Brave is an exceptional browser that is quickly replacing Chrome on Android for many users, including me.
The browser has added features that aren’t available on Chrome, Edge, and other Chromium-based browsers. But plenty of hidden features are useful and aren’t turned on by default.
Here are some of my favorite hidden features every Brave user should turn on to improve their browsing experience.
Video playlist and offline background playback
Brave is secretly a media player
My favorite hidden feature in Brave is the ability to play video offline and manage it in a playlist.
It has quickly become my main browser for consuming media, but if I hadn’t discovered it buried in settings, that wouldn’t be the case.
Since the playlist feature isn’t enabled by default on Android, I recommend enabling it if you consume a lot of media.
Before turning on the Playlist feature, I also recommend turning on the Background audio feature. This setting isn’t turned on by default and can be found in Settings > Media > Background Play.
To turn on the Playlist feature, type brave://flags in Brave’s address bar. This opens the Flags menu, where you can search for Playlist and turn it on.
After you turn on this feature, you can’t use any other browser to consume video or audio.
After turning it on, you can play any video in the background offline and add it to a playlist. This lets you watch TV shows or listen to audio without manually queuing content each time.
To use the Playlist feature, when a video or audio is playing on a website or YouTube, tap the Music Note icon in the lower-right corner.
This opens the playlist menu, where you manage videos and audio content. You can add content to the playlist, and the browser will download it automatically for offline playback.
Stay connected to Wi-Fi when using the Playlist feature to queue videos or audio content for faster downloads. This also helps conserve your device’s battery and data.
After media is added to the playlist and downloaded, you can access it in your car or in areas with patchy network coverage, all within Brave.
Custom Shield settings
Go beyond the default settings
When I started using Brave, I assumed the default ad-blocking capabilities would be enough for my daily use. But the experience was still lackluster until I started digging through Brave’s settings for a solution.
Brave’s Shields feature level can be customized to your preferences, and after switching to the aggressive filtering setting, the ad-blocking experience changed completely.
To switch to more aggressive ad blocking, go to Settings > Brave Shields & privacy > Block trackers & ads, then set it to Aggressive.
But Brave also lets you turn on filters to block annoying features many websites have.
Within the Brave Shields & privacy settings, tap Content filters and toggle on every feature you find annoying on websites.
For example, I’ve turned on the following filters that I find most annoying on websites:
- YouTube Shorts
- YouTube members-only videos
- Newsletter pop-up blocker
- Cookie notice blocker
- AI Suggestions blocker
- Tracking URL blocker
- Country-specific ad blockers
- Mobile app promo blocker
There are myriad other options you can explore and turn on the ones you’ve encountered the most when visiting websites.
These filters, working in tandem with aggressive ad blocking, make a massive difference when browsing websites that rely heavily on such features.
In my opinion, Brave’s real superpower lies in its privacy settings, and I recommend taking full advantage of them.
Auto dark mode on every website
No need for an extension
While I love using the Dark Reader extension on the desktop version of Brave, there is currently no extension support on Android.
But that doesn’t mean I cannot force dark mode on every website I visit. This setting is also hidden in the brave:///flags menu, where you need to turn it on.
Search for the keyword “dark,” and an option called Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents pops up.
After you turn on this feature, every website you visit will display in dark mode, regardless of extensions or third-party apps.
Not only is this easy on the eyes, but your phone or tablet’s battery will also thank you, since it uses fewer resources.
I’ve noticed I use the most battery when browsing and consuming media on my devices, and dark mode can be a huge help in prolonging my battery life.
Dark mode has become an absolute necessity for my daily browsing, and it’s the first setting I turn on when setting up Brave on a new device.
Brave has cemented its place as a powerhouse
Brave does more than Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, making it my default browser on every device.
I initially installed it to block ads, but the more I dug into its settings, the more useful features I found that improved my browsing experience.
Sure, I can use open source browsers to replicate the experience, but Brave keeps it simple for everyone.
Brave makes replacing Chrome an easy decision, and hidden features like the ones I mentioned are the icing on the cake that every user should know about.
