New Chromium WebView Now Updated via Google Play and Supports Web Components

The developers of Android 5.0 Lollipop (“Lollipop”) introduced the main changes to the WebView component used to display HTML5 content in applications. Starting with Android 5.0, the component is updated via Google Play. This means that when Google updates its browser engine, new features also become available to all application developers, regardless of whether the manufacturer of the Android device has released an operating system update or not.

For those applications that are developed using Apache Cordova or Adobe PhoneGap, the new distribution strategy offers obvious advantages - end-users can get the latest innovations that appear on the Web platform much faster, just like desktop browser users.

WebView is based on the Chromium project since Android 4.4, but the ability to update the component appeared only with the latest version. As the basis of WebView Android 5.0, the source code of Chromium M37 was laid. New features include WebRTC (Real Time Communication), WebAudio, and WebGL. The new component also includes a full implementation of the WebComponents specification, that is, you can now use Polymer and material design elements without polyfiles.

The developers also promise to stably synchronize the component with the current version of Chromium, thereby providing a more predictable environment for executing HTML5 applications on various platforms.