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An Open Letter to Google regarding Mandatory Developer Registration for Android App Distribution

The open letter we signed asks Google to: 1. Rescind the mandatory registration 2. Engage transparently on security improvements that respect Android's openness 3. Commit to platform neutrality Privacy should be easy for users and developers alike! keepandroidopen.org/open-letter/

keepandroidopen.org

Open Letter to Google Regarding Mandatory Developer Registration for Third-Party App Distribution

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Google has a history of proposing mechanisms that expand its control over users and developers. Manifest V2 deprecation, the AMP Project and Privacy Sandbox are just a few recent examples. We opposed each of these proposals and we oppose this developer registry as well.

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Mandatory developer registration is a serious privacy risk. A single corporation would create a database of extensive information on every person who writes Android software. This could cause creators of privacy-preserving apps to leave Android.

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Android is an open platform that lets users install apps outside Google Play. For example, they can download Brave via F-Droid to avoid Google's restrictions and tracking. However, by forcing developers to register, Google makes itself the gatekeeper. brave.com/blog/keep-an...

Why Brave is opposing Google’s Android developer registry | Brave

Brave joins the EFF, the Tor Project, and others in calling on Google to withdraw its plan to require government ID from all Android developers, regardless of how they distribute their apps.

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Starting September 2026, Android app devs must register with Google and upload government-issued ID, even if they don't use the Google Play Store. This decision undermines Android's user-first ecosystem, presents massive privacy risks, and deepens Google’s surveillance economy.

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Brave @brave.com · 22/01/2026

Keep Android open! Brave is joining the @eff.org , @torproject.org and 40+ other organizations in opposing Google's proposed Android developer registry. Here's why we're taking this stand...

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How to block YouTube Shorts in Brave: Android/iOS: 1) Go to Settings -> Media 2) Enable "Block YouTube Shorts" Desktop: 1) Go to Settings -> Shields -> Content Filtering 2) Enable "YouTube Anti-Shorts"

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Brave @brave.com · 22/01/2026

Reminder that this Brave feature exists:

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Brave @brave.com · 05/11/2025

By blocking ads and trackers, Brave already reduces how much memory sites use. This performance work ensures that these built-in protections are as lightweight as possible, too. These changes are live in Brave Beta on all platforms and will hit the release build by December.

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Brave @brave.com · 05/11/2025

The cosmetic filters in our ad blocker have been moved to flatbuffers, a more compact and efficient type of storage. This under-the-hood change saves ~12 MB of memory on all platforms (Android, iOS and desktop) by default, and even more when additional lists are enabled!

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Brave @brave.com · 05/11/2025

Another performance boost is coming to Brave! 🎉 We’ve completed the next stage of improving the memory usage of the browser’s native adblock engine. Here’s how we’re making your browsing faster…

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Reposted by Brave

The Giving Block by Shift4 @thegivingblock.com · 16/10/2025

Brave & philanthropy share something in common — both are built to make the internet a better place by putting people first. Luke Mulks talked on the podcast about Brave’s mission to protect users, empower creators, and create privacy-first alternatives that give back. youtube.com/watch?v=omkD...

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Brave @brave.com · 17/09/2025

❌ Walk every day ❌ Jog every day ✅ Walk or jog every day while listening to YouTube with the screen locked thanks to Brave

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We’re currently building new AI innovations that could dramatically change how you browse. One thing won’t change, though: Brave will remain the safest way to use AI.

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How do I use the Bring Your Own Model (BYOM) with Brave Leo?

If you want to use models not normally offered by Leo and want to protect your privacy, use the Bring Your Own Model (BYOM) feature. BYOM lets you run a model on your own device and connect it to Leo to ensure that none of your data leaves your device: support.brave.app/hc/en-us/art...

support.brave.app

Brave Leo's Bring Your Own Model (BYOM) feature allows you to connect your own AI models to Leo, whether they're running locally on your device or hosted remotely. This gives you more control over ...

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You don't have to create an account to chat with Leo for free. If you buy Leo Premium, which offers higher rate limits + extra models, your privacy is also protected in the subscription process. Subscribers get unlinkable tokens so payment info can’t be used to identify usage.

This same approach applies to any documents or images you ask Leo to analyze. They’re discarded immediately after Leo answers your prompt. Other companies retain these files on their servers.

All of the AI models offered through Leo are hosted on our own infrastructure to ensure user privacy. We don’t retain your conversations with Leo or use them for model training. We also don’t collect any personal data such as your IP address.

