about privacy not bloat and these features will only improve your privacy over using some webmail.
Also, Vivaldi is based on chromium (as such subsribed to all Google’s bullshit)
All google stuff is either removed or toggleable from settings.
uses Chrome extension store.
What’s wrong with that? It’s a good deal larger than mozilla’s
Also OP post is about privacy not bloat
OP is concerned about Pocket integration too, so I assumed they may not like it.
these features will only improve your privacy over using some webmail.
Does their built-in mail support any good encryption? The last time I used Vivaldi a mail feature wasn’t really that private. Also, using dedicated email client like claws or mutt is even better from privacy perspective.
All google stuff is either removed or toggleable from settings.
They can’t remove Manifest V3 though.
What’s wrong with that? It’s a good deal larger than mozilla’s
Yes, and it’s under Google’s control. And, again when I used it last time, you need to enable some google stuff to install extensions from the store.
Not sure about the encryption tbh. I’ve never used any mail service that properly supported it so haven’t tried.
Also, using dedicated email client like claws or mutt is even better from privacy perspective.
Any reason why, aside from encryption?
They can’t remove Manifest V3 though.
That’s why they have a built in adblocker.
Basically, you don’t want everything be dependant on a central authority - this is a single point of failure. If there’s a big security vulnerability in your web browser, but you use a standalone mail client, your mails are most probably safe.
This also adds up to built-in adblocker - who knows if Vivaldi devs will ever go evil and sneak in exceptions in their adblocker? Or if they will sell their web browser, just like their CEO done so with his previous browser, Opera.
Web browsers handle the most sensitive information about a user, so I would never trust a proprietary browser.
Most of Vivaldi is already open source. The only parts that aren’t are the front end. And that part is apparently just minified JavaScript
