Overview
When an application depends on the Android WebView it needs to take into consideration that the system updates the component over time.
To help your app handle these changes well, it is important to test your app using future versions of WebView. This guide explains the different channels through which you can access future versions of WebView.
Webview release channels
There are several release channels through which you can access future versions of WebView. As of Android 7 (API level 24), these channels are available as separate apps in the Play Store. You can install any combination of them to test several upcoming versions of WebView alongside the latest stable version.
Like Chrome, WebView has four release channels:
- Stable channel:
- Installed and updated by default on every Android device with WebView.
- Fully tested. Least likely to crash or have other major bugs.
- Updated every 2-3 weeks with minor releases, and every 4 weeks with major releases.
- Beta channel:
- Available on Android 6 (API level 23) and higher.
- Tested before release, but not as extensively as stable.
- One major update ahead of stable, minor updates every week.
- Dev channel:
- Publicly available on Android 7 and later.
- Two major updates ahead of stable, representing what is actively being developed
- Updated once per week.
- Minimally tested.
- Canary build:
- Available on Android 7 and later.
- Released daily.
- Includes the latest code changes from the previous day.
- Has not been tested or used.

If you're looking for a specific version of Chromium, you can find the latest versions in each channel on Chromium Dash. WebView and Chrome for Android always release together on all OS levels.
Installing Webview Beta
Android 10 (API level 29) and higher |
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Android 7 through 9 (API levels 24 - 28) |
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Webview DevTools
WebView DevTools are a set of on-device tools to help debug your WebView apps.
The best way to launch WebView DevTools is to download WebView Beta, Dev, or Canary. These channels contain a launcher icon which launches WebView DevTools.

Webview Crashes
Within the WebView Beta, Dev, and Canary apps, you can view WebView crashes that have occurred on the device.
- Similar to
chrome://crashes
. - Crashes from all apps on the device.
- File a bug to provide more info.
Webview Flags
Similarly, the testing apps contain a series of flags you may use to enable/disable experimental features.
Using WebView on older versions of Android
Jetpack’s androidx.webkit enables you to use WebView APIs on older versions of Android that would otherwise not support them. There are several benefits to AndroidX WebKit:
- It is a Jetpack library updated regularly.
- It is easy to use by design,
- It enables your WebView apps to work on more devices.
Add the dependencies for the artifacts you need in the build.gradle
file for
your app or module:
Groovy
dependencies { implementation "androidx.webkit:webkit:1.6.0" }
Kotlin
dependencies { implementation("androidx.webkit:webkit:1.6.0") }
Developer resources
The following are additional resource for developers.