Yesterday people all over the world woke up and grabbed their smartphones like every day to check emails and the like. But apps like Gmail crashed immediately. The culprit was quickly found, namely WebView. Google has now explained in more detail what happened.
What actually is WebView?
The Android system service WebView is an essential part of the mobile operating system from Google. Because with Android System WebView, as the whole thing is completely called, developers essentially save a lot of work. Because with WebView, websites optimized for mobile viewing can be transferred practically one to one in apps. This is also the reason why many applications look exactly like or similar to the associated pages on the web.
However, WebView is more than just a link to the web. Or less, if you will: This system component can best be seen as a reduced or purged Chrome tab describe. The website is rendered normally, but components that are not required for this (app) case, such as synchronization or extensions, are missing.
For developers, WebView is not only practical but also quick to implement, because it basically only requires three lines of code. In short: Android System WebView is simple and important when it works.
Update distributed with error
On the night of Tuesday, however, the fatal error occurred and Google Community Manager Zak Pollack explains in a post in the support area of the group from Mountain View, California, what happened last: "On March 22nd, we received reports that several Google apps, including Gmail and Chrome, and partner apps on Android, crash unexpectedly. "
Pollack continues: "After an investigation, we have determined that the problem is related to a recent update of the WebView system app. We have stopped the update and provided a new version of WebView (89.0.4389.105). To fix this problem, Android System WebView and Google Chrome need to be updated. " This usually happens automatically.
If you have to or want to do this manually, according to Google, this is how it works:
- Open the Play Store app
- Look for "Android System WebView"
- Select "Update". If you don't see "Refresh", skip this step
- Repeat these steps for Google Chrome
In some rare cases in Android 10 or 11, a manual update of WebView or Chrome may fail to complete. Here are additional steps users can take to resolve the issue:
- Open your phone’s Settings app.
- Tap Apps & notifications > Google Play Store > Storage & cache > Clear Data
- Please note that doing this will clear some of your Play Store settings like parental controls, auto-update preferences, etc. Please recheck these settings after following these steps.
- Repeat the steps above to update WebView and Chrome
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