What’s new in Brave Android?

Now, it’s even easier to navigate to features in Brave browser, with a custom toolbar shortcut. The custom shortcut allows Android users on version 1.85 or above to create a one-tap link to various browser features.

To create a custom toolbar shortcut:

1. Open Brave, and tap “⋮” to open the menu.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Appearance.
4. Tap Toolbar shortcut.

Create custom toolbar shortcuts

Leo is Brave’s browser-native smart AI assistant. It can answer questions, analyze websites and docs, generate new content, and more. All with privacy and performance at heart.

By default, Leo comes with multiple open-source models to choose from, depending on the task. Now, Android users on version 1.86 and above can choose from several new free models including:

• GPT OSS 20B
• Llama 4 Scout, and Llama 4 Maverick
• Qwen 3 VL 30B

Leo Premium users can try the above new models, plus try these additional new models:

• Claude Sonnet and Opus 4.6
• Deepseek v3.1
• GPT OSS 120B
• Mistral Large and Pixtral Large
• Qwen 3 VL 235B and Qwen 3 Coder 480B

To select a Leo model:

1. Open Brave, and tap “⋮” to open the menu.
2. Tap Leo AI.
3. Tap Automatic ⌄ to see all the models available.

If you’re not yet a Leo premium user, visit account.brave.com to get started.

New models on Brave Leo

In version 1.86, we added the ability to pin website shortcuts to the new tab page in Brave. Once you’ve pinned a site, you’ll be able to access it with a single tap any time you open a new tab in the browser.

To pin a website shortcut:

1. Open Brave, and then open a new tab.
2. Tap the Add new button.
3. Enter a website name and URL.
4. Tap Save.

Pin websites on Android

If you use a large-screen Android device (like an Android tablet or foldable phone), it’s now even easier to engage with your favorite content in Brave. Thanks to a recent audit, Brave has landed several improvements to the UI on large-screen devices.

Brave works tirelessly to stay one step ahead of YouTube’s anti-adblocking efforts, and ensure YouTube is treated like any other site opened in the Brave browser: free of ads and trackers by default. While YouTube was able to temporarily circumvent Brave Shields recently, each time this happened Brave landed fixes to reinstate Shields, blocking pre-roll and mid-roll ads, on-page ads, and more annoyances.

But watching YouTube in Brave is about much more than adblocking. Users on Brave version 1.87 and above will also see improved picture-in-picture (PiP) and background play.

To see these improvements at work, simply open YouTube in Brave and find your favorite content. Then try minimizing the window, or even locking your phone—you’ll continue to see playback options even on the lock screen.

Improvements to YouTube adblock, PiP, and more

Brave believes in a user-first Web, and that extends to your experience of using Brave itself. You can already customize the look and feel of the Brave new tab page, address bar, and more. Now, with Brave 1.84, you can also customize the main settings menu. This allows you to move the actions you tap most often to the top of the menu for faster access.

To customize the main settings menu in Android:

1. Open Brave and tap “⋮” (main menu).
2. Tap Customize menu and choose what you want to show/hide in the main menu.

Customize the Android settings menu

If you use multiple browsers, or you’re switching to Brave for good, it can save time to import passwords for your most-used apps and sites. Now, with Brave 1.84, you can.

To import passwords via CSV file:

1. Open Brave and tap “⋮” (main menu).
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Brave Password Manager.
4. Tap Import passwords.
5. Choose a CSV file containing passwords

Note that the CSV would need to have first been exported from another browser, e.g. Chrome.

Importing passwords via CSV file

Leo is Brave’s browser-native smart AI assistant. It can answer questions, analyze websites and docs, generate new content, and more. All with privacy and performance at heart.

Now, Android and desktop users on version 1.84 or higher can also attach PDFs to a chat. Leo can then summarize the PDF itself; generate new content based on the PDF; or even include the PDF (along with open tabs or docs) in a larger analysis.

To attach a PDF in Leo:

1. Open Leo in Brave.
2. Click/tap the Attachment (paperclip) icon.
3. Select Upload file… and choose a file from your device.

While not new in 1.82, having the option to move the address bar to the bottom of the browser was one of our most requested features. We’re mentioning it here again so everyone can give it a try.

To move the address bar to the bottom of the browser:

1. Open Brave on your Android device, and tap the main menu ("⋮").
2. Tap Appearance.
3. Toggle the Address bar setting.

Alternatively, you can just long-press the address bar.

Address bar moved to the bottom of the browser

Android’s quick actions search widget makes it easier to access specific app features directly from your device’s home screen.

Leo is Brave’s browser-native smart AI assistant. It can answer questions, analyze websites and docs, generate new content, and more. All with privacy and performance at heart.

With Android 1.82, we’ve combined the two. Brave users can now prompt Leo directly with a voice search in quick actions.

Leo in the quick actions search widget

Leo is Brave’s browser-native smart AI assistant. It can answer questions, analyze websites and docs, generate new content, and more. All with privacy and performance at heart.

In Brave 1.82, Leo got several great updates, including:

• Personalization: Add your name, interests, and more so Leo can personalize its answers to you. To safeguard privacy, any personal data you add will never leave your device.
• @ mention a tab: Now you can @ mention a specific tab (or multiple tabs) in your browser for Leo to reference when generating an answer.
• Easily analyze docs and files: Give Leo better context by attaching PDFs and images, or linking to G Docs or Sheets open in other tabs. Leo can then include these items in its summaries and the content it generates.
• Gemma support: We’ve also added support for Gemma LLMs.

YouTube is already better in Brave. By blocking pre-roll, mid-roll, and on-page ads in YouTube, you get a premium-like experience, free of ad interruptions.

Now, you can enter picture-in-picture (PiP) mode in YouTube with a single tap. To watch YouTube videos in PiP:

1. Navigate to youtube.com in Brave, and select the video you’d like to watch.
2. Tap the PiP button at the right side of the address bar.

Note: YouTube PiP improvements will be rolled out in phases. If you don’t yet see this option on your Android device, check back soon.

Picture-in-picture mode for YouTube videos