Important Update | Privacy Browser Brave Integrates IPFS

The latest news is that the privacy browser Brave has added support for the Interstellar File System IPFS, integrating IPFS into desktop web browsers for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The privacy browser Brave has more than 20 million users and has begun to support the native IPFS protocol, making it easier and simpler for people to use the distributed network. This implementation marks an important step in the development of a more resilient, user-first Internet .

The IPFS protocol is still under development and improvement. I believe that many people often encounter practical problems in their daily Internet access, such as network interruptions or 404, filtering of important information (such as COVID-19 news), high Internet costs, and sharing and collaboration functions in disconnected and offline environments.

These aren’t issues that everyone faces, and those who aren’t aware of them at all may not understand why IPFS is so important. But for those who desperately need a resilient, open internet that gives them control over their online experience, IPFS can now be installed on the Brave browser with just a click.

Brave has integrated IPFS into its desktop web browser for Windows, macOS, and Linux. When Brave detects an address that is an HTTP gateway URL for IPFS content, or a native IPFS address (e.g. the user will be prompted to install and enable a native IPFS node or use an HTTP gateway), the default gateway used is dweb.link, which is run by Protocol Labs.

Users can also specify a gateway of their choice in the browser settings. You can access the IPFS management UI, or enable IPFS Assistant and select the "My Node" button in the main menu. ipfs://ipns://brave://ipfs,

Modern web browsers enable experimentation, innovation, and new models of collaboration and value exchange on the Internet. The ubiquity of the Web runtime and the low barriers to content creation make it ideal for simplifying access to content and applications for creators and consumers.

However, the underlying protocol of the current Web is HTTP, which gives publishers full control over service availability and data access, leaving end users to passively receive. IPFS changes this dynamic by enabling direct communication and sharing between users through a collaborative public network.

The Web today does not allow for this type of architecture and is very slow to change. Brave joining IPFS is an important step for every independent individual to redefine the power dynamics of today’s Internet architecture.

Changing your network is difficult and takes a long time.

The goal of making IPFS easy to use as a native web protocol is ambitious, but we’re making progress all the time. This launch from Brave is the culmination of years of hard work understanding how IPFS works in the browser, what the security model requires, experimenting with different embedding methods, and working with browser vendors to make it possible.

Understanding use cases and challenges started with the AreWeDistributedYet project (https://arewedistributedyet.com/), where many distributed web applications contribute to these alternative protocols and support them in browsers. The latest version of the source code repository (https://github.com/ipfs/in-web-browsers) provides access to our file content as we continue to optimize IPFS.

In 2019, we summarized our progress. Brave added support for IPFS Companion, Opera also announced plans to support IPFS, and announced other experimental projects and browsers of interest.

In March 2020, Opera released native addressing for IPFS in their Android browser, a first for the protocol. This was a big step forward, but it still used HTTP to connect to the IPFS network, so it didn’t offer all the benefits that IPFS could bring when used natively.

In 2020, we began working with Igalia to fix problems in the browsers themselves — identifying compatibility issues, interoperability gaps, security model ambiguities, and missing APIs that were preventing progress on the distributed web.

Their expertise has powered numerous fixes for the Chromium , Webkit, and Gecko open source projects that not only help IPFS and dweb projects, but also make the web better for all developers.

The initial version of native support for IPFS in Brave provides basic node functionality. There is still a lot of work to be done, here are some of the things IPFS plans to do this year, and the areas it wants to try:

1. Improve performance and stability, reduce memory, CPU and bandwidth usage

2. Simplify the publishing and sharing of IPFS content in the browser UI

3. Add features for revisiting, co-hosting, and offline/local collaboration

4. Define the application model for IPFS web applications

5. Try to integrate the functions and economic models of Basic Attention Token and Vault

6. Develop IPFS security and privacy user interface and visual language in the browser address bar

7. Add IPFS support to Brave’s Android browser

If all 7 items are successfully implemented, the user experience will be significantly improved, which makes the crypto world full of expectations. If you want to experience it yourself now, you might as well install Brave immediately, try the IPFS function, and feel how it works.

(Reply: Brave to get the download link.)

【Guidelines】

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【Interstellar Excerpt】

Currently, Chrome is the most commonly used browser. If you want to find a replacement for Chrome while retaining the advantages of Chrome, Brave browser is worth a try.

The reason why many people insist on using Chrome browser is because of its rich extension resources, compatibility, cross-system synchronization, etc. Brave browser has all of the above advantages and even has the tendency to surpass Chrome in speed. It uses the same Chromium basic architecture as the current mainstream browsers Vivaldi, Opera and even Microsoft Edge, which means it can well support the extensions and plug-ins you are used to using on Chrome browser, and its performance is also maintained at a certain level, and it can even be faster than Chrome.

A major feature of the Brave browser is that it is truly cross-platform, allowing you to operate and run on your Android device just like on Windows or macOS. This browser has a built-in ad and tracking blocker, and when blocking, it will not trigger the ad blocking alerts hidden in certain websites.

Since this browser prioritizes execution speed, the overall interface looks very simple.

【Interstellar Tips】:

You can find more information and ask questions on Brave’s GitHub, in the IPFS web browser repository, or discuss it on the IPFS forum.