Deceptive Default browser setting.

[consolecable]

When the browser starts of the first time Brave tries to hide the fact that it is changing my default browser buy camouflaging the tick box ( with small fonts and light colours).

The is exactly the kind of deceptive behaviour that is ruining the internet and I would hope to avoid by by using an alternative browser like Brave.

I am not going to be using Brave or any other product that does this. Thanks for letting me know early on that you favour deceptive UI experiences. I will go out of my way to warn people about Brave.

[rebron]

@consolecable Can you show a screenshot of what you're seeing? Also please fill out the issue template so we know what OS you're using and other specifics.

We don't do deceptive UI experiences here. There very well may be a bug with the default browser setting dialog, so we would like to see what that looks like.

[consolecable]

Hi Rebron,

Thanks for the reply. As you can see from the screenshot, the tick is extremely light.

I installed Brave via Snap using the Discover application installer. (
Version 1.34.80 Chromium: 97.0.4692.71 (Official Build) (64-bit) )

I am using default settings on KDE Neon.

Operating System: KDE neon 5.23
KDE Plasma Version: 5.23.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.89.0
Qt Version: 5.15.3
Kernel Version: 5.11.0-43-generic (64-bit)

[consolecable]

Also, just to add the tick box is ticket by default.

Even if it was easy to see I would consider this deceptive.

Some user interaction should be required other than clicking OK. An option to ask me later would also help.

Here is the image when I untick it.

[EriKWDev]

Same on fedora first install. Please untick by default...

"Welcome to Brave" instead of showing what it really does: "Set Brave as Default Browser"

[EriKWDev]

Here (I believe) is the line that sets the checkbox to true:
https://github.com/brave/brave-core/blob/424c857a70b692360db3ad9c0caa2c722bac225e/chromium_src/chrome/browser/ui/views/first_run_dialog.cc#L105

As well as the line that perhaps should change to use IDS_WELCOME_SET_AS_DEFAULT_HEADER
https://github.com/brave/brave-core/blob/424c857a70b692360db3ad9c0caa2c722bac225e/chromium_src/chrome/browser/ui/views/first_run_dialog.cc#L75
..or alternatively update the current text from "Welcome to Brave" to "Set Brave as Default Browser" at https://github.com/brave/brave-core/blob/424c857a70b692360db3ad9c0caa2c722bac225e/app/brave_strings.grd#L297

Also relevant?
https://github.com/brave/brave-core/blob/424c857a70b692360db3ad9c0caa2c722bac225e/chromium_src/chrome/browser/ui/cocoa/first_run_dialog_controller.mm#L128
https://github.com/brave/brave-core/blob/424c857a70b692360db3ad9c0caa2c722bac225e/chromium_src/chrome/browser/ui/cocoa/first_run_dialog_controller.mm#L203

[EriKWDev]

"We don't do deceptive UI experiences here. "

[EriKWDev]

I understand that a free browser needs all the help it can to spread, but not being honest in telling us that that is why this feature is on by default is deceptive in my book.

Will this ever change or do you plan on not commenting further?

[perpetual-hydrofoil]

How about eliminating the checkbox entirely, since they are almost always bad UX unless in a list. (Note that this description needs to be written a bit more, and technically Brave is configuring the OS, not itself, but talking about the idea of just using buttons with a blue button and cancel):

Would you like to configure Brave to automatically open web pages by default?

Cancel Set Default Browser

[EriKWDev]

While that would sort of be a step in the right direction, I feel like it's still going around the fundamental issue I have with prompting the user like this right after install.

I don't know whether I want your browser as default before I've even tried it, and making it so easy to accidentally make it my default is just not cool.

In my book it, would make much more sense to have the question prompted first after having used the browser a couple of times so that the user doesn't make a decision they didn't want to make.

That's what's deceptful about the prompt in its current state and in the one you propose as well.

The user's obviously already invested in trying out brave's technology by downloading it in the first place. Do you really want this to be the face of your browser once it's run for the first time? A prompt using an obviously deceptful way to make more users accidentally put it as default?

Having the "make brave default" button to the right instead of the left is still a nudge that is a bit naughty in my book, but I guess it's better than not labeling the prompt correctly and having it checked by default...

[EriKWDev]

I also take issue with the lack of comment on this issue and transparency regarding this prompt.

The very first response in this thread was "we don't do deceptive user experiences here" while the issue at hand has been completely ignored.

I proposed an explanation as to why it is that this prompt is needed, but you haven't commented on it so it just feels very strange..

[externaljdev]

@EriKWDev I agree with you. I still think that this would be a step in the right direction, and for most people (who don't care), they'd just choose it to become the default, which is obviously a lot better than what Edge etc are doing, while you and I would at least be able to click "cancel" if that's what we preferred. However, I do recognize the business problem that Brave is trying to solve here, which is that it's very, very difficult for a new browser to break in, especially when that browser is privacy-focused by definition and can't do any of the normal things that other vendors do.

[wknapik]

I use snap on the command line (snap install brave).
The browser is not set as default automatically and the only prompt to do it is displayed on ntp on first run:

If I ignore this ^, not make either choice and just close the browser and reopen, the prompt to set as default, or not looks as follows:

Both of these are clear and easily dismissed and will not be shown again once a choice is made by the user.

What is shown in the earlier screenshots looks like the Ubuntu store, which is not something the belongs to, or can be controlled by Brave.

In fact, even the Ubuntu store app probably couldn't make the UI easier to read, because that's down to whatever window manager, theme, etc. that's in effect session-wide.

[rebron]

Closing as fixed in 1.47.171 #26378 (comment)