Google releases Android 12 update with WebView fix for crashing apps

Google has released an update to its Developer Preview of Android 12 that includes a fix for apps crashing due to the WebView flaw. It is unclear why the fix for WebView needs to be done through a system update.

It concerns version 2.1 of the Developer Preview with a security patch from March 2021, Android Police reports. Perhaps the new version for WebView that Google itself distributed from last Tuesday did not arrive on every phone with the Developer Preview. The update also fixes issues with the gesture that causes users to go one screen back in the interface, according to Android Police readers, a bug that appeared in the first Developer Previews.

The app crashing issue came to light last week. The crashes were due to an update to System WebView that appeared on the Play Store on March 22 and is installed automatically on many phones. System WebView is an in-app browser that provides a web content frame for many apps. The March 22 update was for “performance improvements and bug fixes,” according to the Play Store listing.

Google is currently distributing test versions of Android 12. The final version of the new version of Google’s mobile operating system is estimated to be released at the end of the summer. The test versions allow developers to test whether their apps work well on Android 12.