Bright flash of light upon opening a new tab

[haIfway]

Each time a new tab is opened on brave, a brief flash of bright light appears. This could be dangerous for people who have optic nerve problems or seizures.

Here is a demo of the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F7p2j311vk
This is similar to a previous closed issue: #3575

Brave version (brave://version info)

Brave	1.24.86 Chromium: 90.0.4430.212 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	e3cd97fc771b893b7fd1879196d1215b622c2bed-refs/branch-heads/4430@{#1429}
OS	Linux
JavaScript	V8 9.0.257.29
User Agent	Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/90.0.4430.212 Safari/537.36
Command Line	/opt/brave.com/brave/brave --enable-dom-distiller --disable-domain-reliability --no-pings --extension-content-verification=enforce_strict --extensions-install-verification=enforce --origin-trial-public-key=bYUKPJoPnCxeNvu72j4EmPuK7tr1PAC7SHh8ld9Mw3E=,fMS4mpO6buLQ/QMd+zJmxzty/VQ6B1EUZqoCU04zoRU= --sync-url=https://sync-v2.brave.com/v2 --lso-url=https://no-thanks.invalid --variations-server-url=https://variations.brave.com/seed --enable-features=AutoupgradeMixedContent,SafetyTip,DnsOverHttps,LegacyTLSEnforced,WebUIDarkMode,PasswordImport,ReducedReferrerGranularity,PrefetchPrivacyChanges --disable-features=TextFragmentAnchor,EnableProfilePickerOnStartup,AutofillServerCommunication,NotificationTriggers,WebOTP,SignedExchangePrefetchCacheForNavigations,SubresourceWebBundles,AutofillEnableAccountWalletStorage,TabHoverCards,DirectSockets,SharingQRCodeGenerator,LangClientHintHeader,NetworkTimeServiceQuerying,IdleDetection,SafeBrowsingEnhancedProtectionMessageInInterstitials,SignedExchangeSubresourcePrefetch,SafeBrowsingEnhancedProtection --flag-switches-begin --flag-switches-end
Executable Path	/opt/brave.com/brave/brave
Profile Path	/home/a/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default
Variations	aed3cac0-a9b0841d7146a73c-3f4a17df

OS: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS

More Information

Related issue on Android: #11185

[rebron]

@haIfway Do you have extension running that replaced your new tab page? If you disable that temporarily, does that fix the bright flash?

[haIfway]

It reduces the bright flash, however it's still there.

demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwYFTQe7onQ

[rebron]

cc: @Brave-Matt Are you seeing any more feedback on white flash on the New Tab page?

[Kahana82]

This is old (chromium 57) but may still be of interest to the devs in regard to this problem:
https://github.com/hbtlabs/chromium-white-flash-fix

If I understood the above correctly, it looks like there is a way to change the very first color a page/tab/window is filled with before any content is rendered into it.

It would be nice to have that color be non-white when using the Dark option for Brave colors in the Appearance section of the browser's settings.
The dark background color used by the Dark theme would be ok, but some people might still prefer black or even a custom value.

[rmdhnreza]

I think only Vivaldi has resolved this issue. Brave, Chrome, Edge (Browser I installed) still have this issue.

1. Set Brave colors to Dark
2. Enable brave://flags/#enable-force-dark Flags
3. Browsing
4. White Flash appears

Video

[user9931]

Same and very annoying issue with Brave on Windows with Speed Dial [FVD] extension enabled as new tab page or simular extension that replacing the default new tab page

[Brave-Matt]

+1 from Community:
https://community.brave.com/t/brave-dark-mode-blank-screen/266713/2

[Brave-Matt]

+1 from Community:
https://community.brave.com/t/white-flash-when-opening-hyperlinks-or-new-tabs-on-websites-that-have-dark-reader-disabled/266112/5

[sdgrs546547Q]

one more example: https://imgur.com/a/LRyL9df

[bugbountyguy]

Plus 1 to this issue. I've recently had to change my system to a global 'dark theme' setup due to some personal issues with my eyes. This is a big thing for a11y and honestly should be a high priority, in my opinion... I bet Brave could attract the a11y community who fall under the same category as myself if they fixed this white flash issue between tabs and page transitions (since not even Google Chrome, as mentioned above, has fixed this yet and it's been known for years).

