| # System WebView Shell |
| |
| WebView team maintains a "shell"--a thin interface over the WebView APIs--to |
| exercise WebView functionality. The System WebView Shell (AKA "shell browser," |
| "WebView shell") is a standalone app implemented [in |
| chromium](/android_webview/tools/system_webview_shell/). While often used for |
| manual testing, we also use the shell for automated tests (see our [layout and |
| page cycler tests](./test-instructions.md#layout-tests-and-page-cycler-tests)). |
| |
| *** note |
| This relies on the WebView installed on the system. So if you're trying to |
| verify local changes to WebView, or run against a specific WebView build, you |
| must **install WebView first.** |
| *** |
| |
| *** promo |
| **Tip:** the shell displays the WebView version (the corresponding [chromium version |
| number](https://www.chromium.org/developers/version-numbers)) in the title bar |
| at the top. This can be helpful for checking which WebView version is installed |
| & selected on the device. |
| *** |
| |
| ## Working with the shell |
| |
| ```sh |
| # Build and install |
| $ autoninja -C out/Default system_webview_shell_apk |
| $ out/Default/bin/system_webview_shell_apk install |
| |
| # Launch a URL from the commandline, or open the app from the app launcher |
| $ out/Default/bin/system_webview_shell_apk launch "https://www.google.com/" |
| |
| # For more commands: |
| $ out/Default/bin/system_webview_shell_apk --help |
| ``` |
