GitToTheHub opened a new pull request, #1901:
URL: https://github.com/apache/cordova-android/pull/1901
### Platforms affected
Android
### Motivation and Context
I often had the problem when deploying an Android app to an older emulator
like Android version 7/8/9, where the WebView does not update in the emulator
and using more recent JavaScript features like for e.g. optional chaining `?.`
which is available in Chrome 80, i got stuck in the splash screen and nothing
happens. I also didn't see a JS alert, when I tried to catch errors. I tried to
solve this in JS by checking the web view before, but I would have to check the
web view version first and the had to load all scripts after, which is not a
nice solution. Also, this feature could be made available more easy for others
in this way.
### Description
<!-- Describe your changes in detail -->
- If preference `AndroidMinimumWebViewVersion` is set, it will check if the
current installed web view suits the version. If not, an error message is shown
and the app exists, after the user clicks on OK.
- The strings can be internationalized by adding a `strings.xml` with
appropriates strings to the appropriate `values` directory.
- Generated-By: Claude Haiku 4.5, Visual Studio Code
# Overview of WebView Version Check Feature - Generated by Claude Haiku 4.5
## Overview
This feature adds support for enforcing a minimum WebView version
requirement in Cordova Android apps. If the installed WebView version is older
than the specified minimum, a dialog will be shown to the user prompting them
to update through the Google Play Store, and the app will close.
## Usage
### 1. Add the Preference to config.xml
Add the `AndroidMinimumWebViewVersion` preference to your `config.xml` file:
```xml
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<widget id="io.cordova.hellocordova" version="1.0.0"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/widgets";>
<name>Hello Cordova</name>
<!-- Set minimum WebView version to 80.0 -->
<preference name="AndroidMinimumWebViewVersion" value="80.0" />
<!-- ... rest of config.xml ... -->
</widget>
```
### 2. Version Format
- The version string should start with the major version number: `"80.0"`,
`"90.0"`, `"100.0"`, etc.
- You can use full versions with patch numbers: `"80.0.1234.56"` - only the
relevant parts will be compared
- The comparison is done numerically, part-by-part (e.g., 80.0 < 90.0 <
100.0)
### 3. What Happens
If a user's WebView version is too old:
1. A dialog appears with the title: "WebView Update Required"
2. Message: "Your Android System WebView version is too old. Please update
it through the Google Play Store."
3. An "OK" button closes the dialog and exits the app
4. The user must update their WebView before they can use the app
### 4. Internationalization
The strings used in the dialog can be customized by overriding the string
resources in your project's `res/values/` directory:
```xml
<!-- res/values/strings.xml -->
<string name="webview_version_too_old_title">Your Custom Title</string>
<string name="webview_version_too_old_message">Your custom message
here</string>
<string name="webview_version_ok_button">Continue</string>
```
For other languages, create localized versions:
```xml
<!-- res/values-de/strings.xml (German) -->
<string name="webview_version_too_old_title">WebView-Update
erforderlich</string>
<string name="webview_version_too_old_message">Ihre Android System
WebView-Version ist zu alt. Bitte aktualisieren Sie sie über den Google Play
Store.</string>
<string name="webview_version_ok_button">OK</string>
```
```xml
<!-- res/values-fr/strings.xml (French) -->
<string name="webview_version_too_old_title">Mise à jour de WebView
requise</string>
<string name="webview_version_too_old_message">Votre version Android System
WebView est trop ancienne. Veuillez la mettre à jour via le Google Play
Store.</string>
<string name="webview_version_ok_button">OK</string>
```
### 5. Examples
#### Example 1: Require WebView 80.0 or newer
```xml
<preference name="AndroidMinimumWebViewVersion" value="80.0" />
```
#### Example 2: Require WebView 100.0 with specific patch
```xml
<preference name="AndroidMinimumWebViewVersion" value="100.0.4896.26" />
```
#### Example 3: No version requirement (feature disabled)
```xml
<!-- Omit the preference entirely or leave it empty -->
<!-- No dialog will be shown -->
```
## Technical Details
### How it Works
1. **Version Detection**: The feature uses
`WebViewCompat.getCurrentWebViewPackage()` (API 26+) to get the installed
WebView package, or falls back to querying the `com.google.android.webview`
package directly
2. **Version Comparison**: Versions are parsed and compared numerically,
part by part (e.g., 80.0.1234 is compared as [80, 0, 1234])
3. **Timing**: The check is performed in `CordovaActivity.onCreate()` after
preferences are loaded but before any WebView content is loaded
4. **Dialog**: Uses Android's standard `AlertDialog` for the warning message
### Error Handling
- If the WebView version cannot be determined, the check is skipped (app
continues normally)
- If version parsing fails, the app assumes the version is acceptable and
continues
- All exceptions during the check are caught and logged
### Supported Android Versions
This feature works on all supported Android versions. The WebView version
checking uses Android 8+ optimized methods when available, with graceful
fallbacks for older API levels.
## Implementation Files Changed
1. **CordovaActivity.java** - Added WebView version checking logic
2. **cdv_strings.xml** - Added localized string resources for the dialog
(optional - defaults are built-in)
## API Details
The implementation includes four new private methods in `CordovaActivity`:
- `checkWebViewVersion()` - Main method called from onCreate
- `getWebViewVersion()` - Retrieves the current WebView version string
- `isWebViewVersionSufficient()` - Compares version strings
- `getWebViewVersionTitle()`, `getWebViewVersionMessage()`,
`getWebViewVersionButtonText()` - Get localized strings with fallback defaults
## String Customization
The dialog strings can be customized in three ways (in order of precedence):
1. **Via app's string resources** (highest priority):
- Add `webview_version_too_old_title`, `webview_version_too_old_message`,
`webview_version_ok_button` to your app's `res/values/strings.xml`
2. **Via template string resources**:
- Defined in
`cordova-android/templates/project/res/values/cdv_strings.xml`
- These are used when building new projects from the template
3. **Built-in defaults** (lowest priority):
- Default English strings are hardcoded in CordovaActivity if resources
are not found
- Title: "WebView Update Required"
- Message: "Your Android System WebView version is too old. Please update
it through the Google Play Store."
- Button: "OK"
### Testing
<!-- Please describe in detail how you tested your changes. -->
- Tested on Android 9 with WebView 66 and using WebView 80 features and
setting `<preference name="AndroidMinimumWebViewVersion" value="80.0" />`
### Checklist
- [ ] I've run the tests to see all new and existing tests pass
- [ ] I added automated test coverage as appropriate for this change
- [ ] Commit is prefixed with `(platform)` if this change only applies to
one platform (e.g. `(android)`)
- [ ] If this Pull Request resolves an issue, I linked to the issue in the
text above (and used the correct [keyword to close issues using
keywords](https://help.github.com/articles/closing-issues-using-keywords/))
- [ ] I've updated the documentation if necessary
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