#### Repository
https://github.com/brave/brave-browser

####  Introduction 

Web browsers can be regarded as more than a necessity in a connected world.

The default way to gain access to the internet for the majority is through the use of a web browser. 

Due to the usefulness attributed to web browsers there are available for use in the software ecosystem today in both free and paid versions. 

Free/open source web browsers are very common lately with lots of them being funded as community projects by different organizations. 

Today we'll go over one of such open source browsers known as Brave browser and discuss certain key points surrounding the software including 

- Features 

- Downsides of using the browser

- Market alternatives and comparisons

- Some suggestions that can improve user experience in the browser

Brave browser is available in different versions for different operating systems but in this post we'll be using the Android version as our case study. 



#### Brave Browser 

Brave browser is an open source web browser developed by the company Brave Software.

The architecture of this browser is based on the popular Chromium web browser and it's blink engine according to Wikipedia.

#### Features

On the official website of this software there are claims by the company that Brave is up to eight times faster and more private than Google Chrome. 

Well, in my opinion the statement above is only half true. 

I think instead of 8 times faster we can actually say it is 3 to 4 time faster and very private. 

The privacy feature of the app can be very well noticed on the application homepage where 2 separate panels display the number of ads and trackers that have been blocked on the pages visited by the user.

![IMG_20181212_005717_434.JPG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmf4cu6z8AagTDcLBtwAoTqdQ4kQnn4HxC9nJUToso6rYt/IMG_20181212_005717_434.JPG)

Another example of this privacy feature is the recently added support for Tor during private browsing in the desktop version of the software. 

Extended settings for privacy can be found in the `privacy settings` section where users can choose to have all the sites they visit open with an `HTTPS` secure connection.

Users can also choose to `preload pages for offline reading and faster access` which allows users to visit previously visited pages is offline mode. 

![IMG_20181212_011246_240.JPG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbd8Ctpz2kHA3hfdMRx4berFCep6Ro4YHsP6sA8NtTTia/IMG_20181212_011246_240.JPG)

An example of a pre-loaded page visited in offline mode is seen in the image below

![IMG_20181212_011526_820.JPG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQw9snGBSzoBUaX1K4wqLYuQY7b7pqgR3htWcy2eLosqT/IMG_20181212_011526_820.JPG)

One of my favorite characteristics of the app is the presence of a clean user interface with a nice content layout.

These can be attested to also by a large number of users. Almost all the revies I have come across online for the app makes mention of this fact. 

One of the things I love about the Brave web browser is the publisher reward feature that allows website owners and publishers to get monetary rewards when people visit their website through the brave browser. 

The publisher reward model utilizes an Ethereum blockchain token known as BAT which makes it easy for publishers to get rewarded once their earnings rrach the payout minimum of $100.

Though I have not personally used this feature, there are lots of reviews online that confirms this including a guide on the official website that takes you through the process of becoming a verified publisher. 


#### Downsides

The user interface of the browser is clean, easy to use and navigate but the one thing I don't fanvy about this interface is it's close similarity to Google Chrome UI. 

While this may not be an issue for other users I still think the developers of the browser can create a better and more original interface rather than fine tuning an existing one. 

While it is true that the browser uses an adblock feature to block unwanted ads users still have an option to opt in to viewing ads in the browser. 

The odd thing about this is that this ads are going to be served directly by the company behind the development of the browser and will be tailored to each user preference using behavioral analysis. 

The revenues generated from these ads will in turn be used to make payments to verified publishers on the brave platform. 

The fact that the company is serving user tailored ads means that using the browser is not as private as they claim since it is commonly known that behavior analysis is just a fancy word for **collection of user data over a period of time**.

#### Alternatives 

Like I mentioned earlier the web browser market is already a saturated market with lots of web browser exisiting in free and paid versions. 

In this section I will mention three free and open source alternatives to Brave Browser. 

**1. Chromium **

The brave web browser is built on Chromium's Blink Engine. It is safe to say that Chromium can easily be a replacement for Brave since they both have a common engine base. 

**2. Orfox/Tor Browser**

Orfox is another open source option that can be used in place of Brave. 

Orfox is the android version of the popular Tor browser which is well known for it's anonymity feature and it's close semblance to Mozilla. 

Orfox/Tor is a better option compared to Brave in terms of anonymity and privacy. 

**3. Firefox **

A free and widely used web browser. Though Firefox is not a privacy focused browser it still has some basic privacy features. 

In my opinion Firefox can easily replace Brave browser because of its ease of customization and great support for add-ons. 

#### Suggestions 

When it comes to making improvements in the browser, I think the major cause for concern should be with the ads serving model offered by the developers. 

The idea of serving ads and using the revenue to pay publishers is cool. But I feel that the company has to keep in mind that models like this have a tendency to foster privacy violation. This is not really acceptable from a service that uses privacy as one of its selling points.

The developers should try to look for a more technical solution around this. A model that I feel would be more appropriate would be to make the undertaking and completion of common tasks by the users in the browser a treshold for mining the BAT token. 

The steem blockchain uses the upvote model to mine steem so also can the mining and distribution of BAT tokens can also be tied to certain events and tasks tied to the usage of the browser in place of ads. 
 

#### Links

1. [Official Website](https://brave.com)
2. [Get Verified as a Publisher](https://brave.com/publishers)
3. [Basic Attention Token (BAT Tokens)](https://basicattentiontoken.org/)


#### Series Backlinks

- [Discussing The Core Features Of Connect Bot SSH Client](https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@jutdagut/discussing-the-core-features-of-the-connect-bot-ssh-client)