It would be great to be able to block Picture in Picture. When I scroll past a video it is intentional and it seems very intrusive to have that video open another window that follows me down the page, often blocking out other content on the page.
@JustBill,
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Hi,
Here is a link to the posts I personally made requesting a feature to totally disable PictureinPicture as it is extremely intrusive and annoying.
I clearly explained my reasons for wanting this and tried to explain clearly what the problem is.
But you people here at Brave have completely ignored this issue for an extremely long time.
Nobody here from Brave has had the decency to respond.
I doubt that this thread has even been seen by any of the Brave developers or Brave advisors whom offer support and technical help here on these community forums.
Please explain why it is that NOBODY here representing Brave will even take a look at this issue.
I donât understand why Brave is continuing to ignore this issue and refusing to look at this from the Brave users perspective.
@jputting,
I think there is some confusion around what âpicture in pictureâ is. This typically refers to a user action that launches a pop-out window containing video content. Like on Youtube, for example. However, from what youâre describing, it seems like this is happening in specific websites, which is likely a âfeatureâ or element of the website, not of Brave.
Can you please share an example website where you can confirm that this behavior occurs so I can test it on my end?
Hi @Mattches
If you check the link to my original posting and read it thoroughly you will find a post by the name of: smma
whom provided clear screenshots of this extremely intrusive behaviour of Picture in Picture.
There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that Google implemented Picture in Picture into the Chrome browser
It is a Web API
Unfortunately the ignorant people at Google decided this is a feature they would introduce and they failed to give us any method of turning it on or off.
It is quite widespread on the internet and most people have encountered it on just about any website which features video content.
Hi @Mattches
This began with Safari added Picture-in-Picture support through a WebKit API in macOS Sierra
However not long afterwards Google implemented this new obnoxious feature into the Chrome browser.
The article I have linked to below proves my claims are factual:
If you read that article carefully it is very clearly explained this obnoxious Picture in Picture behaviour has been a badly designed and poorly implemented browser feature.
It is actually a Web API.
Unfortunately Google have given users absolutely ZERO control as to it usage and there is simply NO WAY TO DISABLE IT.
Brave developers have a good reputation for countering detrimental changes to the Chrome based browser and have also reinstated features that Google decides to remove for illogical reasons.
I can name a few instances where Brave has fought back:
-
Reinstating the Tab Mute function.
-
Given Brave users the option to disable Search
Suggestions. -
Brave has built their own Adblocker to counter Googles
detrimental changes which seriously threatened the
viability of Adblocking Extensions. -
Brave has most importantly introduced many
features to enhance Privacy and Security.
and Security.
I have found this obnoxious Picture in Picture function to be extremely intrusive and annoying.
I have been waiting and waiting a very long time for somebody at Brave to take a long hard look at this.
I am hoping that Brave will eventually give us control over this Picture in Picture function in regards to having it enabled or disabled.
I know for a fact that this is possible.
Some Android based mobile phones have a setting which gives you a choice between using Picture in Picture(PIP) or disabling it.
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Hi @Mattaches
If this option to disable Picture in Picture(PIP) can be provided on Android based mobile phones there should be no barriers to implementing a similar solution for Brave users.
What on earth do we have to do to get you people at Brave to take notice.
So will someone from Brave please, please, please take a look at this extremely annoying and intrusive issue and finally take action.
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@jputting,
Iâm not doubting that PIP is a feature/possible in-browser. It very obviously is. What Iâm unclear on is how it is so intrusive to your daily browsing. What site(s) are you regularly visiting where this is such a massive issue? I quite literally cannot land on a single website where PIP gets initiated without me explicitly provoking it â that is, I have not seen the feature appear unless I want it to.
I see that in your previous post youâre referring to this userâs reply (I think) but again, without an actual link to test the behavior itâs very hard to tell whether or not this is a browser issue/feature or a site issue/feature.
