Brave, the speed, privacy and crypto-friendly web browser, released a public beta version Friday that includes (among other things) support for Google Chrome extensions!

The ‘Brave Dev’ release is intended for developers (or adventurous users) to test ‘unpolished and unfinished’ prototypes of the software. The work-in-progress release is available on the download-dev site though I personally recommend (as does Brave) most users stick to the latest, stable release as their ‘daily driver’ found here.

With built-in ad-blocking and “HTTPS Everywhere” extensions it attempts to natively protect user privacy to a degree. These features also speed up the browsing experience…a fact the Brave browser reminds you of each time you open a new tab by showing a running total of the trackers blocked, ads blocked, HTTPS upgrades and a running total of the page loading time saved.

I personally use Brave for about 90% of my browsing activity. Why?

Brave’s lightning fast . After about 6 months of consistent use I feel it outperforms Google’s Chrome, Mozilla’s Firefox and the Opera browser.

. After about 6 months of consistent use I feel it outperforms Google’s Chrome, Mozilla’s Firefox and the Opera browser. Brave’s natively more secure with ad-blocking, HTTPS Everywhere and tracker blocking features built-in. Yes, some or all of those plug-ins and extensions are available on other browsers. Personally ,I tend to trust software that defaults to security, like Brave, over software that requires you to turn it on or download it separately.

with ad-blocking, HTTPS Everywhere and tracker blocking features built-in. Yes, some or all of those plug-ins and extensions are available on other browsers. Personally ,I tend to trust software that defaults to security, like Brave, over software that requires you to turn it on or download it separately. Brave’s ‘crypto-friendly’ with the built-in MetaMask extension (a near must-have for Ethereum/ERC-20 token holders and dApp users) and native Basic Attention Token [BAT] support.

with the built-in MetaMask extension (a near must-have for Ethereum/ERC-20 token holders and dApp users) and native Basic Attention Token [BAT] support. Brave’s pioneering a new advertising paradigm by rewarding content producers for making great content rather than spamming the consumer with pop-ups and ads (learn more about the Basic Attention Token here).

by rewarding content producers for making great content rather than spamming the consumer with pop-ups and ads (learn more about the Basic Attention Token here). Brave doesn’t track you like other browsers that rhyme with Rome. Combine it with a search engine like DuckDuckGo and a strong VPN and you’re on a good path to online privacy.

like other browsers that rhyme with Rome. Combine it with a search engine like DuckDuckGo and a strong VPN and you’re on a good path to online privacy. Brave gives users the freedom to turn off any of those features listed above. Not sure why you’d want to but I like the fact they allow you to choose

With all those features why isn’t Brave my browser of choice 100% of the time? While the stable version is just that, stable, I have run into 2 flaws that prevent me from making the switch 100%;

Brave only supports a few select extensions mostly geared towards privacy and security. That means no video downloader, no screenshot grabber,etc. Hence the reason I’m so excited for this update!

mostly geared towards privacy and security. That means no video downloader, no screenshot grabber,etc. Hence the reason I’m so excited for this update! Brave’s synchronization feature has some bugs. I’ve had to re-sync and lost bookmarks on more than one occasion. Fortunately I regularly back them up but it is an irritant.

That’s it. Fix those two things and I’m a full on convert.

Whether you’re interested in the cryptocurrency features or not I highly recommend taking Brave for a test drive. It’s 100% free so what do you have to lose?

Browse fast, browse safer, support quality content producers with Brave!

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