Error inflating class android.webkit.WebView on android 5

Question

I got the following error testing on Android 5.0 (API 21). Tested on other OS versions works well.

java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{...ui.activities.navigationActivity.fragments.legalFragment.LegalDetailActivity}: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #24: Error inflating class android.webkit.WebView

Can't find nothing special about the xml layout, at line 24:

<WebView
    android:id="@+id/nav_fg_legal_detail_web"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
  />

The code:

override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

    setTheme(R.style.AppTheme_NoActionBar)
    setContentView(R.layout.legal_detail_activity) // crash here. Nothing done to web view yet.

I am using library 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.1.0'.

Update: the full stack:

--------- beginning of crash
E/AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: main
Process: com.byte_artisan.mchat2, PID: 4198
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.byte_artisan.mchat2/com.byte_artisan.mchat2.ui.activities.navigationActivity.fragments.legalFragment.LegalDetailActivity}: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #24: Error inflating class android.webkit.WebView
    at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2298)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2360)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.access$800(ActivityThread.java:144)
    at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1278)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5221)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:899)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:694)
 Caused by: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #23: Error inflating class android.webkit.WebView
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.createView(LayoutInflater.java:633)
    at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneLayoutInflater.onCreateView(PhoneLayoutInflater.java:55)
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.onCreateView(LayoutInflater.java:682)
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:741)
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.rInflate(LayoutInflater.java:806)
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:504)
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:414)
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:365)
    at androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatDelegateImpl.setContentView(AppCompatDelegateImpl.java:555)
    at androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity.setContentView(AppCompatActivity.java:161)
    at com.byte_artisan.mchat2.ui.activities.navigationActivity.fragments.legalFragment.LegalDetailActivity.onCreate(LegalDetailActivity.kt:18)
    at android.app.Activity.performCreate(Activity.java:5937)
    at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1105)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2251)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2360) 
    at android.app.ActivityThread.access$800(ActivityThread.java:144) 
    at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1278) 
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102) 
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135) 
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5221) 
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method) 
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372) 
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:899) 
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:694) 
 Caused by: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
    at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Native Method)
    at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:288)
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.createView(LayoutInflater.java:607)
    at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneLayoutInflater.onCreateView(PhoneLayoutInflater.java:55) 
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.onCreateView(LayoutInflater.java:682) 
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:741) 
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.rInflate(LayoutInflater.java:806) 
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:504) 
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:414) 
    at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:365) 
    at androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatDelegateImpl.setContentView(AppCompatDelegateImpl.java:555) 
    at androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity.setContentView(AppCompatActivity.java:161) 
    at com.byte_artisan.mchat2.ui.activities.navigationActivity.fragments.legalFragment.LegalDetailActivity.onCreate(LegalDetailActivity.kt:18) 
    at android.app.Activity.performCreate(Activity.java:5937) 
    at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1105) 
    at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2251) 
    at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2360) 
    at android.app.ActivityThread.access$800(ActivityThread.java:144) 
    at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1278) 
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102) 
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135) 
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5221) 
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method) 
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372) 
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:899) 
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:694) 
 Caused by: android.content.res.Resources$NotFoundException: String resource ID #0x2040002
    at android.content.res.Resources.getText(Resources.java:274)
    at android.content.res.Resources.getString(Resources.java:360)
    at com.android.org.chromium.content.browser.ContentViewCore.setContainerView(ContentViewCore.java:702)
    at com.android.org.chromium.content.browser.ContentViewCore.initialize(ContentViewCore.java:608)
    at com.android.org.chromium.android_webview.AwContents.createAndInitializeContentViewCore(AwContents.java:619)
    at com.android.org.chromium.android_webview.AwContents.setNewAwContents(AwContents.java:758)
    at com.android.org.chromium.android_webview.AwContents.<init>(AwContents.java:608)
    at com.android.org.chromium.android_webview.AwContents.<init>(AwContents.java:546)
    at com.android.webview.chromium.WebViewChromium.initForReal(WebViewChromium.java:312)
    at com.android.webview.chromium.WebViewChromium.access$100(WebViewChromium.java:97)
    at com.android.webview.chromium.WebViewChromium$1.run(WebViewChromium.java:264)
    at com.android.webview.chromium.WebViewChromium$WebViewChromiumRunQueue.drainQueue(WebViewChromium.java:124)
    at com.android.webview.chromium.WebViewChromium$WebViewChromiumRunQueue$1.run(WebViewChromium.java:111)
    at com.android.org.chromium.base.ThreadUtils.runOnUiThread(ThreadUtils.java:144)
    at com.android.webview.chromium.WebViewChromium$WebViewChromiumRunQueue.addTask(WebViewChromium.java:108)
    at com.android.webview.chro

Answer 1

24 April 2020, I solved it with this:

implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.2.0-beta01'

Previous and not working version is below:

implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.1.0'

Answer 2

Recently I faced the same, There is an issue which is mentioned over here, which is not solved yet. The crash only occurs on API 21.

There are few solutions which mention downgrading the androidx.appcompat:appcompat versions. This answer helped me. Also, there are other possible workarounds mentioned, pick the answer that applies to you.

EDIT: The crash also occurs on API 22 and 23 if the user doesn't have Google Play installed.

EDIT 2: As mentioned in the issue tracker here, and upgrading the androidx.appcompat:appcompat version to 1.2.0-alpha02 is providing the fix in some cases. Please go through a detailed discussion to find a suitable workaround.

As mentioned by @MiguelSlv adding this maven repository is a temporary fix, However, all the above workarounds have side effects. As the bug is not fixed yet, it is not a clean solution.

EDIT 3: As of May, 2020, there is a fix.

implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.2.0-beta01'

Previous not working version:

implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.1.0'

Answer 3

This answer I am writing in Mar, 2020, could be changed after that.

In my case , in build.gradle (app level), I changed

implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.0.0'

to

implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.2.0-alpha02'

and the Problem is solved.

Other configuration I already have, but I didn't change them:-

1. In Gradle project level

classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.5.3'

2. And in gradle-wrapper.properties

distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-5.4.1-all.zip

3. And in gradle app level

android {
    compileSdkVersion 29
    buildToolsVersion '29.0.2'
    ...
}

Noting that this solution is tested on real device with android version 5