{"id":84430,"date":"2022-10-02T05:48:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-02T05:48:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/launching-a-new-chromium-based-webview-for-android\/"},"modified":"2022-10-02T05:48:59","modified_gmt":"2022-10-02T05:48:59","slug":"launching-a-new-chromium-based-webview-for-android","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/launching-a-new-chromium-based-webview-for-android\/","title":{"rendered":"Launching a new Chromium-based WebView for Android"},"content":{"rendered":"
Our in-app browser for Facebook on Android has historically relied on an Android System WebView based on <\/span>Chromium<\/span>, the open source project that powers many browsers on Android and other operating systems. On other mobile operating systems, the System WebView component cannot be updated without updating the entire operating system. On Android, this works differently, allowing the System WebView component and the Chrome app to be updated via Google Play instead of with operating system updates, which is preferable to ensure that users are able to access critical security updates. Despite this, over the past few years, we’ve observed that many Android users are updating their Facebook app but not updating their Chrome and WebView apps, which may result in security risks and a negative user experience. <\/span><\/p>\n For example, people with outdated versions of the Chrome and WebView apps may be more susceptible to zero day exploits and other security holes that might have been fixed in newer versions of Chromium. In addition, we also observed that, due to the way Android loads the System WebView, when users were updating the System WebView app, they were experiencing a Facebook app crash. <\/span><\/p>\n To help solve these issues \u2013 <\/b>and following the precedent of browser vendors such as Microsoft Edge, Samsung Internet, and Mozilla Firefox who all ship custom browser engines on Android \u2013 we have been building and testing a separate Chromium-Based WebView for a few years. This will act as an alternative for the System WebView for the in-app browser for Facebook on Android. This WebView<\/span> can update in sync with Facebook app updates, and function as a drop-in replacement for the System WebView inside the Facebook app without compromising or changing the user experience in any way.<\/span><\/p>\n We have been conducting early tests on this Chromium-Based WebView, and we will begin rolling out this version to more Facebook app users that have compatible devices. <\/span><\/p>\n Because we are now able to bundle updates to our WebView alongside our app, we can ensure that people who are using our Chromium-Based WebView receive the latest Chromium security patches, which immediately helps mitigate security risks. Additionally, our WebView runs in the same manner as the System WebView.<\/span><\/p>\n Keeping in line with best industry practices, we perform rebases of our WebView onto the latest versions of Chromium at regular intervals. This helps us ensure that our WebView has the latest Chromium security patches.<\/span><\/p>\n Android loads the System WebView code into an app’s memory when the component is in use. Once the code is loaded, the app can use the WebView API to interact with the WebView component code in the app’s memory. This has tangible user benefits since it means that one app’s use of the WebView component will not influence or slow down another. It also has security benefits because, with this type of isolation, apps are unable to see what people are doing inside of WebView components in other apps.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\nMore security, stability, and better performance<\/h2>\n
security<\/span><\/h3>\n
stability<\/span><\/h3>\n