Cryptee seems to be reliant on chrome/edge even in the downloaded version. How can I be sure that these browsers don’t have any access to my data in Cryptee?
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What do mean that it relies on Chrome/Edge? You have to be more specific.
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Perhaps they mean the desktop app uses Electron? Im not sure…
It doesn’t use Electron, Cryptee’s just a website/PWA that runs in your browser.
I’ve never installed Chrome or Edge on my system, and I use Cryptee. What makes you think it relies on Chrome or Edge?
If you are using Chrome or Edge, that is your choice. But (I think) it is a choice unrelated to Cryptee.
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No idea then…
just don’t have those browsers installed on your system?
When you first install cryptee, it says it can only be installed on Chrome, edge, or Vivaldi.
I installed Cryptee using edge, which has the edge saved passwords icon in the top right corner which makes me feel like the app is managed by edge. The app also doubles as an edge browser, and I find it hard to believe edge is just handing out its search engine for free without making you pay with your data.
Cryptee is pretty clear about being a browser-based service, which implies that its meant to be used on a popular browser like chrome since most people use google. Even if Cryptee encrypts your data, as the browser, wouldn’t it have access to some metadata or something?
In the installation instructions it explicitly mentions edge, chrome, and Vivaldi. I guess this confused me since I thought you could only install Cryptee with those three browsers. I guess the solution here is to just install Cryptee on a secure browser.
Thanks for responding. I think this solves the issue for me.
I thought it could only be installed via chrome/edge but I was incorrect. Thank you for responding, I think this was just a reading error on my part.
Its very strange that a privacy-centric service like Cryptee would make a statement like that. Big Websites will often say “Chrome” when they really mean all Chromium based browsers, but I would expect a privacy-centric service with a privacy-conscious userbase to be more informed of this.
In any case, I’ve only used cryptee in a limited capacity (i’m testing it and a few other notes apps in tandem), but I haven’t encountered any problems with either Firefox (Hardened) or Brave
I agree that the way their supporting those three browsers is strange, but I’m sure there’s a reason for it. I used to use google docs a lot, so I tested a couple notes apps as well and Cryptee is the only one I found to function as well as google docs for me. I hope this post doesn’t give you a bad impression of it since the software itself is actually really good.
Okay, it took me a few minutes but I found the statement you are referring to now:
As you can see from the top paragraph, Firefox is also a recommended option if you access Crypt.ee from the web.
If you want to “Install” cryptee as a PWA, Firefox is not an option as Firefox doesn’t support installing PWAs at this point in time.
I do not know if they specifically excluded Brave (a Chromium browser that does support PWAs) from their recommendations for reasons, or if they just didn’t explicitly state they support it. My guess is it is intentionally excluded (since I’d assume they have at least as many customers who use Brave as Vivaldi) but I’ve no idea why it would be excluded. Possibly because of Brave’s canvas randomization(?) which could effect the ‘photos’ feature of cryptee.
If you haven’t checked it out already, you may also want to consider cryptpad.fr
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Yeah, I tried it for a while, but it wasn’t as feature-rich as google docs so it ended up upsetting me a couple times. Cryptpad felt really good for security/privacy though. Overall, I think cryptpad is best if you’re not a heavy user and value the simplicity.
Seems like this is the solution. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to install it on my preferred browsers. The only privacy-focused browser I have installed that it seems to work with is Brave
If you want to find your answer in this thread, look at @xe3 replies. Cryptee can work with any browser. It’s a web app, which is good for security.
I believe that the reason it suggests Chrome and Edge is due to the browsers’ popularity, and Vivaldi is because the dev’s using it. But any Chromium based browser should work (it even works in Firefox).
What’s your preferred browser?
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One thing you might want to consider, is that if you are installing cryptee as a PWA, it is not really that important whether you use your preferred browser or not. Considering that you are using it just for a single (presumably semi-trusted) website. Also, 'installing it" as a PWA means the role of the browser is less obvious and less impactful, it is essentially like a wrapper, it should feel more like a standalone app than a web browser, so using a secondary browser for this purpose would not be an inconvenience and could even be desirable in some contexts, so long as the browser is sufficiently private, secure, and trustworthy.
If you have Brave installed you could use that for PWAs like cryptee while using your primary browser for everything else. Or just use cryptee from your primary browser, you don’t need to ‘install’ it unless you choose to, you can just access it normally from the web with Firefox or Chromium based browsers.