Brave-browser: Provide a switch to enable / disable WebTorrent in settings

[yrliou]

We should provide a switch for webtorrent, probably in a brave-specific settings section.

[Brave-Matt]

• 1's from Community:

https://community.brave.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-disable-webtorrent/33872

https://community.brave.com/t/how-to-disable-webtorrent/33659?u=eljuno

[eljuno]

+1 from community https://community.brave.com/t/i-want-brave-to-not-handle-torrents/36668?u=eljuno

[NejcZdovc]

+1 from me

[lordirfan99]

+1 from me. i would like to use 3rd party torrent apps

[pongraczi]

+1
In general, it should be a good idea to not force the user to use an extension like this, but make it as an option and user could decide.
For me, I even cannot download the torrent file from a site, I have to use chromium or firefox only for download a torrent file.
Thnx

[DarkDibblez]

+1 from me

[justmwa]

+1. Opt-in by default for an optional feature is bad design. No opt-out ability is wtf.

[AoDev]

Same complain. I've told people to start using Brave then this came up. Nobody using the browser until this is fixed.

[damienOlsen]

This is really impacting my transition from Chrome to Brave.
Can we please get a flag to disable this, or just revert to default protocol handling

[boggle247]

+1 would love to be able to toggle this off or have a work around in the meantime until the fix is pushed to stable. Thanks

[Brave-Matt]

+1 from Reddit (several users requesting this in the thread):
https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/a0dl7y/torrents_with_brave/

[psypher246]

Due to lack of switch to turn of webtorrent and this bug: https://community.brave.com/t/webtorrent-in-incognito-mode/37461 NO torrent files can be downloaded in incognito mode. It was mentioned here https://community.brave.com/t/possibility-of-disabling-webtorrent/35699 on Oct 23rd that a switch to turn off webtorrents is coming. What is the progress of that?

[Brave-Matt]

+1 from Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/a0u7ro/how_do_i_open_torrents_with_my_default_torrent/

[rht]

I tried launching brave by adding a command line flag --disable-webtorrent-extension (which should have worked according to https://github.com/brave/brave-core/blob/46601383bbc6da47c0ac60f0ba0bc5613de2944e/common/brave_switches.cc#L30) but it had no effect on 0.56.12 on NixOS (from a .deb file). It might have worked on other platforms / versions.

Update: ok, the switch was added after 0.56.12, https://github.com/brave/brave-core/commit/25bb5855d83c088bcf00e6d063e1075122f7e30f#diff-a9d2a0787e829b9ff4f75ffff0682354
Update2: the switch is confirmed to work in 0.58.10 dev.

[InVItroVeritas]

+1 from me

[peyao]

+1, prefer to use my own client with SOCKS5 proxy.

Right now the experience is copy and pasting magnet links, which gets old pretty quickly.

[srirambv]

+1 from https://community.brave.com/t/trying-to-use-remote-torrent-adder-extension/38775/

cc: @rebron need to prioritize this. Lots of community feedback to provide a switch.

[Brave-Matt]

Several more +1's from Reddit:
reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/9rmnlv/how_can_i_disable_the_built_in_torrent_client/

[Brave-Matt]

Another +1 from Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/a3upj1/a_couple_anoying_issues/

[pongraczi]

What if developers just disable the torrent handler, until the on/off button will be ready?
I do not know the details, maybe disabling it (for example handling mime/torrrrentttt instead of mime/torrent if complete disable more difficult) is not as difficult as making a new menu/design/button, whatever and could be a quick patch.

[rht]

Since the command line switch already existed, adding it to brave://flags, should be straightforward:

diff --git a/chrome/browser/about_flags.cc b/chrome/browser/about_flags.cc
index 9b1ce28ebb..1ff69333b0 100644
--- a/chrome/browser/about_flags.cc
+++ b/chrome/browser/about_flags.cc
@@ -1284,6 +1284,10 @@ const FeatureEntry::FeatureVariation kOfflineIndicatorFeatureVariations[] = {
 //
 // When adding a new choice, add it to the end of the list.
 const FeatureEntry kFeatureEntries[] = {
+    {"disable-webtorrent-extension",
+     "Disable webtorrent extension",
+     "Disable webtorrent extension.",
+     kOsAll, SINGLE_VALUE_TYPE("disable-webtorrent-extension")}
     {"ignore-gpu-blacklist", flag_descriptions::kIgnoreGpuBlacklistName,
      flag_descriptions::kIgnoreGpuBlacklistDescription, kOsAll,
      SINGLE_VALUE_TYPE(switches::kIgnoreGpuBlacklist)},

At least the about flag should be added until the switch is moved to the web preferences.

