Add a 3rd PDF handling option in brave://settings/content/pdfDocuments. Currently Brave has only 2 behaviors for PDFs:
- Download
- Open in Brave
I want to use my own PDF viewer. I can select Download, but then I have to open File Explorer to double-click on the .pdf file to load it per filetype association into the system default PDF handler. Way too many steps. Way too clumsy. Other web browsers also have the choice to download BUT will also then load the .pdf into the default handler defined for the filetype association in the operating system. No having to download, open File Explorer, find the .pdf file in the file list hoping I remember where the file got downloaded, and double-click the .pdf file to load into the default PDF viewer. Just download and automatically open in default PDF handler.
Firefox can download AND automatically load the downloaded file into the default system PDF viewer defined by filetype association.
Edge will not automatically load, but its popup dialog has 3 choices: Open, Save As, Save. Open downloads the file, and passes it to the default PDF viewer. The “Always download PDF files” is enabled, so the .pdf file always gets downloaded. That makes the Open option do both the download and the open (in the default system PDF handler).
I do NOT want to use Brave’s internal PDF viewer. Besides, it still has to download the .pdf file to have something to load. Just because the .pdf file is in temporary storage does not obviate the file had to first get downloaded. You cannot open a document you don’t have.
I do NOT want to have Brave download the .pdf file, and immediately cease at that point in handling the PDF. That means Brave leaves the operation right after the file download, and I’m stuck having to open File Explorer to find the folder where the file got downloaded, and double-click on the .pdf file to use the filetype association defined in the OS to load the .pdf file into the default PDF handler. A ridiculous pain.
I do want Brave to download the .pdf file (it must in all scenarios, anyway), and pass the file now in the local file system to the default PDF handler. One click on a PDF link, and it shows up in the default PDF handler. No workarounds or clumsy handling to get through to finally load the PDF into a viewer.
Brave needs to add another option to PDF handling:
- Save (to local file system).
- Open in default PDF viewer (save to temporary file, pass to default PDF viewer).
- Open in Brave (save to temporary file, open in Brave).
Brave users should not get punished when retrieving PDF files to get them loaded in the default PDF viewer. Brave should lure new converts by facilitating ease-of-use, not make alternative web browsers more attractive to prospective converts.