What is DRM?

Many streaming websites (Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Amazon Prime Video, etc.) leverage DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology to block or restrict access to Copyright protected content. It controls the use, modification, and distribution of copyrighted material, especially audio and video content. For further information on DRM on Android, you can find them in this link.

How do I view DRM-protected content?

In order to view the DRM-protected content in the Brave browser on your Android device, you will need to enable Widevine in the Brave browser.

What is Google Widevine?

Google Widevine is used in Chromium-based browsers. It is used to decrypt, decode, or enable playback of DRM-protected video content. Widevine is disabled in Brave by default and must be explicitly enabled before it can be used to play protected content. It is part of the Android OS library — owned by Google and loaded from Google’s servers
— used by many websites to load audio or video content. When you visit these websites in the Brave Browser, you may be asked to enable Google Widevine. Brave does not own — and cannot inspect — Google Widevine.
Google Widevine DRM only needs to enable once to work on all websites that would require it. Note that if you allow Google Widevine on your Android device OS settings, the following will happen:

• You will be able to play the DRM-protected content
• You will agree to Google’s Terms of Use
• You will agree that Brave is not responsible for any losses or damages in connection with your use of Google Widevine

Enabling Widevine

Widevine is disabled by default after installation. It can be enabled or disabled at any time by launching Brave, and going to Settings --> Media --> Widevine DRM:

Note that if you visit a website before enabling Widevine, you will see a prompt notifying you to do so before you can view the content. If you decline to enable Widevine when you see this prompt, you can still enable it any time in Settings as described above.

Selecting Allow (Relaunch Now) in the prompt enables the Widevine option while selecting Block in the prompt will keep Widevine disabled until it’s changed in Settings.

Minimum system requirements

For most modern DRM content, users need at least Android N, hardware support of Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), and an OEM/unmodified OS to get Widevine L1 level.

You can learn more about WidevineCdm and view the documentation on our GitHub.