[srirambv]

+1 from https://community.brave.com/t/set-behavior-for-torrent-and-magnet-links-and-other-files-types/39693/2

[pongraczi]

Since the command line switch already existed, adding it to brave://flags, should be straightforward:
...

• {"disable-webtorrent-extension",
  ...
  At least the about flag should be added until the switch is moved to the web preferences.

Hmmm, I tried to use this command line switch, I guess it is my fault, but nothing worked.
The command line switch is working for somebody? How to use (syntax) it exactly?
For me, it should be a quick workaround.
Thanks.

[rht]

@pongraczi the command line switch exists at >= 0.58.10.

[pongraczi]

thanks @rht, I have 0.56.14 Chromium: 70.0.3538.102 on linuxmint 19,

[pongraczi]

0.58.10 is from the beta channel? After an upgrade, I got only 0.57.18.

[eljuno]

+1 via Twitter https://twitter.com/Not_Vash/status/1073750538976665608?s=09

+1 via Community https://community.brave.com/t/how-to-disable-built-in-torrents/39990?u=eljuno

[eljuno]

+1 via Twitter https://twitter.com/KaterOrr/status/1073912044020211712?s=09

[pongraczi]

Thanks, the command line switch is working on linuxmint 19.x (ubuntu bionic), v.58.16 today.
brave-browser --disable-webtorrent-extension

[eljuno]

+1 from Community https://community.brave.com/t/how-to-disable-webtorrent-in-the-new-version/41039?u=eljuno

[xlexi]

Why is this not done yet? I have a system set handler for magnet links and .torrent files and it is extremely obnoxious for you to completely override it, I don't understand why anyone thought this was a good idea.

[ghost]

wowzers

[srirambv]

Why is this not done yet? I have a system set handler for magnet links and .torrent files and it is extremely obnoxious for you to completely override it, I don't understand why anyone thought this was a good idea.

@xlexi You are more than welcome to do a fix for it and submit a PR so that it can be verified and pushed out

[srirambv]

+1 from @TontyTon via #2789

[2635599]

this thread may not be all that old, but this issue has been repeatedly asked about since at least feb 2017. this means there is no legitimate reason that there isn't a way to disable and or remove web torrents. this should of NEVER been added without a way to disable and or remove it.

[NejcZdovc]

@2635599 we hear you and we bumped priority of it so should be done quite soon

[2635599]

@NejcZdovc thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated.

[gyrocog]

That's a +1 from me as well.

I can't really find anything wrong with Brave (I quite like it), but this annoys me very much.

[2635599]

tested the one switch and it worked perfectly,however i was in the process of replacing some files and the first few went to deluge and then it just reenabled webtorrent half way through add the magnet links. i used the script again and it fixed it again, but seems to be only temporary.

[emojisrr]

tested the one switch and it worked perfectly,however i was in the process of replacing some files and the first few went to deluge and then it just reenabled webtorrent half way through add the magnet links. i used the script again and it fixed it again, but seems to be only temporary.

Hi Mr Grimm, i'm hoping you can assist please now that (https://community.brave.com/t/solved-loving-the-speed-feel-tor-integration-and-th-sleek-design-of-brave-only-one-issue-and-that-is-turning-off-torrent-integration-so-i-can-use-deluge/41556/5) is closed, I can't post this there; are you able to please let me know where (switch to disable default webtorrent client) is? I can't find it where Maatches is referring to (https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/897), nor can I find where to apply/check (brave-browser --disable-webtorrent-extension)

Using: Brave Version 0.58.18 Chromium: 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Thanks in advance.

[pongraczi]

There is a command line switch in the recent version. My version is 0.58.18 on linux.
The switch is: --disable-webtorrent-extension

Quick fix: change the command using your menu editor.
For example, I use mate and I change the menu item like this:
brave-browser --disable-webtorrent-extension -- %U

[2635599]

yesterday i asked on the forums about disabling webtorrent cause i want to use deluge. i was given a link to this thread that has a solution that worked perfectly, but it seems that when i close the browser the fix breaks, and i have to apply it each time. i’d like to create a shortcut that when clicked launches terminal, executes the fix which launches brave once applied. thanks

just closed brave and i noticed the following in terminal. pretty sure i didn’t get that using the fix on the release version.

