I deactivated Android System Webview. What can go wrong?

Question

I'm a day 1 Firefox user. I recently faced lots of changes in Google's apps like News or Google (Now) that forced me to use Chrome from within the app, against my will.

I read that I could deactivate Chrome to have taps on Google's apps open links in my Firefox as they used to. So I did and it worked. But sometimes there's that video that Firefox can't read but Chrome can so the solution was only half good.

Today I learned about Android System WebView. It's the component that allows Chrome to run in other apps, amongst other things I think. I decided to deactivate this one instead and everything seems as I want again.

But what are the consequences of this action in the long term? Are there side effects I should fear?

Well nevermind, some apps still use Chrome and not ASWV. I finally had to deactivate Chrome as well. The question is still valid in itself so I don't delete it. — Olivier Grégoire, May 02 '16 at 23:41
Related, or dupe: What is the use of Android System WebView?. In short: it's better to have it enabled, unless you're sure about the possible security vulnerabilities. — Andrew T., May 03 '16 at 10:38

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 20 '23 at 14:17

1

The Webview is used to open websites in apps so that you are not redirected to the internet browser every time an app tries to open a url (this includes sign-in urls) and apps that run off a website might not operate properly if the Webview is disabled.

answered Jun 20 '23 at 14:17

John Garland

21
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I deactivated Android System Webview. What can go wrong?

1 Answers1