The Android System WebView is a crucial component within the Android operating system that enables applications to display web content directly within the app interface. When this component is deactivated, applications reliant on it for rendering web pages, displaying online documentation, or handling other web-based functions will typically exhibit a failure to properly load and display such content. As an example, an application designed to show a user agreement through a WebView would instead show a blank screen or an error message if this system component were disabled.
Deactivating this system component can be implemented for various reasons, including troubleshooting application errors, attempting to improve system performance, or rolling back to a previous version after an update causes issues. Historically, this function has been used to isolate problematic updates to the WebView, thereby allowing developers to identify the source of conflicts with their applications. While this action may resolve certain issues, it can concurrently disrupt functionality across multiple applications on the device.