Android 12 Developer Preview update patch fixes the WebView problem

Android 12 suffered the same WebView app-crashing bug like everyone else.

What you need to know

• Google releases a minor update for the Android 12 Developer Preview.
• The patch should resolve the app-crashing issue that the Android System WebView caused last week.
• Other devices on Android 11 and below should update WebView and Chrome if they haven’t yet already.

Google caused quite a stir last week when Android devices started suffering a major app-crashing issue. The problem was due to a bug in the Android System WebView, which, to put it simply, is what Android apps use to display web content. Fortunately, there were workarounds. Google eventually pushed out an update to WebView and Chrome that fixed the issue, but it seems Android 12 users may have still been prone to problems related to the bug.

That brings us to the latest update to the Android 12 Developer Preview 2, which is now on version 2.1. Similar to last month’s update to version 1.1, this is a minor update to address any glaring bugs, with just one on the roster:

This minor update to Android 12 Developer Preview 2 updates WebView to fix an issue that caused some apps to crash.

Most users who reported WebView-related app crashing appeared to be owners of the best Samsung phones, but it wasn’t exclusive to those devices, as noted by this update. If you own a device compatible with the Android 12 Developer Preview like the Google Pixel 5, you should be able to download the update over the air in settings.

Meanwhile, another problem has been affecting Pixel owners, who have been reporting “SIM Manager” errors frequently popping up. Fortunately, there’s also a workaround for this, but hopefully Google can rein in its system applications before they start to cause real damage to user devices.