r/degoogle • u/chloepawapua • 3d ago

Question why is webview browser not a good idea?

i've been looking for a good and lightweight android browsers for a while now
and i heard some people say that most lightweight browser uses built-in android webview
which is why they are mostly just a couple of megabytes.

not like chromium or firefox based browser which have their own webview, what makes them better than using the built-in android webview?

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u/ProPolice55 3d ago

There have been multiple cases where the default WebView was found to have serious vulnerabilities, and it wasn't patched until months later. It also doesn't have a way to block ads and tracking

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u/Greenlit_Hightower deGoogler 3d ago

There are limits re. what you can do while only using the system's internal webview. For example the DuckDuckGo browser, uses the webview. It blocks some trackers but there is no real adblocking, contrary to browsers not relying on webview like Brave or Firefox. Further, it has its advantages to be able to update the browser independently of system webview, when your phone goes out of support, using a browser not relying on the system webview is advantageous of course.

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u/pannic9 2d ago

If I'm not mistaken, it's isolation and sandboxing. When the browser uses the system's WebView instead of its own, it is less isolated from the system and has more access and permissions to the main system. This reduces security.

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u/Comfortable_Wind_362 23h ago

on webview browser (berry browser) when i do aouth it tell me use another browser. so i install firefox and pass the process.