The increasingly popular privacy-focused browser Brave is officially saying goodbye to Google as its default search engine, replacing the world's most popular search engine in favor of "Brave Search," the company announced in a blog post.
Brave Search is Brave's answer to customers wanting a "privacy-preserving" search engine, and it's built using Brave's own "independent index, and doesn't track users, their searches, or their clicks." Brave users in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada will automatically have Brave Search set as their default search engine in the address bar instead of Google. Brave Search is also replacing other default browsers, such as Qwant in France and DuckDuckGo in Germany.
Today's Brave desktop browser update (version 1.31), as well as the Brave Android app (version 1.31)* and the Brave iOS app (version 1.32) all automatically offer Brave Search as the default for new users in these five countries, with fully localized versions in non-English geographies. Brave users can easily choose a different search option if they prefer by managing their search engine settings. Brave Search is also available in any other browser at search.brave.com.
Users in all countries will still be able to revert their default search engine back to Google or DuckDuckGo, but Brave is hoping the majority won't. Brave Search does not display any ads in its current form, but the company announced plans this week to change that. Brave says that the free version of its search engine will "soon be ad-supported," with the company planning to offer a premium ad-free plan later down the line. Brave launched Brave Search in beta earlier this summer.
They'll market themselves as "privacy focused" by blocking ads, then they will release their own ads to make money.
Anyone who actually falls for this is an idiot.
"privacy focussed" doesn't mean blocking ads, it means keeping your details private and not exposing and sharing them with anyone, so I suspect you won't get targeted ads you'll just get generic ads. They've got to pay for their servers, developers, electricity somehow you know, they can't do it off of good will and unicorn wishes.
I sometime get tired of the self-entitled "I expect you to give me stuff for free" mentality.
I've tried Duckduckgo and all the other alternatives. They all suck compared to Google in terms of search results.
Do I like Google? Not at all. Do I want the best search results? Absolutely.
An interesting feature of DuckDuckGo is if you type a “g!” before your search term, DDG uses Google search thru their own server, as a layer of search privacy contraceptive.
You can also specify other search engines, like “y!” for the true renegades who still use Yahoo!
I wonder why Amazon hasn’t dabbled with a search engine? They seem to have all the infrastructure in place, and already deploy one for their own webshop. It would be the perfect vehicle for placing ads for their own retail operation.
If I was a shark like Amazon exec with an eye towards a fat promotion, I’d be waiting for any Google stumble to launch that proposal.
Thursday March 24, 2022 3:01 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Twitter has bolstered its search feature for direct messages so that users can now search their inbox using keywords and names to find the specific message they are looking for.
The DM search bar isn't new, but previously it only allowed you to find the name of a person or a group chat in your inbox. The latest development means you can now refine searches to find particular content in your...
Apple requires all apps that browse the web in iOS and iPadOS to use its own browser engine, WebKit, but amid accusations of anti-competitive conduct, should it continue to effectively ban rival browser engines?
Big tech has been gripped by accusations of anti-competitive conduct in recent times, with Chief Executive of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Andrea Coscelli...
With the App Store now home to nearly two million apps, Apple appears to be testing a new feature to make search results more contextual.
As noted in the MacRumors forums and on Twitter, some iPhone users in recent weeks have started to see tags in the App Store after searching for a popular term like "photos" or "wallpaper." After searching for "photos," for example, some of the tags that...
Wednesday January 12, 2022 3:28 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple in November settled a long-running lawsuit over employee bag checks, with the Cupertino company agreeing to pay $29.9 million to employees who were subjected to off-the-clock bag searches, and now details about the settlement are available on Apple's website.
California employees first sued Apple in 2013, and in 2015, the case escalated into a class action lawsuit. Employees claimed...
Twitter on iOS is now rolling out the ability for users to more easily search for tweets from a specific account, using a new search field that appears on an account's page.
The feature, which was first spotted on Twitter, offers users a much easier way to search for tweets from a specific user. While the ability was previously possible using the standard Twitter search field, the new search ...
A new report has highlighted how three top prominent executives initially found themselves at odds in early deliberations about Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework.
According to the report from The Information, the executives who disagreed over how far Apple should go in protecting user privacy in digital advertising included Apple's Craig Federighi, who oversees software...
Wednesday October 6, 2021 2:55 pm PDT by Juli Clover
A bug in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 is preventing Safari from loading AMP links for Google search results, but the issue is not intentional and Google is preparing a fix that's set to be released in the near future.
Developer Jeff Johnson today published a blog post speculating on whether Google had intentionally disabled AMP links for Google search results in Safari on devices running iOS 15 (via ...
Thursday February 3, 2022 12:30 am PST by Sami Fathi
Facebook has said measures being taken by Apple on iOS that make it harder for platforms and apps to track users across other apps and websites will cost its business $10 billion in 2022. Facebook yesterday reported $33.67 billion in revenue, and while higher than expected, earnings per share were shy of analyst expectations. Facebook, renamed to Meta, also offered lower guidance for the...
