At the moment I’m using Brave as my main/default browser. However, I need a separate solution for running web apps, including privacy-invasive web apps and PWAs. I’d need it to be separate from Brave because I’d like to be able to browse more privately (by not being logged into anything) on my main browser and I’ll need to be able to use split-tunneling with Mullvad when using some of those web apps, such as Discord. However, I’d also need it to mitigate and contain the invasions of privacy. For example, blocking cross-site tracking, potentially mitigating the tracking within certain web apps, preventing unnecessary access to the rest of my system, etc.
I’ll go over some options I’ve considered along with why they don’t seem ideal to me or if I’d need clarification on something before I consider using it.
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Second instance of Brave: I haven’t seen a way to set up a second instance of Brave (at least with an official build) that acts as a separate application. There are some other potential options, but I’m not too sure if they’re great options for reasons I’ll cover.
1a) Brave Beta: Generally speaking, beta software tends to be unstable. Furthermore, I’m not sure if Brave Beta would receive timely security updates at a similar speed to their official release. I’d need more information on the stability/security of Brave Beta before considering it.
1b) Unofficial build (Flathub?): I could also use an unofficial build of Brave, such as the Brave Flatpak on Flathub. However I’ll be using some sensitive/important web apps and I’m not sure how much I can trust unofficial/third-party builds of a browser, including builds on Flathub. There’s also the problem of sandboxing- according to PrivacyGuides and others, Flatpaks weaken the sandboxing of browsers like Brave. To be fair, I’d only be using web apps I know of, not browsing random websites. So maybe the weakened security sandbox is less of an issue so long as it doesn’t also weaken privacy protections. -
Electron replacement browsers: I’m not sure what to categorize these apps as, but there’s also the option to use what you could call “Electron replacement browsers”, or as they’re sometimes marketed as, “messenger browsers”. The only actively developed FLOSS option I’ve heard of is Ferdium (fork of Ferdi), but it looks like there are several options and I’m not too sure which is best. One concern I have is in regards to how well they protect users from privacy-invasive web apps. For example, Brave can block ads, trackers, and fingerprinting to some degree. Do these applications manage to do the same things Brave can? Another consideration is their privacy policies and telemetry collected by the applications themselves. I haven’t investigated all of the different options, (such as Ferdium, Station, ElectronIM, Hamsket, Franz, Beeper, Tangram, etc.) but I’m hoping someone has enough insight on at least one of these applications that they could speak to their trustworthiness and any potential privacy-protection features they may utilize.