ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo v1.9.0

v1.9.0 - Permissions & Access category, 14 new verified policies

on GitHub

This release adds 14 new source-verified Chromium policies across all three platforms, a new Permissions & Access category, and reworked presets that use the new surface. Every key was verified against Chromium's policy_definitions and recorded in AUDIT.md. Contributed by @cococool13.

New policies

Privacy & Security

• Disable Network Prediction (Prefetch) — stops speculative DNS lookups and preconnects to sites you never clicked.
• Block Payment Method Probing — blocks canMakePayment() queries, a fingerprinting vector.
• Disable Password Leak Detection — pins the Google-backed leak check off as managed policy.
• Disable Alternate Error Pages — no error-page suggestions service.

New category: Permissions & Access

Site-permission defaults and the escape hatches that could bypass the rest of the policy set, split out of the old categories and expanded:

• Block Web Notifications / Location Access / Motion Sensors — content-setting defaults, locked as managed policy.
• Filter Adult Content (SafeSites) and the existing SafeSearch toggle now live here.
• Disable Guest Mode and Block All Extensions — close the two classic policy-bypass holes (a guest profile or a proxy extension).
• Incognito controls moved in alongside them.

Performance & Bloat

• Enable Memory Saver (Chromium High Efficiency Mode).
• Force Hardware Acceleration — pins the default so it can't drift.
• Disable Media Router (Cast) and Disable Media Recommendations.

Preset changes

• Maximum Privacy closes every newly reachable side channel (prefetch, payment probing, leak detection, alternate error pages, notifications).
• Performance Focused forces Memory Saver and hardware acceleration, drops Cast and media recommendations.
• Strict Parental Controls now disables guest mode and blocks extension installs, so the filter set can't be sidestepped, and adds SafeSites filtering.
• Balanced Privacy and Developer pick up the appropriate subset.

Under the hood

• Windows GUI column layouts rebalanced for the taller catalog; TUI screenshot regenerated from the live TUI.
• PromotionalTabsEnabled and other deprecated candidates were rejected during the audit and recorded in AUDIT.md.
• CI: ruff is now pinned to the classic default rule set (pyflakes + pycodestyle core) so a linter release can't break the build again.

After applying, verify at brave://policy — every row should report OK.

Full changelog: v1.8.0...v1.9.0