Now, there are two ways you can view web content on your Android smartphone –
- Using the default web browser that you have installed on your Android device (Chrome, Edge, Opera, etc.)
- Viewing the content within an application directly using Android System Web view.
The second option is possible if the application has the Android System WebView functionality, pre-installed. What the Android System WebView does, essentially, is that it embeds a browser within the application, that is capable of rendering web pages and running JavaScript. This feature has made applications a lot more powerful, as apps can now directly interact with web content, and also feature their own browser.
Earlier, the Android System WebView was coupled to the operating system, which meant that the utility was only upgraded with every version upgrade for Android. This meant that users had to wait for a year before the WebView feature saw an upgrade and optimizations. However, the WebView utility was separated from the OS when Android 5 was released, and this allowed Google to push updates and bug fixes more regularly through the Play Store.
Subsequently, Google dropped support for Android versions 4.3 and lower, in order to prevent hackers from exploiting any vulnerabilities in the WebView utility in these older versions. As of today, Google has recommended that users upgrade their devices to the latest build available and ensure that Android System WebView is upgraded whenever prompted.