Can you please provide me with some example websites/videos where you can confirm this PIP behavior happens consistently and in the intrusive fashion youâre describing so that I can see this in action?
YouTube
Skillshare
CNN
Most video ads
I donât know how to be more clear than that. If you are not experiencing it lucky you. But I cannot use anything WITHOUT having it.
Iâve shared a photo of what happens so you can see it. It is incredibly invasive and takes over a large portion of the screen. Itâs not a MINOR inconvenience, it makes most sites I use regularly a penance. Iâve had to switch browsers at this point.
Iâm still at a loss as to why there is controversy over understanding this âfeatureâ itâs simple to understand and I have provided screenshots as well as sites.
You are losing users because of it. Simple.
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@smma,
There is not controversy â Iâm simply trying to get a clear picture of the behavior because it does not make much sense to me.
You are reporting an issue that I (nor any team members Iâve reached out to) cannot reproduce under any circumstances. Again, PIP is typically something that has to be enabled/initiated and is not something that happens automatically unless it is a feature of that specific website.
You said you see this on:
YouTube
Skillshare
CNN
Most video ads
Here is the behavior I see on Youtube (on both macOS and Windows):
I have to initiate PIP by right-clicking twice in quick succession on the video player, then selecting Picture in picture from the context menu:
Are you saying that any time you visit youtube and play a video, it always automatically plays in a pop-out window?
On CNN
For CNN, the pop-out style/PIP video is a feature of the website, not the browser. You can easily test this by going to the site on any other browser and observing the same behavior:
CNN.com article (randomly chosen) in Brave
Same article in Firefox:
Same article in Safari:
While I donât have a Skillshare account, I would wager my left arm that this too is a feature of the website and would behave exactly the same in all browsers. If youâre seeing video ads that follow you as you scroll on a specific webpage, please share that webpage so that I can report it to the Shields team as it is simply an ad that is not being blocked by Shields and has nothing to do with PIP.
For a site like Skillshare (again, I do not have an account) where you have an account, you might check your account settings to see if there is a way to disable this feature when watching videos.
I am not saying all this in terms of an argument. I would like to help you resolve whatever issue is occurring, but it is important to sort out whether or not this behavior is the result of a browser feature as opposed to a site feature. From what Iâm reading/can tell, this appears to be site related and as such, this is not something we can control on our end.
Picture in Picture came in from Chromium upstream, not a âBrave specificâ feature or issue. So little did I know this feature even existed. Just donât click on the option is the most sensible fix.
There is no way to disable it or I would have done so months ago. I have stopped using brave at this point because it is intolerable.
There are pop up video ads that are unblockable and the p.i.p. does not stop unless all scripts are blocked. Since this effectively disables the current iteration of the internet it isnât always an option. There is no âwebsiteâ setting to disable this. And even if there was, if the solution is that I have to manually disable something across the internet as I encounter it what is the point of using brave at all? So whatever. Thanks anyways.
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@smma,
Can you please give me an example website where you see this behavior in Brave but not in other browsers? Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Vivaldi â literally any other browser?
If the issue is pop-up ads then again, as I said previously, please provide a link to the site(s) where this is happening so we can take a look and see why itâs not being blocked by Shields. As far as video content on the other sites you listed, again, they all show the same behavior in any other browser I tested, so switching browsers isnât going to solve this issue for you.
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Hi,
The point I wish to raise again is that with Android based mobile phones there is an option to disable Picture in Picture(PIP) so that under NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL IT EVER GET ACTIVATED ON ANY WEBSITE - NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO.
If this option can be provided with Android based mobile phones we should have the same option with Chrome based browsers such as Brave.
Google introduced this to their Chrome browser, but as is the usual case they simply did NOT give users any choice as to using it or NOT using it.
As others have pointed this could be used in an abusive manner to provide unstoppable ads via Picture in Picture.
Fortunately at this point in time Picture in Picture(PIP) is NOT being used to force ads on us in an unstoppable way, but the potential for abusing it is there.