Techlore @techlore.tech · 23/07/2025

AI assistants collect personal information, store your conversations on their servers and use your inputs to train their models. Leo doesn't. Here's how we built privacy into every part of the Brave browser's AI assistant...

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Reposted by Brave

Brave browser now automatically blocks Microsoft's invasive Windows Recall feature! Very similar to Signal, preventing Microsoft from screenshotting your sensitive content 🔥 Learn more: brave.com/privacy-upda...

Brave blocks Microsoft Recall by default | Brave

Starting in version 1.81 for Windows users, Brave browser will block Microsoft Recall from automatically taking screenshots of your browsing activity.

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Reposted by Brave

Windows Central @windowscentral.com · 23/07/2025

Brave's user base is likely not the type of users who would trust Recall that much, anyway, but it's still making sure the browser won't be in any snapshots. "The best way for us to protect our users is to proactively disable this feature".

windowscentral.com

"The best way for us to protect our users is to proactively disable this feature" — Brave gets edgy with its new update that auto-blocks Windows Recall

Brave's user base is likely not the type of users who would trust Recall that much, anyway, but it's still making sure the browser won't be snapshot.

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Brave @brave.com · 02/07/2025

We're excited to make our browser available on a decentralized and account-free platform that's free of Big Tech restrictions and tracking. Learn how to install Brave for Android through our F-Droid repository here: github.com/brave/brave-...

github.com

Installing Brave on Android

Brave browser for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows. - brave/brave-browser

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Brave @brave.com · 02/07/2025

Brave for Android is now available as an F-Droid repository! 📱🤖 This officially-supported repository allows you to install the browser and get automatic updates without using the Google Play app.

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Happy you're giving us a shot! Let me know what you think!

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Brave makes the Web less annoying in many other ways. The browser blocks ads, cookie pop-ups and other clutter by default to clean up pages and make them load faster. Get Brave here: brave.com/download

Brave Browser Download | Brave

The latest version of the Brave browser with ad and tracker blocking capabilities is available to download here. Stand by for an entirely new way of thinking about how the web can work.

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Be aware that blocking elements could break some sites. If you run into issues, select the "Clear all blocked elements" button in the Shields menu. Otherwise, enjoy this new tool for decluttering the Web!

Block Elements is already in Brave for desktop. Here's how to use it there: 1. Right-click the page you're viewing. 2. Select Block elements. 3. Select the element you want to block. 4. Press the Block Element button. Learn more about the feature here: brave.com/privacy-upda...

Brave for Android now lets you block annoying page elements with a tap | Brave

Brave for Android 1.78 introduces a new Shields option called Block Elements, which lets you tap any on-page annoyance and hide it

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When you see an irritating website element like a promo banner, follow these steps: 1. Tap the Shields (lion) icon on the URL bar. 2. Tap Advanced controls. 3. Tap Block element. 3. Tap what you want to block. 4. Tap the Block Elements button. Now it's gone! ✨

New feature alert: Make annoying parts of websites disappear with a tap! 🪄 Block Elements is now rolling out on Brave for Android with the latest update (v1.78.94). Here's how to use it...

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We're now publishing results of Cookiecrumbler crawls across popular websites on GitHub: github.com/brave-experi... This will allow the ad blocking community to review these findings so we can further improve cookie notice blocking for everyone.

github.com

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Cookiecrumbler uses open-source LLM models to automatically detect cookie banners across the Web in multiple languages. This frees up time for human reviewers to then design blocks for these pop-ups. The result is better blocking and fewer broken sites: brave.com/privacy-upda...

Cookiecrumbler: enhancing online privacy by automating cookie notice detection | Brave

Cookiecrumbler automates cookie notice detection using LLMs, enhancing Brave's privacy features while minimizing website breakage through scalable, region-specific blocking and community collaboration...

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Brave blocks cookie notices by default. However, this feature relies on filter lists that can break some sites if the lists' rules are either too broad or incompatible with specific sites. We needed a better solution. This is why we developed Cookiecrumbler.

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bravebrowser Cookie notices are those irritating pop-ups that ask you to accept cookies when you visit a website. In addition to being annoying, these pop-ups can harm your privacy. Researchers learned that these systems can track users even if they reject cookies: www-sop.inria.fr/members/Nata...

www-sop.inria.fr

Brave @brave.com · 14/04/2025

Big news for anyone who hates cookie notices: We've open sourced Cookiecrumbler, a system that automatically detects these notices across websites and suggests fixes for them. 🍪🚫

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You can actually add your own customized news feed to the new tab page of Brave and add any source that publishes with RSS: brave.com/brave-news/