How to Install Brave Browser on Linux

Figuring out how to install the Brave browser on Linux is highly recommended, especially for those who value their privacy over everything else. And we’re here to help you through the process of achieving that. 

Internet Safety in Browsers

When setting up a new computer, we’ve all been guilty of using the preinstalled browser just to download Google Chrome so we can use it as our primary web browser. Based on statistics, Google Chrome is used by the majority of users at 65%. While Apple’s Safari comes second at 18%, other web browsers only hold just a couple of percentages each.

Now, we do agree Chrome is regarded as the fastest and most popular choice amongst users. But it isn’t the most private or secure browser out there. Google has been notorious for collecting all kinds of internet data that users usually do not consent to.

Luckily the Chrome web browser is based on Google’s free and open-source Chromium project. Now using Chromium is more private than Chrome, but it still lacks many security features. You could try adding these features by yourself, it’s just that it could get a bit troublesome sometimes.

How to Install the Brave browser Browser on Linux

That’s where the Brave browser comes in. It’s a free and open-source web browser based on the Chromium project. The Brave browser automatically blocks all ads and trackers, ensuring you connect via a secure connection (HTTPS). And even blocks scripts on websites while retaining the same speed as Chrome.

It is the best of both worlds, and we’ll show you how to install it.

Open Up The Terminal and Update the Current Package List

First, we will have to open up the Terminal, which can be done on Ubuntu by pressing “Ctrl + Alt + T”. And then running the sudo apt update command to update our package list. This will grab the latest version of all the software from Ubuntu’s repository without installing them.

Input:

$ sudo apt update

Install the Required Packages

Next, we will install some packages to install the Brave browser. You might already have these installed, but by running these commands, you can update it to the newest version.

Input:

$ sudo apt install curl apt-transport-https

Import the Brave browser Repository

Since the Brave browser isn’t in Ubuntu’s official repositories, we’ll have to add the Brave browser’s repository manually. Otherwise, if we try to install the Brave browser without adding the repositories. But apt won’t be able to find the package.

Input:

$ sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg

After downloading the archive keyring, we’ll import it to the apt’s sources list.

Input:

$ echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browswe-archive-keyring.gpg arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main' |sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list

Update the repositories one more time

After adding the Brave browser repository, we’ll have to tell apt to update its repositories again so that it can recognize the newly added repository.

Input:

$ sudo apt update

Installing the Browser Itself

Finally, we can install the Brave browser like any other package using apt.

Input:

$ sudo apt install brave-browser

Running the Brave browser

We simply need to run the brave-browser command to open up the Brave browser.

Input:

$ brave-browser

You can go through the welcome tour as it allows you to import bookmarks from your previous browser or skip it.

Using the Brave browser

By default, the Brave browser will use its search engine, which respects your privacy. But if it’s unable to find results, it will switch over to Google. And you can adjust this in the settings.

You will notice there are two new icons at the end of the search bar at the top. The first one is the Brave browser Shields, which is the Brave browsers’ security software built into the browser. This is what the tracker and ad blocking do, but it might break some websites, although very rarely. 

If however, you want to disable the Brave browser Shields on a specific website, you can simply click on the icon and turn them off.

As you can see, there are advanced controls to simultaneously turn on/off specific things like trackers, ads, scripts, etc.

The second icon is the Brave browser Rewards. The Brave browser will show you specific ads or pictures on your New Tab page. And you will get compensated for each ad/picture you’re offered. So every time you see an ad, you get a BAT based on Ethereum.

Some users reported earning up to $36 per month, depending on location. You might not see many ads initially, but rest assured that they will appear eventually. There is a limit to how many ads you can get served per hour, so you can’t just reload the New Tab page to get more BAT. And if you want, you can even disable this feature if you don’t like seeing ads.

As we have been shown many times over the past few years, our privacy is constantly compromised when using online services. Our internet footprint is occasionally collected without our consent for profit. They might be stored in insecure databases, and probably even leaked to the public. 

Using the Brave browser allows us to be private and secure and to continue browsing the web at the fastest speed possible.

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