Debugging web content

Test on another WebView version

Start a device with an older, newer or built-in WebView to catch bugs that only one browser engine version has.

Why: a web page inside an app can break on one WebView version and work on the next. When a user reports a bug you can’t reproduce, the WebView version is often the difference.

What happens

Press Launch, keep Virtual device and continue.
Pick the Android version first: the WebView list then shows only builds that run on it.
Choose a WebView. WebView is the browser engine that draws web pages inside apps; every app on the device uses the same one. The newest stable Chromium is preselected; Built-in is the one that came with the Android image; Beta shows what users get soon.
Launch. A chosen Chromium build is installed before the app starts.
During the session, the Device card can switch the WebView provider. Restart the app afterwards.

Good to know

The session header shows the installed WebView version, so it ends up in screenshots and bug reports.
To compare two versions, start one session for each and keep them side by side.
The Chromium builds are close to what users get from the Play Store, but not identical: fixes that landed in the release branch late are missing. The page engine itself (Blink and V8) is the same.
Chromium builds can’t play H.264 or AAC video. If your bug is about video, use Built-in or a Google WebView card when your Holtdroid offers one.
Your choice is remembered and reused by quick launch.

If it doesn’t work

There is no WebView section: it needs a WebView catalog on the server. Real phones get it only when the catalog has Google WebView builds for ARM: their Android takes no other WebView.
The version you need isn’t listed: it may not run on the chosen Android version (for example, Chromium 149 and later need Android 14 or 15). Pick a newer Android.
Video doesn’t play in the page: see the codec note above.

More details: WebView versions.