[sdgrs546547Q]

please fix this. In browsers like Firefox this doesnt happen

[racofer]

Still waiting on this one so that I can get back into using Brave. It's fixable in Firefox with about:config, and Vivaldi already fixed it some time ago.

Having flashbangs thrown at me while browsing is not fun.

[Tiharo]

I might be assuming this, but I believe this would be a quick fix to make a lot of people's browsing experience a little bit better.

[ghost]

@rebron I noticed this issue is labeled: needs-more-info. I'd like to help, what info is still needed that the community can provide?

[v3ss0n]

This is still happening in all chromum browsers , including vivaldi now (it use to be fine before).

[stephendonner]

Verified PASSED using

Brave	1.42.62 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114 (Official Build) beta (x86_64)
Revision	a1c2360c5b02a6d4d6ab33796ad8a268a6128226-refs/branch-heads/5060@{#1124}
OS	macOS Version 13.0 (Build 22A5295i)

Confirmed the issue using 1.41.96; confirmed the fix changing the background color to a dark grey using 1.42.62

Steps:

1. installed 1.42.62
2. launched Brave (was in Light mode by default)
3. opened a few new-tab pages in rapid succession
4. opened a few new windows, likewise
5. confirmed no white flash of background in-between renders
6. switched to Dark mode and repeated
7. confirmed no white flash of background in-between renders

1.42.62	1.41.96

[MadhaviSeelam]

Verification Complete using

Brave | 1.42.73 Chromium: 103.0.5060.134 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 8ec6fce403b3feb0869b0732eda8bd95011d333c-refs/branch-heads/5060@{#1262}
OS | Windows 11 Version 21H2 (Build 22000.469)

Confirmed the issue using 1.41.96;

##Steps:

installed 1.42.73
launched Brave
opened a few new-tab pages in rapid succession
opened a few new windows, likewise
confirmed no white flash of background in-between renders
switched to light mode and repeated
confirmed no white flash of background in-between renders

1.42.62	1.41.99

---

Verification passed on

Brave	1.42.74 Chromium: 103.0.5060.134 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
Revision	a1c2360c5b02a6d4d6ab33796ad8a268a6128226-refs/branch-heads/5060@{#1124}
OS	Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Verified no white flashing in Light and Dark mode

Light:

Dark:

[illtellyoulater]

So... what the solution was? I am still observing this problem with latest Brave (1.47.171 stable)...

@stephendonner how did you change the background color to a dark grey?

[stephendonner]

So... what the solution was? I am still observing this problem with latest Brave (1.47.171 stable)...

@stephendonner how did you change the background color to a dark grey?

@illtellyoulater Nothing special; just followed the steps you see listed in the verification notes above.

Can you please file a new issue with a screencast, and cross-reference that new issue #, here? Thanks!

[v3ss0n]

Solution so far for every chromium based browser for me is to enable dark mode by default , in chrome:flags .

[illtellyoulater]

@stephendonner yes but how did you change the background color to a dark grey?

[stephendonner]

@stephendonner yes but how did you change the background color to a dark grey?

@illtellyoulater as I mentioned, I didn't do anything different from the steps, and didn't experience this issue when verifying it.

You still experiencing this issue, now, means we need a new issue logged so we can investigate.

[illtellyoulater]

@stephendonner I understand but looking at the steps I can't see how to switch background to dark grey...

[AlexBilozir]

@illtellyoulater use "enabled" option

[illtellyoulater]

oh stephendonner said dark grey specifically so I thought it was a specific setting among other possible dark tonalities.

[einarpersson]

I am still seeing this, and I am unable to disable it.

I have Dark mode enabled. Enabling the Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents did not make a difference to this issue, however it had a lot of unwanted side-effects. I just want one (1) thing, which is to style/darken the white flash screen. Nothing else.

Version 1.59.124 Chromium: 118.0.5993.117 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Windows 10 Pro

[AwakeningLightning]

Still flash on startup on Windows 11
Found some info which might be useful:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/squ71r/comment/i932tml
Also already fixed here:
https://github.com/hbtlabs/chromium-white-flash-fix