An Apple Watch Ultra user has modified their new device's casing to add a brushed finish and remove the orange color of the Action Button in an effort to make it more visually appealing.
The Apple Watch Ultra offers the first complete redesign of the Apple Watch since the product line's announcement in 2014, and while the design has been met with praise from many users, some have criticized...
Wednesday September 28, 2022 4:27 pm PDT by Juli Clover
The Dark Sky weather app that's owned by Apple is no longer available for download in the U.S. App Store, suggesting that it has been removed ahead of schedule.
Apple acquired Dark Sky back in March 2020 and has since incorporated elements of the app into the Weather app available on the iPhone (and soon, the iPad).
Dark Sky remained available for purchase as a standalone weather app...
Thursday September 29, 2022 7:44 am PDT by Juli Clover
The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max introduce some major improvements in camera technology, adding a 48-megapixel lens and low-light improvements across all lenses with the new Photonic Engine. We've spent the last week working on an in-depth comparison that pits the new iPhone 14 Pro Max against the prior-generation iPhone 13 Pro Max to see just how much better the iPhone 14 Pro Max can be.
Subscrib ...
Sunday September 25, 2022 2:27 pm PDT by Sami Fathi
A YouTuber has put Apple's claims for the durability of the Apple Watch Ultra to the test by putting it up against a drop test, a jar of nails, and repeated hits with a hammer to test the sapphire crystal protecting the display.
TechRax, a channel popular for testing the durability of products, first tested the Apple Watch Ultra by dropping it from around four feet high. The Apple Watch...
Thursday September 29, 2022 12:38 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Tony Blevins, Apple's vice president of procurement, is set to depart the company after he made a crude comment about his profession in a recent TikTok video, reports Bloomberg.
Blevins was in a video by TikTok creator Daniel Mac, who was doing a series on the jobs of people he spotted with expensive cars. After seeing Blevins in an expensive Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Mac asked Blevins what ...
Monday September 26, 2022 6:23 am PDT by Sami Fathi
iPhone 14 Pro customers on the Verizon network in the U.S. are reporting issues with slow and unreliable 5G cellular connections and calls randomly dropping.
Several threads on Reddit (1,2,3) and the MacRumors forums chronicle issues faced by Verizon customers and Apple's latest iPhone. According to user reports, signal strength on the iPhone 14 Pro is unreliable and weak, while other...
Wednesday September 28, 2022 10:22 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple has seen high demand for the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max, which could lead the company to further differentiate the next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Apple could add exclusive features to the iPhone 15 Pro Max in an effort to encourage more people to purchase the larger and more expensive device.
Kuo last week said that Apple asked...
Monday September 26, 2022 7:52 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Earlier this month, Apple announced that iOS 16.1 will enable a new Live Activities feature that allows iPhone users to stay on top of things that are happening in real time, such as a sports game or a food delivery order, right from the Lock Screen. On the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, Live Activities also integrate with the Dynamic Island.
Premier League match in Dynamic Island via Paul Bradford ...
Tuesday September 27, 2022 11:36 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released new betas of iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1 to developers, tweaking some of the functionality that's been introduced in prior betas and in the case of iPadOS 16.1, adding a major new feature to Stage Manager.
We've rounded up everything new in both betas below.
Wallpaper Updates
Apple has updated the Wallpaper section of the Settings app to allow users to swap between...
Monday September 26, 2022 7:34 am PDT by Sami Fathi
Today marks exactly two weeks since Apple released iOS 16 to the public. Besides the personalized Lock Screen, major changes in Messages, and new features in Maps, the update has also seen its fair share of bugs, performance problems, battery drain, and more.
After major iOS updates, it's normal for some users to report having issues with the new update, but such reports usually subside in...
Apple on September 12 released iOS 15.7 and iPadOS 15.7, delivering important fixes for multiple security vulnerabilities, including at least one that has been actively exploited.
Apple's latest mainstream iPhone models come in two sizes with A15 chip, car crash detection, satellite connectivity, and more. iPhone 14 is available now, while iPhone 14 Plus launches on October 7.
Top Rated Comments
I sometime get tired of the self-entitled "I expect you to give me stuff for free" mentality.
You can also specify other search engines, like “y!” for the true renegades who still use Yahoo!
I wonder why Amazon hasn’t dabbled with a search engine? They seem to have all the infrastructure in place, and already deploy one for their own webshop. It would be the perfect vehicle for placing ads for their own retail operation.
If I was a shark like Amazon exec with an eye towards a fat promotion, I’d be waiting for any Google stumble to launch that proposal.
Do I like Google? Not at all.
Do I want the best search results? Absolutely.