Hey guys… I just started using Brave and im finding it hard to get out of my habits of Google and Chrome. I am used to having all of my info there as soon as i open my computer from my gmail to all of my extensions and whatnot. I know that its because its a huge change, But im having a hard time. I wanna not use gmail anymore because its linked to google but ive had it for years. And I wanna use a safer search engine but i absolutely hate duckduckgo. I guess my questions are- is google search still safe if im using the brave browser with it? And should i get a new email or will gmail be okay? Also should i think about deleting everything chrome like apps and info from my MACbook? Im so lost and i have been combing through this forum for anything that can help me but so far it just seems like every single person has a complaint or negative post with nothing that is truly about sharing ideas or helps new users. I am so lost and I want to make this work but there is literally zero support here from most users on this browser. There should be a seperate topic for in depth details for a new begginer. (and yes i have already looked at everything in the begginer/new user sections.) please offers me advice and really read my words as i have stated my concerns and what i am looking for. thanks guys!
@darkshark1202, hi!
Sorry about the bleak impression of our Community. We’ve got lots of nice people here I promise! Glad you decided to reach out anyway!
So there’s a lot to unpack in your post here. It sounds like you’re looking for a more private browsing experience - at least with respect to who can see and/or track your data. You also mentioned being a Chrome user previously and wanting to distance yourself or at least seek alternatives. I’ll touch on some of these things but a (very) brief introduction to Brave’s product and motives should be enough to get you started. So let’s see…
Brave Browser
Since you’re here, you probably already have some idea about us but the two main points are summed up nicely on the About Us page,
Brave is on a mission to fix the web by giving users a safer, faster and better browsing experience – while growing support for content creators through a new attention-based ecosystem of rewards.
The browser comes with built in protections against several forms of unwanted or malicious content online, from more extreme forms like malware and phishing to (seemingly) innocuous ones like ads and tracking techniques. Many of these protections fall under the control of ‘Brave’s Shields’. Oh, and the founder, Brendan Eich, created Javascript and co-founded Mozilla. Here’s some resources you should find useful if you’re interested in learning more about Brave and it’s features: An intro for your eyes (Very)Brief explanation of Shields Brendan Eich Writes to the US Senate AMA with CEO Brendan Eich AMA with CTO Brian Bondy
Leaving Google
Our new browser UI is built on the open source chromium project, so you should familiar with using the browser already. You can also import all your information from Google Chrome directly into Brave. It’s also compatible with any extension that would run on Google Chrome. Note that no data will be sent to google or any other third party without your consent. More on the Browser rewrite and how we protect your data: Deviations from Chromium Brave vs Chromium vs Google Chrome Importing your data into Brave Adding Extensions Announcement Super fast
Search Engines
There’s tons! Is there a particular reason you don’t like Duck Duck Go? They’re good people who also have your privacy in mind. And they’ve been doing this for some time now
Here’s some alternatives anyway: Qwant Startpage Dogpile Yahoo! Bing
You can change them at any time in Brave:
I hope this help!
Please let me know what remaining questions you have.
If you do not like duckduckgo search for search results and love google for the search results it come up with you can always use !g before your search term which would bring results from google search through duckduckgo (of course not passing on details to google).
@Mattches
This website - https://www.privacytools.io/, suggest these addons (HTTPSEverywhere, ublockorigin, decentraleyes, cookies autodelete) for privacy improvements. This website also suggest to use Tor, Firefox or Brave browser for privacy reasons. In Brave HTTPSEverywhere is built-in and the adblocker too. Only decentrleyes, cookies autodelete need to be added. But I think cookies too can be managed by Brave browser.
But in any case, Brave browser in its default state is safest among all browsers except Tor browser (may be).
Thanks
