Products · Product
Brave browser
Raised as a usability problem by 144 people on Hacker News over 11 years (2016–2026), in 104 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Crypto settings don't sync, so they must be disabled on every installUnreviewed
20162026- Cluttered with unnecessary features like wallet and crypto pushed at users2026-09-28
- Disabling unwanted crypto, adware and AI features is tedious, with new ones added yearly2025-12-07
- Crypto clutter on new tab page must be manually turned off, hard for non-savvy users2025-07-23
Tabs behave differently from Chrome and the bubble UI is confusingUnreviewed
20162026- Tabs beyond about 80 never appear on the tab bar, even when in foreground2023-07-18
- Vertical tab bar wastes 10-20% of screen space and gets annoying2023-06-02
- Too many tabs don't fit the horizontal bar, so scrolling or clicking arrows is inefficient2023-06-02
Many sites break because of the built-in ad blockerUnreviewed
20162026- Browser is unusable for people who want to block ads2024-05-31
- Ad blocker sometimes breaks page functionality, requiring manual disabling per page2019-12-06
- Ad blocking works inconsistently on phone, sometimes blocking ads and sometimes not2019-04-09
Confusing UI sends donations to creators users didn't chooseUnreviewed
20162026- Donation feature UI is a dark pattern that pushes unintended choices2022-10-19
- UI misleads users into thinking site owners were registered and receiving donations2022-08-31
- Shipped confusing, poorly considered UI that let donations go out without user consent2018-12-23
Many settings must be disabled to stop the default UI annoying usersUnreviewed
20162026- Too many settings must be disabled to stop the standard UI being annoying2025-10-13
- Must spend minutes toggling and disabling settings after every install2023-10-15
- Opting out requires navigating several hidden settings menus, and the article is overly wordy2022-10-19
Text jumps unexpectedly when scrolling up slightlyUnreviewed
20162026- Cannot scroll the page to see the entire text on macOS2025-12-22
- Scrolling feels worse than in Chrome2018-12-21
- Text jumps unexpectedly when scrolling up slightly2017-04-09
Dark-pattern prompts in the interface annoy usersUnreviewed
20162026- Brave's interface has dark patterns that would trick less-technical users2026-01-06
- Copies Chrome's look and bad habits, and uses dark-pattern UI prompts that annoy the user2023-08-03
- Previous UI incorporated dark patterns that pushed users into choices2018-12-23
Browser is too slow to use with its Electron interfaceUnreviewed
20162026- Desktop Brave on macOS is horribly slow to use2019-10-31
- Brave was too slow to use with its Electron interface2019-03-12
- Noticeable lag when clicking links from Slack to open in Brave2018-01-31
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- No forward button in menu, forward navigation only discoverable by accident via swiping2026-10-15
- Cluttered with unnecessary features like wallet and crypto pushed at users2026-09-28
- Confusing to use; couldn't find where downloaded files went and they disappeared2026-09-20
- Turning off shields per site is a chore; whitelisting recipes found online don't work2026-09-01
- Outdated UX on mobile and bloated with web3 features2026-01-10
- Brave's interface has dark patterns that would trick less-technical users2026-01-06
- Cannot scroll the page to see the entire text on macOS2025-12-22
- Disabling unwanted crypto, adware and AI features is tedious, with new ones added yearly2025-12-07
- Too many settings must be disabled to stop the standard UI being annoying2025-10-13
- Crypto clutter on new tab page must be manually turned off, hard for non-savvy users2025-07-23
- Typing in the YouTube comment box is very laggy, unlike other text fields2025-07-23
- Pressing Enter in the search box does nothing until a search engine is selected2025-06-11
- Most sites load blank and need repeated refreshing; tabs lag badly on Android2025-03-02
- Results page keeps reloading indefinitely, making the site unusable on iOS2024-12-28
- Whitelisting a whole domain is painful or impossible; it works per host2024-12-11
- Constant premium upsell notifications with no way found to disable them2024-12-07
- Gets a captcha on every search after 11pm, taking 15-20 seconds2024-08-30
- Documentation confusing; user couldn't tell which settings were right or what they meant2024-08-28
- Analytics turned back on after reopening; setting appears off but isn't, despite saving2024-08-15
- Browser is unusable for people who want to block ads2024-05-31
- Had to dig through the UI to figure out how to activate it2024-02-24
- Disabling Brave Rewards settings keeps surfacing new crypto promotions in other places2024-01-23
- Enabling the protection forces all sites into light mode, so the user disables it2024-01-22
- Too many options and buttons; opening and switching tabs became too hard2023-11-27
- VPN, Rewards and News icons stay in the menu even after services are turned off2023-11-17
- Must spend minutes toggling and disabling settings after every install2023-10-15
- Disabling everything for a page takes up to three clicks, annoying when in a hurry2023-09-12
- Can't find how to create cosmetic filters to hide unwanted YouTube boxes2023-08-11
- Copies Chrome's look and bad habits, and uses dark-pattern UI prompts that annoy the user2023-08-03
- Had to spend time turning off crypto features to tame it2023-07-27
- Turning off unwanted features requires digging through many menus2023-07-27
- Spell checker often gives no or very wrong suggestions for misspelled words2023-07-27
- Crypto settings don't sync, so users must manually disable them on every new install2023-07-27
- Link labelled 'webshop' leads to Chrome Web Store, confusing users about where they go2023-07-27
- Password settings menu shifts and reloads as you try to click it2023-07-27
- Crypto features are hard to hide; each element needs separate hunting through menus and settings2023-07-27
- Tips sent to creators who never signed up were held and then returned2023-07-27
- Tabs beyond about 80 never appear on the tab bar, even when in foreground2023-07-18
- Vertical tabs mouse-over fails when cursor is at the far left edge of screen2023-06-02
- Vertical tab bar wastes 10-20% of screen space and gets annoying2023-06-02
- Too many tabs don't fit the horizontal bar, so scrolling or clicking arrows is inefficient2023-06-02
- Advanced search operator like -inurl: silently ignored with no notice shown to user2023-05-31
- Forgetful browsing toggle is hidden under Advanced controls, hard to discover2023-05-12
- Setting for the search element is hidden in an unrelated background image menu2023-04-28
- Couldn't find how to turn off crypto ads; the option is well hidden2023-04-28
- Can't find how to turn off crypto ads; opt-out option is well hidden2023-04-28
- Password autofill doesn't toggle on eBay and Gumtree sites, blocking checks on the go2023-04-27
- Quoted searches still return approximate matches, so exact phrases can't be found2023-04-27
- Forgets stored usernames, so user must type username before password autofills2023-04-27
- Ads take up a full screen, so users must scroll to find the official site2023-04-27