That is another very strong reason to have the option to disable it completely.
To stop it you have to disable all scripts which would render the website useless.
Unfortunately if NO ACTION IS TAKEN to give us an option to disable Picture in Picture(PIP) I will be forced to abandon Brave and all Chrome based browsers completely.
I will then have to choose to use either the barren featureless Safari or revert back to using Firefox which is a slowly dying browser on its last legs.
Where is this option?
brave://flags/#android-picture-in-picture-api (same as Chrome), and will similarly to Chrome since we donât change or modify this from the way Chrome does this
Again, PIP is a specific feature of a media player. What you seem to be referring to/worried about are sites that have âpop-outâ videos/ads content that follows you on the page which is a completely separate feature. These ads should be blocked/dealt with for sure, but they wonât be âblockedâ by disabling PIP, it has nothing to do with them.
Further, I can guarantee you that, on Android, if you disable PIP (on the system, which is done per app) for any browser, you can still find use that browser and find websites that show video content and/or ads that will âpop-outâ and follow you as your scroll the website. What they wont do is continue to play and display on top of other applications â that is, when you leave the website where the ad is playing or close/minimize the browser, that ad/video playing will disappear. PIP however will display on top of other applications once initiated â which is kind of the point of PIP.
For example, if I am watching a Youtube video (FYI, PIP on Youtube is not available in Chrome, it can only be enabled in-app) and I start PIP mode, I can then minimize the Youtube app on my phone and open other applications while the video content still plays.
Youâre welcome to open a "Feature request" for this if youâd like, but I donât think itâs going to gain much traction.
Hi,
This problem has only been happening since the introduction of the Picture in Picture(PIP) Web API before then it was simply NOT A PROBLEM.
Disabling it on an Android mobile phone restores things back to way the way they were before it was introduced and the problems stop completely.
Nowadays itâs all over the web and it has become a extremely aggressive and intrusive.
Itâs time for Brave to give us more control in regards as to having it enabled or disabled.
Other people have posted they are dumping Brave and Chrome based browsers because of this issue and reverting back to Firefox which gives you more control in regards to this Picture in Picture(PIP).
I am joining the people who have chosen to dump Brave because NOBODY HERE FROM BRAVE IS LISTENING and the overall lack of support from Brave is absolutely shocking.
If Brave continues to ignore this, the exodus of Brave users will grow and Brave will only have themselves to blame because Brave is NOT LISTENING to users about the extremely aggresive and intrusive nature of this Picture in Picture(PIP).
This is an option on Android, just like in Chrome. Which can be disabled, just like Chrome. We havenât changed anything here. We give the user the option to disable this flag, if they choose too.
Semi-related, Brave actually blocks a lot of invideo advertising, these are videos masquerading as informational but are Adverts. No other browser blocks these. It saves Bandwidth and system resources, and speeds up page loading. No Pip would be initiated by these invideo adverts.
And the âexodus of Brave users will growâ isnât real, quite the opposite.
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Hi,
I was using Brave Version 1.33.106 Chromium: 96.0.4664.110 (Official Build) (x86_64)
(https://brave.com/latest/)
It was installed on macOS Monterey 12.1
During my very recent attempts to disable Picture in Picture(PIP) I checked the brave://flags and guess what?
That flag: brave://flags/#android-picture-in-picture-api
is nowhere to be found.
I also searched for any other flags related to Picture in Picture and Picture-in-Picture and got the message âNo Matching Experimentsâ.
I also searched the Brave flags for any API which could be related to Picture in Picture.
The API which were found are for other browser functions.
Brave in the past has reversed detrimental changes to the Chrome based browser Brave is based upon.
If Brave is NOT going to do anything about this extremely aggressive and highly intrusive Picture in Picture, I stand by my recent action to uninstall Brave permanently and opt for a NON-Chrome based browser.
Brave will never be reinstalled until we users get a choice as to disabling/enabling Picture in Picture.