[3551:3567:0104/024139.367396:ERROR:rewards_service_impl.cc(164)] Failed to read file: /home/mc2635599/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser-Dev/Default/ledger_state
[3652:3652:0104/024139.510987:ERROR:ledger_impl.cc(202)] Failed to load ledger state
[3652:3652:0104/024139.511036:ERROR:ledger_impl.cc(285)] Failed to initialize wallet
[3551:3567:0104/024140.177351:ERROR:nss_util.cc(748)] After loading Root Certs, loaded==false: NSS error code: -8018
[1:1:0104/024140.270788:ERROR:audio_context.cc(52)] Create
[1:1:0104/024140.271034:ERROR:audio_context.cc(130)] AudioContext
[1:1:0104/024140.271157:ERROR:audio_context.cc(138)] user gesture
[1:1:0104/024140.488214:ERROR:audio_context.cc(436)] IsAllowedToStart
[1:1:0104/024140.488317:ERROR:audio_context.cc(93)] starting
[3551:3551:0104/024141.746508:ERROR:CONSOLE(2374)] "Possibly unhandled rejection: Not connected.", source: chrome-extension://jndkngpbgmnkbhbjafmjhabcjmgeogfc/dist/deps.js (2374)
[3551:3551:0104/024156.784923:ERROR:CONSOLE(2374)] "Possibly unhandled rejection: Not connected.", source: chrome-extension://jndkngpbgmnkbhbjafmjhabcjmgeogfc/dist/deps.js (2374)
[3551:3551:0104/024212.784650:ERROR:CONSOLE(2374)] "Possibly unhandled rejection: Not connected.", source: chrome-extension://jndkngpbgmnkbhbjafmjhabcjmgeogfc/dist/deps.js (2374)
[3551:3551:0104/024228.779837:ERROR:CONSOLE(2374)] "Possibly unhandled rejection: Not connected.", source: chrome-extension://jndkngpbgmnkbhbjafmjhabcjmgeogfc/dist/deps.js (2374)
[3551:3551:0104/024244.783274:ERROR:CONSOLE(2374)] "Possibly unhandled rejection: Not connected.", source: chrome-extension://jndkngpbgmnkbhbjafmjhabcjmgeogfc/dist/deps.js (2374)
[3551:3551:0104/024259.803799:ERROR:CONSOLE(2374)] "Possibly unhandled rejection: Not connected.", source: chrome-extension://jndkngpbgmnkbhbjafmjhabcjmgeogfc/dist/deps.js (2374)
[3551:3551:0104/024259.946577:ERROR:CONSOLE(2374)] "Possibly unhandled rejection: Not connected.", source: chrome-extension://jndkngpbgmnkbhbjafmjhabcjmgeogfc/dist/deps.js (2374)
[3551:3551:0104/024259.946762:ERROR:CONSOLE(2374)] "Possibly unhandled rejection: Not connected.", source: chrome-extension://jndkngpbgmnkbhbjafmjhabcjmgeogfc/dist/deps.js (2374)
/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/deluge/ui/gtkui/mainwindow.py:151: GtkWarning: gtk_window_realize_icon: assertion 'info->icon_pixmap == NULL' failed
  self.window.present()
[3551:3551:0104/043055.770892:ERROR:CONSOLE(2374)] "Possibly unhandled rejection: Error executing Deluge getTorrents", source: chrome-extension://jndkngpbgmnkbhbjafmjhabcjmgeogfc/dist/deps.js (2374)

[2635599]

puzzled out the shortcut, still need help with the error though. thanks

[pongraczi]

puzzled out the shortcut, still need help with the error though. thanks

Sorry in advance, what is the problem with the command line switch, which is working in recent brave?
Did you try that? It is working as expected, no need to run any fix.

Just start brave like this:
brave-browser --disable-webtorrent-extension

[2635599]

was concerned about the error messages there, and the fact that twice that popup after simply clicking the new shortcut / launcher and once when i actually opened terminal and entered the command.

[bbondy]

Credit to @yrliou for the fix 🎉, looks like this in brave://settings/:

[srirambv]

Verification passed on

Brave | 0.59.20 Chromium: 72.0.3626.28 (Official Build) beta(64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 997b1040b63bac324e815797ba52be0cd8f616ed-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#461}
OS | Linux

Verification passed on

Brave | 0.59.20 Chromium: 72.0.3626.28 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 997b1040b63bac324e815797ba52be0cd8f616ed-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#461}
OS | Windows

Verified passed with

Brave | 0.59.20 Chromium: 72.0.3626.28 (Official Build) beta(64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 997b1040b63bac324e815797ba52be0cd8f616ed-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#461}
OS | Mac OS X