Android’s WebView component caused a widespread crash last month that caused dozens of apps to stop working, including Gmail, Google Pay, and several banking apps. The severity of the bug – which took up to eight hours for a permanent fix to be released – prompted Google to make additional changes to prevent another disaster.
In a new health report, Google explains the causes of the crash and details the improvements to WebView it plans to implement. All apps that relied on WebView to open web pages crashed due to a bug in the software’s experimentation and configuration technology, the company noted. To fix the problem, Google had to release new versions of both Chrome and WebView through Google Play for automatic and manual updates.
The key to the WebView improvements is a new “Safe Mode” that ensures that the app returns to a good state if the history repeats. Google also plans to speed up Chrome and WebView updates in the Play Store. Plus, it promises to monitor the app and communicate better with users during incidents. In a nod to the companies and developers likely inundated with complaints about a crash they didn’t cause, Google says it will work with its partners to comment on the impact of incidents and the status of the solution.
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