Using a pre-release channel of WebView allows you to test new, upcoming features and enhancements to WebView. This is especially useful for Android app developers who use WebView in their apps.
Like Chrome, WebView has four release channels:
If you're looking for a specific of version of chromium, the latest versions released to each channel can be found on Chromium Dash. WebView and Chrome for Android always release together on all OS levels.
On Android 7 (Nougat) and later, you can install multiple channels at the same time. This allows you to play with our latest code, while still keeping a tested version of WebView around.
Steps depend on your version of Android:
We offer a new streamlined experience for joining the WebView Beta channel (if you want to opt into Dev or Canary, or you are interested in using WebView DevTools to try experimental WebView features, skip to the next section).
The easiest way to start testing WebView Beta is to opt into the experience on the Google Play Store.
Dev and Canary channels must be downloaded and installed as separate apps, but only one must be chosen to provide the system's WebView implementation at any given time.
Download a pre-release channel of WebView from the play store, available here:
Choose Developer Options > WebView implementation (see figure)
Choose the channel that you would like to use for WebView
Bonus: you'll also now see an icon for your chosen WebView channel in the list of apps. You can use this app to report bugs, toggle experimental features, and much more! See the WebView DevTools user guide for more details.
Pre-release channels must be downloaded and installed as separate apps, but only one must be chosen to provide the system's WebView implementation at any given time.
Download a pre-release channel of Chrome from the play store, available here:
Choose Developer Options > WebView implementation (see figure)
Choose the Chrome channel that you would like to use for WebView
Only one installation of WebView is allowed, but users can opt to receive the latest beta updates from the Play Store.
We no longer support devices running Android 5 or 6. Devices on these old OS versions can still update to the last supported WebView release but will not be able to install further updates.
WebView does not receive updates on these versions of Android, so the pre-release channels of WebView are not available.
Any WebView-related bugs can be filed here.
To best enable us to resolve the issue, please ensure you provide all of the information requested in the bug report template.
If your Android device has been configured with a work profile, you‘ll need to install pre-release WebView for both your work profile and regular profile. You can only change WebView channel if you’ve enabled this for all profiles on the device. Then you should be able to successfully switch WebView channels following the steps above.
Some devices may support multiple user accounts. Similar to work profile, your pre-release WebView channel must be installed and enabled for each user account on the device.
Some Samsung phones support a feature called Secure Folder. Under the hood, this is implemented by creating a new user profile, similar to work profile or multiple users. If you‘ve previously enabled the Secure Folder feature, you’ll need to add your WebView channel to the folder. Open the folder, click “add apps,” and select the desired WebView channel. Then you should be able to select WebView from the menu above.
Choosing your WebView implementation on Android 7 (Nougat) or later can also be done using adb, instead of the Settings UI:
adb shell cmd webviewupdate set-webview-implementation <packagename>
Package names are as follows:
| App name | Package name |
|---|---|
| Chrome (stable, 7/8/9 only) | com.android.chrome |
| Chrome Beta (7/8/9 only) | com.chrome.beta |
| Chrome Dev (7/8/9 only) | com.chrome.dev |
| Chrome Canary (7/8/9 only) | com.chrome.canary |
| WebView (stable) | com.google.android.webview |
| WebView Beta (10+ only) | com.google.android.webview.beta |
| WebView Dev (10+ only) | com.google.android.webview.dev |
| WebView Canary (10+ only) | com.google.android.webview.canary |