Pack (custom) WebView in Android app

Question

Is it possible to pack a custom or standard WebView with you app? I want to do this because it seems that all devices or android versions have their own flavor of the WebView component. I want to standardize this in my app so all user experience the same behavior independent of the device they are using. So basically, I don't want to use the standard WebView, since it behaves differently depending on your android version, or device, or both. I want to use some package which contains a browser component which will respond in a predictable way independent of the device you are using. I'm talking about JS behavior, CSS, etc...

Answer 1

Theoretically it could be possible. A couple of folks have tried.

Other than the obvious problems like making your app huge (+10-20MB) and having it eat more memory you'd only have access to software rendering. For a small static WebView software mode could be fine, but I'm guessing the WebView is a central part of your app so no hardware acceleration would be a bummer.

If you've got spare time, C++ skills and want to work on making the WebView a standalone component you're more than welcome to, just reach out to the code owners to make sure the changes you're planning align with the direction the project is headed.