Brave

Brave's v1.94 update on Android includes under-the-hood improvements to YouTube playback, background play, and picture-in-picture mode. The changes shipped with the update released last week, and Brave is asking Android users for feedback on whether they notice a difference.

• Improvements target smoother YouTube video playback on Android.
• Background play and picture-in-picture behavior were also refined.
• Brave is soliciting user feedback on the changes.

Brave v1.94 on desktop ships two major Brave Wallet upgrades: native Polkadot support and private cross-chain transfers powered by NEAR Protocol's Confidential Intents.

• Users can now buy, hold and send DOT directly in Brave Wallet; the wallet also supports AssetHub, used for issuing and managing Polkadot-native assets.
• Confidential Intents lets users transact on Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum and Solana without a public trail, with transactions routed by default through a NEAR private shard; ZEC support is coming soon.

Brave says that later this year it will add Polkadot swaps and Web3 connectivity to the wallet.

Starting with desktop version 1.94, Brave is offering Email Aliases, letting users sign up for online services without revealing their personal email address. Users right-click any email field and select "New Email Alias" to generate an address that forwards to their primary inbox, reducing spam and breaking cross-site email-based tracking.

• Currently desktop-only.
• The feature has drawn press attention, including Digital Trends highlighting how it limits tracking while still delivering messages to a primary inbox.

Brave released browser update v1.94.121, which includes a fix for a Chromium vulnerability found being exploited in the wild. The update is rolling out automatically, and Android users can manually trigger it via About Brave from the browser's ☰ menu.

• The flaw was actively exploited before the fix shipped, so users are urged to update promptly.
• Applies to desktop and Android versions of the browser.

Brave's Search API was used by participants in a hackathon hosted by the AI newsletter AlphaSignal. Developers built an autonomous agent that could reliably act in the real world — demonstrated by ordering a pizza — using Brave Search API for web access.

The hackathon showcased how AI agents can use search APIs to complete practical real-world tasks. Brave's role provides a concrete example of its search infrastructure being used beyond the browser itself.

Brave's research and security team in its London office built a power lab called BLaDE equipped with a high-sensitivity digital power meter. The setup is designed to measure the energy consumption of browser features and operations, giving the team a way to quantify the power impact of what ships in Brave.

Brave News on desktop now supports OPML imports and exports, letting users add new sources or move their feed subscriptions between services. The feature lets users back up or transfer their feed list rather than rebuilding it by hand.

• OPML import lets users bring in sources from other RSS readers or news apps.
• OPML export provides a portable backup of current subscriptions.
• The update was highlighted in a retweet by AlternativeTo, a software comparison site.

Brave says it will keep supporting uBlock Origin and other Manifest v2 extensions, even as Chrome and Microsoft Edge phase them out. Brave hosts the extensions on its own servers, so users can enable them under Settings > Extensions > Manifest v2 extensions, despite their removal from the Chrome Web Store.

The announcement responds to news that Microsoft Edge is locking out older ad blockers just as Chrome did, removing another option for uBlock Origin users. Brave frames its approach as keeping legacy extensions available — or using its built-in ad and tracker blocking — without giving up browser security.

Brave has updated Ask Brave, its built-in AI assistant, with faster and higher-quality responses. The chatbot now better tailors answers for complex requests while also handling quick questions more efficiently.

• The update improves response speed and quality across both straightforward and involved queries.
• The change was highlighted in a retweet by AlternativeTo, a software comparison site.

Brave has updated its built-in screenshot tool to support capturing a selected area, the full window, or the visible area (window minus the interface). Users can enable the tool under Settings > Appearance > Customize your toolbar, and the company says more improvements are on the way.