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.

  • Mozilla Firefox: Pocket integration, no ad-blocking without extensions.

  • Brave: Everything related to crypto. Also its start page is horrible.

  • 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.

  • VitabytesDev@feddit.nl
    1·
    1 year ago

    Just use Librewolf. It’s a fork of Firefox, with Pocket disabled, Ublock Origin preinstalled, and privacy settings enabled by default.

  • stillwater@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    This list looks like:

    Firefox: comes with different candy than I like but will get me the candy I want if I ask

    Brave: has candy, but stares at me uncomfortably and asks me to lick everything slowly

    Chromium: comes with candy I don’t like and I’m pretty sure is going to kill me

  • words_number@programming.dev
    01·
    1 year ago

    What’s wrong with pocket integration?Nobody forces you to use it. Apart from that it stores user data e2e encrypted, mozilla has no access to your data (as opposed to chromes sync functionality). Imho, a browser should not block some content by default. But ad-blocking must be easy to enable/install. All of that’s the case in FF so I see no reason not to recommend it.

    • ProtonBadger@kbin.social
      01·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, Pocket does nothing unless you press the button.

      And as for telemetry that’s publicly available on telemetry.mozilla.org if anyone wants to see what’s being sent. It’s very useful for Mozilla to see what and how features are used.

      Mozilla is our last tiny hope for freedom really, in this Chrome/Blink world…

  • Cam@lemmy.worldEnglish
    01·
    1 year ago

    True.

    I wish someone can fork Brave on desktop and mobile and take out all the other stuff. And if someone could fork firefox for desktop and mobile and make it a hardened browser out of the box.

      • Cam@lemmy.worldEnglish
        01·
        1 year ago

        But not for mobile, especially Android. I would like librewolf to maintain a hardened Android app with their own F-Droid repo.