Chrome 79 for Android rolled out earlier this week with phishing protections and the ability to reorder bookmarks. A WebView issue related to that version is affecting third-party Android apps and causing user data loss.
Google today announced that it’s launching a beta channel or Android WebView, the API many apps use to display webpages. Google noted that with Android 5.0 Lollipop, it now “has the ability to update WebView independently.” It will begin to allow developers to use the new beta channel for testing the latest updates to WebView starting today:
WebView updates bring numerous bug fixes, new web platform APIs and updates from Chromium. If you’re making use of the WebView in your app, becoming a beta channel tester will give you an early start with new APIs as well as the chance to test your app before the WebView rolls out to your users.
Developers interested in becoming beta testers can join the community here in order to sign up for the program and install the WebView beta from Google Play.