Welcome Brave – a brand new security-oriented web browser, which also has built-in support for torrent downloading and streaming.
It is not a secret that old-fashioned BitTorrent clients have lost most of their appeal, as they become outdated with the rise of video streaming websites and services. This is why the solution is to enjoy both torrent downloading and streaming without having to install any separate apps.
Brave was first launched in early 2016, intended for privacy conscious people willing to browse the web securely. The web browser also supports torrent downloads out of the box, along with instant torrent streaming. Its developers explain that their new, open source browser was designed for both speed and security, featuring a built-in adblocker, which ensures an ad-free and seamless browsing experience. As such, the browser claims to significantly improve browsing speeds while shielding you from malicious ads and offering lots of other privacy features like HTTPS Everywhere, script blocking, and third-party cookie blocking.
The most interesting part is the recently introduced built-in support for BitTorrent transfers, powered by WebTorrent technology. Brave is able to download torrents via magnet links directly from the browser. This feature is not exclusive (Opera also supports it, for instance), but Brave also supports torrent streaming, which allows you to view videos instantly as you would do on streaming websites.
The browser received support from WebTorrent founder, who continues to lend a hand. Right now Brave is compatible with all traditional torrent clients, and support for web peers is also expected. WebTorrent uses TCP connections and is going to add WebRTC support to allow Brave users to connect to web peers.
However, Brave has its shortcomings – its user interface is quite limited, and basic features such as canceling or pausing a torrent are not available yet, so you need to close the tab to cancel a download.
However, you should understand that even despite Brave’s focus on privacy, torrent transfers are not anonymous – if you don’t use VPN or other anonymizer, tracking outfits will be able to track your downloads or streams.
