Android WebView is a component of the Android OS that allows you to see the results from the web directly in the app. Powered by Chrome this app allows Android apps to display web content. It’s a system app you can find in your Android smartphone menu.
This is a built-in app that comes with your Android device. Thanks to it, you can run web content within applications. It should not be mixed with a browser application that came with your phone. Android WebView is based on the WebKit engine and is a part of KitKat.
What is Android WebView?
If you’re running Android 7.0 Nougat, Android 8.0 Oreo, or Android 9.0 Pie, you can safely disable the app on your phone without suffering adverse consequences. This is because Chrome handled WV duties for these three OS versions, making Android System WV largely redundant.
Google returned WV duties to Android System WebView for Android 10 and now Android 11. So if you are running either of these systems (or Android 6.0 Marshmallow or earlier), we strongly recommend you don’t disable the app or delete its updates.
The app is important for the functioning of Android Studio. If you have programming knowledge, you can use Android Studio to create your own browser or any other app.
WV allows you to open other tabs while browsing through Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or other apps. If you see an interesting ad while scrolling through these social networks and the ad opens in another window, this window is running thanks to WV.
If it’s properly updated, Android WebView will save you a lot of time. Instead of opening a browser and searching for the content, you can simply click on the link inside any app and see the content.
In order to find this particular app, you can go to “Settings” > “Application Manager” > “System Apps”. You will see Android WebView and you can confirm if the option is enabled.