Brave, an open source web browser by Mozilla's co-founder that claims to block ads and trackers, in addition to facilitating cryptocurrency-based micro-transactions between content consumers and producers, has announced development plans for its upcoming 1.0 release. The new release will transition to being based on Chromium – making it compatible with all of Google Chrome's extensions and features.

New Chrome-Based Brave Browser Expected Later This Year

Brave has published a document revealing that it has been developing a new browser "based on Chromium […] which also uses Chromium's native user interface instead of [its] current HTML and Javascript UI" in recent months. The "rewrite" has been made "available for developers as open source."

The new release will "have support for nearly all [Google] Chrome features and extension APIs," unlike the current Brave browser. Despite supporting chrome's extensions, Brave claims that the new browser will not "includ[e] any code that phones home to Google, or to the Chrome Web Store." The document also notes that "Brave for Android already uses Chromium fully, […] without the code for Google accounts, sync, or other Google-specific surveillance risks."

The update states that the Brave 1.0 "is coming later this year," however no estimate is given as to a specific launch date.