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.
Wednesday November 13, 2024 2:09 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development.
Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag.
Timing
Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Thursday November 14, 2024 4:19 pm PST by Juli Clover
The M4 MacBook Pro models feature quantum dot display technology, according to display analyst Ross Young. Apple used a quantum dot film instead of a red KSF phosphor film, a change that provides more vibrant, accurate color results.
Young says that Apple has opted for KSF for prior MacBook Pro models because it doesn't use toxic element cadmium (typical for quantum dot) and is more...
Saturday November 16, 2024 9:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Earlier this month, we reported about some iPhone users temporarily losing all of their notes in the Notes app after accepting Apple's updated iCloud terms and conditions. Apple has now indirectly acknowledged this issue in a new support document that outlines steps to follow if your iCloud notes are not appearing on your iPhone, iPad, or Vision Pro.
Fortunately, the notes can be re-synced...
Friday November 15, 2024 8:09 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today added a few older iPhone and Apple Watch models to the vintage and obsolete products list on its website.
Apple has now classified the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone XS Max as "vintage" worldwide. Apple considers a device to be "vintage" once five years have passed since the company stopped distributing it for sale. Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers sometimes offer repairs...
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.
